NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher in early trading Wednesday after the government’s latest inflation report showed price pressures cooling slightly in July, offering investors a data point broadly in line with expectations heading into a pivotal stretch for Federal Reserve policy.

The Dow stood at 53,803.87 as of 9:31 a.m. Eastern time, essentially flat from Tuesday’s close, with futures having pointed modestly higher ahead of the opening bell. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.35% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.72% in premarket trading, according to Yahoo Finance data, as investors weighed the Consumer Price Index report released earlier Wednesday morning.

The Labor Department’s report showed the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, following a 0.4% decline in June. On an annual basis, inflation came in at 3.4%, easing modestly from June’s 3.5% pace. The readings were in line with Dow Jones consensus forecasts, a result that appeared to reassure markets already sitting near record territory heading into the report.

Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, said the report showed inflation remains elevated but continues moving in a favorable direction. He pointed to falling energy prices as a key factor behind July’s softer reading, noting that “energy prices fell in July as investors had high hopes” that the Middle East crisis would show signs of improvement. Roach cautioned, however, that those hopes proved short-lived, with oil prices climbing back higher in the weeks since as tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz have persisted without resolution.

Looking ahead, Roach said he expects inflation to decelerate further as the year progresses, forecasting a slowdown toward 2.7% by year-end as transportation and health care costs continue easing. He added that the debate at the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting is likely to be lively, given the tension between a labor market that remains historically tight and an inflation picture that, while improving, has not yet fully returned to the central bank’s target.

Wednesday’s early gains followed a choppier session Tuesday, when the Dow initially climbed as much as 221.79 points in morning trading before reversing course and finishing the day down 0.34%. The S&P 500 fell 0.32% Tuesday and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.6%, with weakness concentrated in large technology stocks even as industrials and utilities helped cushion the Dow’s decline for part of the session. That reversal left major indexes still hovering just below their recent record highs heading into Wednesday’s inflation data.

Elevated Treasury yields and continued uncertainty over global oil markets have remained persistent headwinds for stocks in recent sessions, even as broader market breadth, meaning the number of individual stocks participating in the rally, has stayed historically strong. Analysts have pointed to that broad participation, rather than reliance on a narrow handful of mega-cap technology names, as a sign of underlying resilience in the current rally, even as valuations across the market remain elevated by historical standards.

Wednesday’s trading also arrives during a relatively active stretch for corporate earnings, even as the broader reporting season winds down. Companies including Nebius Group, Cisco Systems and Cerebras Systems were among those scheduled to report results this week, giving investors additional company-specific data points to weigh alongside the macroeconomic picture heading into the back half of August.

Oil prices remained a focal point for markets Wednesday, with crude continuing to trade at elevated levels amid unresolved tensions tied to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping corridor. Uncertainty over the prospects for a diplomatic resolution between the United States and Iran has kept a persistent risk premium embedded in energy prices in recent weeks, a dynamic that has periodically weighed on broader market sentiment even as equities have continued grinding toward record territory.

With Wednesday’s inflation data now in hand and largely matching expectations, investors are likely to shift their attention toward additional economic releases and the Federal Reserve’s policy deliberations heading into its September meeting. Market participants have said the central bank faces a genuinely difficult balancing act: a labor market that has shown signs of resilience even after a weak July jobs report, paired with an inflation trajectory that, while improving, remains above the Fed’s longer-term target.

For now, Wednesday’s modest gains reflect a market in a holding pattern, absorbing in-line inflation data without a dramatic shift in either direction, as traders continue weighing the competing signals of a resilient earnings backdrop, persistent geopolitical risk tied to the Middle East, and a Federal Reserve still navigating a delicate path between supporting economic growth and containing inflation that has not yet fully returned to target.

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Twitch is now allowing users to stop Amazon from training their generative artificial intelligence (AI) models using users’ content, the popular streaming platform said.

The US company said users can opt out of a default setting that allows Amazon to use streams, clips, images, chats and other channel content.

The announcement on Wednesday confirmed that the technology giant, which took over Twitch in 2014, was using the platform’s content for AI training, prompting widespread backlash from users.

Amazon runs a host of AI services and has heavily invested in the its development as it seeks to compete with Google, Meta and other technology giants.

The BBC has contacted Amazon for comment and Twitch for more information.

Twitch is a major livestreaming platform that is especially popular among gamers and youths. The platform’s top content creators have tens of millions of followers.

