AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) issued a positive earnings outlook, forecasting FY2024 first-half underlying net profit of A$170–A$180 million, about 30% higher year on year. The company attributed the upgrade to a stronger contribution from its China business, improved investment income, and a one-off A$13 million carried-interest payment. AMP said it has completed a A$150 million share buyback and reiterated its commitment to returning capital. The update pushed the stock to an intraday high of A$1.89 before it closed at A$1.76, up 2%, ahead of its August 6 half-year results release.

Asian equities fell, led by a drop of more than 6% in South Korea’s Kospi and a decline of over 3% in Japan’s Nikkei 225, while MSCI’s Asia Pacific index slipped 1.7%. SK Hynix Inc sank more than 8.4%, weighing on semiconductor stocks. Brent crude rose for a fourth straight session to above $85 a barrel after the U.S. renewed strikes on Iran, fueling concerns over supply disruption in West Asia. Australian and New Zealand government bonds opened higher as inflation reports cooled expectations for near-term Fed hikes, though rising Persian Gulf tensions dominated sentiment.

Australia’s last manganese smelter, Liberty Bell Bay in Tasmania, will close immediately after a proposed sale collapsed this week. The plant entered voluntary administration in March and administrators said in May a consortium had agreed to acquire the business. One of the deal’s main financial backers withdrew last month and the transaction was ultimately abandoned. The smelter employs more than 200 workers, and its closure leaves Australia with no domestic manganese metal capacity.

Grasim Industries said it will acquire Sprng Energy in a strategic move to speed up the expansion of its renewable energy business. The deal values a 5GW solar portfolio—about 3.3GW operational and 1.7GW under construction—at ₹17,200 crore, below the cost of building comparable greenfield capacity. The renewable segment’s revenue is projected to rise from about ₹900 crore in FY26 (around 2% of group revenue) to ₹4,446 crore in FY28 (around 8%), according to Motilal Oswal Financial Services. The transaction is expected to be largely debt-funded and could lower standalone FY28 EPS estimates by about 8%, though leverage is described as moderate with net debt of ₹36,915 crore and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.3.

The European Commission issued emergency interim antitrust measures against Meta on June 9, 2026, ordering it to restore free access on WhatsApp for third-party AI assistants such as ChatGPT within five working days or face fines of up to 10% of global annual revenue. Meta complied on July 13, bringing ChatGPT back to WhatsApp across the European Economic Area. The move marked the EU’s first use of this kind of emergency enforcement tool in 17 years, targeting what regulators said was an abuse of dominance that restricted AI competition. The action applies only to Europe and does not affect other markets or alter Microsoft Copilot’s or OpenAI’s independent commercial status.

HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited reported Q1FY27 net profit of ₹611.42 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up 12% from a year earlier. Total premium rose 15% year on year to ₹17,166 crore, supported by a 19% increase in renewal premium. Value of New Business (VNB) increased 9% to ₹879 crore, while New Business Margin (NBM) was 25.0% and the solvency ratio stood at 185%. The company also allotted shares on a preferential basis to HDFC Bank Limited, aggregating to ₹1,000 crore.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department imposed $12 million in civil penalties on Edwards Lifesciences and Genesis Medtech Group over alleged efforts to evade Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger filing requirements. Regulators said the deal was effectively a single transaction split into a $115 million acquisition of JC Medical plus a $25 million investment in Genesis, intended to stay below the $119.5 million reporting threshold. The judgment also includes five years of mandatory prior notice, compliance obligations and other restrictions, underscoring tighter U.S. scrutiny of medical device M&A without triggering immediate moves in individual stocks or major indexes.

Solana has become the blockchain network with the largest number of real-world asset (RWA) holders, exceeding 300K as of today, according to SolanaFloor data. The network also hosts more than 2,120 different types of RWAs available to trade on-chain. The milestone points to tangible progress in Solana’s tokenization infrastructure, particularly in compliant asset issuance and the breadth of on-chain financial products. The expansion strengthens Solana’s positioning as an institutional-grade settlement and issuance layer and provides fundamental support for its native token, SOL.