AI training collection has been turned on by default just as it is on most content services, but Twitch is “respecting” users’ wishes to opt out if they prefer, Twitch’s chief product officer Mike Minton said during a stream on the platform, external.

Asked why data is being collected by default, he said: “If it’s opt-in, nobody would opt-in. That’s the honest answer.”

Users who remain opted in could have any of their channel content used for training, Minton said, adding that the data collected will not be re-sold to other companies.

During the same session, Mary Kish, head of community at Twitch, took viewers through a tutorial on how to disable generative AI training through a user’s channel settings.

Data collection for AI training has become an industry standard, Kish said.

“We don’t expect you to be happy or excited about this. I don’t expect anyone to react to this favourably,” she added.

The stream’s chat column was flooded with hundreds of comments from users criticising the move.

One viewer wrote: “Nobody would opt in because nobody wants to feed AI with our creativity and content.”

Another said Twitch had an “opportunity to set an industry standard” to push back against data collection for AI.

It is not clear when Amazon began collecting Twitch users’ data to train its AI models.

Minton said during the stream that he did not know if users’ data had already been scraped for training, adding that he was unsure what Amazon “has done in terms of model training and what they’ve used and not used.”

SHANGHAI — Shares of CXMT Corp climbed 6.19% to close at 53.52 yuan on Wednesday, adding 3.12 yuan, as investors responded to reports that the Chinese memory chipmaker had pushed yields on its 17-nanometer-class DDR5 products above 90% and that major technology companies continued testing or adopting its chips amid a persistent global shortage of dynamic random-access memory.

Trading volume remained elevated on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market, where CXMT, formerly known as ChangXin Memory Technologies, has been one of the most closely watched stocks since its blockbuster debut in late July. The move lifted the company’s market capitalization to roughly 3.4 trillion yuan, reinforcing its position among the most valuable listed firms on China’s mainland exchanges.

Chinese technology outlet MyDrivers reported that CXMT’s DDR5 manufacturing yield had surpassed 90%, a level said to sit only a few percentage points behind comparable Samsung Electronics products of a similar generation. The report, which has not been independently verified by major international outlets, linked the improvement to better overall supply conditions. Higher yields typically allow producers to ship more usable chips from each wafer, an important factor when industry capacity remains tight.

At the same time, reports indicated that Apple has been testing CXMT memory chips for products including iPhones and MacBooks. Laptop makers HP and Acer have already begun using limited volumes of CXMT DRAM in devices sold outside the United States, primarily in mainland China and some emerging markets, according to multiple media accounts citing industry sources. ASUS has also incorporated the chips selectively, while Dell has reportedly maintained a ban. Adoption volumes remain modest, and CXMT’s output for the year is largely committed to existing customers.

The developments come less than three weeks after CXMT’s shares soared 466% on their first day of trading on July 27. The company raised about 57.92 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) in Asia’s largest initial public offering of 2026 and the biggest mainland Chinese semiconductor listing on record. Shares opened at 49.50 yuan against an offer price of 8.66 yuan, touched an intraday high of 55.03 yuan, and closed at 49 yuan. Market capitalization briefly exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan, briefly making CXMT the most valuable company listed onshore in China.

Only about 6.73% of the enlarged share capital was freely tradable at listing because of lock-up restrictions, a factor that amplified price swings and turnover. First-day trading volume exceeded 141 billion yuan, setting a record for an A-share company.

CXMT ranks as the world’s fourth-largest DRAM producer by market share, trailing Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology. Industry estimates place its share in the high single digits to around 8% as of late 2025 and early 2026. The company operates 12-inch wafer fabrication plants in Hefei and Beijing with combined capacity near 300,000 wafers per month. Expansion projects already under way in Shanghai and Hefei, along with discussions about a possible second facility in Beijing’s Yizhuang area, are expected to more than double output toward 600,000 wafers per month once fully ramped.

In its prospectus and subsequent guidance, CXMT projected first-half 2026 revenue of 110 billion to 120 billion yuan, more than seven times the year-earlier figure, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 50 billion to 57 billion yuan, reversing prior losses. First-quarter revenue alone reached approximately 50.8 billion yuan, up more than 700% year on year, driven by higher DRAM prices, increased shipments and an improved product mix. Gross margins expanded sharply as the industry moved into a strong upcycle fueled by artificial-intelligence data-center demand.

The AI-driven shortage has redirected significant capacity at the three dominant producers toward high-bandwidth memory, leaving conventional DDR5 and related products constrained. CXMT has secured multi-year supply agreements with major Chinese customers, including a long-term deal with Tencent valued at more than 20 billion yuan for server DRAM, according to people familiar with the matter reported by Reuters in June. The company also counts Alibaba Cloud, ByteDance, Lenovo and Xiaomi among its customers.

Geopolitical factors continue to shape the outlook. CXMT has faced U.S. export-control restrictions and placement on certain blacklists, limiting access to advanced equipment such as extreme-ultraviolet lithography tools. Its process technology trails the densest nodes used by Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. Still, progress on yields and selective adoption by global brands have drawn attention as companies seek to diversify supply chains.

Apple’s reported testing has attracted particular scrutiny in Washington. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has urged the company to rule out Chinese memory suppliers, with a response deadline in late August. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has publicly noted “very significant constraints” and limited flexibility in the memory supply chain. CXMT, for its part, has reportedly quoted prices comparable to or above those of the established suppliers and has limited additional capacity available for new international customers after prioritizing domestic demand.

Analysts have pointed to CXMT’s capacity expansion plans and the broader DRAM supercycle as potential supports for further earnings growth, while cautioning that valuations after the IPO surge appear elevated relative to historical peers. The company intends to allocate IPO proceeds toward process upgrades, research into next-generation DRAM including high-bandwidth memory, and additional production lines. HBM production remains several years behind the industry leaders, though CXMT has indicated early efforts in that area.

Local governments in China are competing to host further expansion. Reuters reported in early August that CXMT was in early-stage talks with the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area for a possible second plant in Yizhuang, seeking at least 60 million yuan in support, with other state-linked entities also expressing interest. Building a modern advanced DRAM fab typically requires investment well above $10 billion.

The stock’s performance since listing has been volatile. After the debut close near 49 yuan, shares climbed higher in subsequent sessions, briefly approaching 60 yuan, before settling into a range that included the 53.52 yuan close on August 12. Inclusion in the MSCI China All Shares Index, effective in early August, has been cited as a potential source of additional passive investment flows.

Market participants continue to weigh CXMT’s ability to convert technical progress and domestic policy support into sustained global competitiveness. While the company has narrowed some production gaps and benefited from the current tight supply environment, it still operates without access to the most advanced lithography tools and remains focused primarily on the Chinese market and selective export opportunities. Higher yields on mainstream DDR5 products, combined with ongoing interest from international device makers, provided the immediate backdrop for Wednesday’s gain.

As the global memory industry navigates elevated prices and constrained supply into the second half of 2026, CXMT’s trajectory will remain a key indicator of China’s progress in building a more self-reliant semiconductor sector and of the broader reshaping of supply chains under geopolitical pressure.

Indian equities appear to be entering a more favourable phase after a prolonged period of consolidation, with easing global headwinds, resilient corporate earnings and a reversal in foreign flows improving the market setup. Ritesh Taksali, Chief Investment Officer at Edelweiss Life Insurance, believes the maturing AI-led trade could further work in India’s favour as global investors look beyond markets that have benefited disproportionately from the semiconductor and AI cycle.

Taksali points out that FPIs invested around ₹20,000 crore in Indian equities in July, followed by another ₹12,921 crore in the first week of August. With the Nifty’s trailing P/E now around 20.8x—below its seven-year median and 10-year average—India’s valuation premium has also become more reasonable.

He believes India’s diversified, domestically driven growth profile could become increasingly attractive as the AI trade matures. At the same time, better-than-expected Q1 earnings, resilient margins and the potential revival in private capex could provide additional catalysts for Indian equities through FY27-FY29. Edited Excerpts –

Q) Market is showing signs of stablisation after posting over 1% back-to-back returns in the June & July. How are you reading markets?

A) The set up for Indian equities has improved meaningfully compared with what we saw through 2025 and the first part of 2026. Several of the key concerns that had weighed on global markets—trade tariffs, geopolitical tensions and the reverse AI trade—have either played out, or the concerns around them have receded. This improvement in sentiment is beginning to reflect in foreign flows. After several months of sustained selling, we have seen a meaningful reversal, with FIIs investing around ₹20,000 crore in Indian equities.

We have seen a prolonged time correction in the Indian equity markets over the last two years, since September 2024. During this period, large-cap valuations have also moderated, providing some comfort from valuation perspective. We believe the markets should show greater strength from here on.
Q) Most of the June quarter results are out. What do you make of Q1 numbers and management commentary?A) Barring OMCs, earnings season has been better than expectations. We have seen a broad-based beat across sales, EBITDA and PAT. The growth momentum has continued, with sales growth at 22% y-o-y and profit growth at 11% y-o-y. For most of the companies, margins have held up better than anticipated despite pressure from higher raw material and logistics costs.

While supply-chain disruptions and elevated input and freight costs did create headwinds, companies were able to offset a meaningful part of this through price increases, cost rationalisation, and operating efficiencies.

Management commentary suggests that business environment is expected to improve in H2 as cost pressure abates and festive season kicks in.

Q) Private sector capex announcements have remained subdued over the past 12–18 months. If this investment cycle continues to be delayed, could it push back the expected earnings growth for India Inc.? What are your views on the outlook for private capex and its impact on corporate earnings?

A) Private Capex has been slower than expected because companies have remained cautious amid geopolitical uncertainty and the wars, which have affected visibility on global demand, supply chains and input costs. We should see a gradual revival as visibility improves.

As geopolitical uncertainty eases and demand visibility improves, we expect more of the announced projects to move from the announcement stage to actual orders and construction.

Healthy corporate balance sheets, high-capacity utilisation, government infrastructure spending, PLI/manufacturing incentives and rising investment announcements provide the ingredients for a revival.

For equities, therefore, private capex is less a near-term earnings risk and more a critical upside catalyst—a broad-based capex cycle could materially improve earnings visibility over FY27–FY29.

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Q) FIIs inflows have remained largely positive so far in August – can we say that the smart money is slowly moving back to India?

A) FPIs have turned buyers in July, investing around ₹20,000 crore in Indian equities. This momentum has continued into August, with another ₹12,921 crore coming in during the first week. There are three or four factors behind this.

First, valuations have corrected. The Nifty’s trailing P/E has also come down to 20.8x, about 9 per cent below its seven-year median and roughly 12 to 13 per cent below its ten-year average.

Second, the AI-driven reverse trade is beginning to abate. A significant amount of the earlier FII selling was essentially a rotation towards Korea and Taiwan, where investors had much greater exposure to the AI and semiconductor cycle.

India was relatively under-owned because it did not have the same direct AI leverage. As that trade matures, global investors are beginning to look for other markets.

Third, the macro environment is becoming more supportive. The rupee has stabilised, helped by strong foreign currency inflows. The FCNR-B deposit scheme has mobilised around US$41 billion so far, with inflows potentially reaching US$70–90 billion by the September 30 closure.

The government has also made interest income on Indian government bonds tax-free for foreign investors, contributing to around US$8.7 billion of net inflows into G-Secs. These measures have strengthened confidence in India’s ability to manage currency volatility and global capital-flow pressures.

More broadly, the external sector remains resilient, supported by services exports, remittances, merchandise exports and improving FDI flows. Overall, the stronger capital inflows and resilient external balances provide greater stability to the rupee and improve the macro backdrop for Indian equities.

And finally, India’s earnings outlook is improving. The Q1 results season has been better than expected, margins have been more resilient and management commentary suggests that demand could improve in the second half, supported by festive consumption, easing cost pressures and exports.

Q) After the recent correction seen in 1H2026. Has the premium corrected? If not, can India continue to command premium valuations compared to other emerging markets?

A) India’s valuation premium over emerging markets has compressed meaningfully, although India still trades at a premium. The important point is that the premium has become more reasonable after a period of relative underperformance.

Throughout 2024, India was trading at significant P/E premium to the MSCI EM index. Since then, Taiwan and South Korea have significantly re-rated on the back of the global AI and semiconductor cycle, while India has not had the same direct exposure to that theme.

At the same time, the global opportunity set has changed, with markets such as Brazil and other commodity- or value-oriented EMs becoming relatively more attractive at different points in the cycle. This has contributed to a broad re-rating and narrowing of India’s relative valuation advantage.

India’s weight in the MSCI EM index has also moderated from a peak of around 19.4% in late 2024 to its long-term average of around 11.8%. So, from a relative positioning perspective, some of the exceptional India premium has already been unwound.

Having said that, we don’t think India needs to trade at parity with other emerging markets. India’s premium is justified to an extent by the quality and diversity of its growth.

Unlike markets where the earnings cycle can be heavily driven by a single theme such as semiconductors or commodities, India offers relatively diversified exposure across financials, consumption, manufacturing, infrastructure and services.

More importantly, a large part of India’s growth is domestically driven, which makes the economy relatively less dependent on global trade cycles.

This becomes particularly relevant if the current geopolitical uncertainty starts to ease and oil prices remain contained. Lower crude prices are structurally positive for India because they improve the current account, reduce imported inflation and ease pressure on the currency.

It reinforces one of India’s key advantages—a large domestic economy with multiple internal growth drivers and relatively manageable external vulnerabilities.

The other factor is the AI trade. The extraordinary re-rating of semiconductor-linked markets has created a significant valuation and earnings gap versus India.

As the AI-led trade matures and the valuation differential between those markets and the rest of emerging markets becomes harder to justify, capital could increasingly look for diversified growth opportunities, where India remains well positioned.

So, we would not argue that India’s valuation premium disappears completely. A moderate premium is sustainable as long as India continues to deliver superior and more consistent earnings growth.

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Q) Are there pockets of froth in the market that investors should avoid? Which sectors still offer reasonable valuations despite the market rally?

A) I think the key distinction at this point is between stocks where valuations are being supported by earnings and cash flows, and those where the valuation is being supported primarily by a narrative.

The recent correction in the headline indices has helped clean up valuations to some extent, but pockets of froth remain, particularly in stocks where expectations of very strong growth are already fully reflected in prices.

In some cases, investors are paying a significant premium for growth that may take several years to materialise. That leaves limited room for disappointment.

The valuations of SMIDs are trading above their long-term averages when compared to their own historical P/Es as well as when compared to PE of their large cap peers. But at the same time, SMID earnings have also grown at faster rate than the large caps.

Valuations are to be seen in conjunction with fundamentals. A company can be expensive and still deliver good returns if earnings consistently surprise on the upside, that’s where we see multiple re-ratings. So, we would avoid making a blanket call on any market-cap segment or sector.

The market will be increasingly driven by fundamentals. The better opportunities are likely to be businesses with strong cash-flow generation, sustainable competitive advantages, healthy balance sheets and earnings visibility, where valuations leave some margin of safety.

Q) How are you reading into new IPOs which have started to hit D-Street after few months of pause?

A) The IPO market has clearly picked up after a period of relative lull. As the macro headwinds abated, market stability has returned and so has liquidity.

There is a healthy pipeline of upcoming IPOs: 178 SEBI-approved companies looking to raise 2.96 lakh crore rupees, and another 71, awaiting approval for 1.84 lakh crore. Annual IPO issuance should reach roughly 2.5 lakh crore rupees.

The new issues are not just limited to a particular sector. We are seeing a much more diverse set of businesses coming to the market, spanning financial services, healthcare, consumer, manufacturing, technology and industrials.

The breadth of the current IPO pipeline is also a positive sign for the overall equity market. It indicates that companies are once again comfortable accessing public markets and that investor appetite for new businesses is returning.

We are seeing both established businesses looking to unlock value as well as newer-age and high-growth companies tapping the market. The diversity of sectors and businesses entering the market reflects the depth of India’s entrepreneurial and corporate ecosystem, and we expect the IPO pipeline to remain robust as market confidence improves.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

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SYDNEY — Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell for a third consecutive session Thursday, dragged lower by continued weakness in Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares even as the lender posted annual profit growth broadly in line with expectations.

The index was down 46.0 points, or 0.50%, to 9,163.4 as of 12:21 p.m. Sydney time, extending Wednesday’s 0.45% decline, when the benchmark closed at 9,209.4 points after a session dominated by disappointing technology stocks and a heavy corporate earnings calendar.

Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest lender by market value, remained at the center of Thursday’s session after reporting its full-year results a day earlier. The bank’s cash profit came in comfortably ahead of Morgan Stanley’s expectations, aided by softer-than-expected expenses and a lower impairment charge. Despite the earnings beat, CBA shares extended a decline that began immediately following the results release, with market commentary attributing the continued weakness in part to the bank’s confirmation of a slump in mortgage lending following the federal budget, a factor that appeared to overshadow the otherwise solid headline profit figures for investors focused on the bank’s forward growth trajectory.

Justin Lin, an investment analyst at Global X ETFs, said the broader pullback across Australian shares this week likely reflected investors positioning for the heart of reporting season rather than any deeper shift in sentiment. “Today’s move seems most likely just a short-term blip and investors seem to be squaring up for August earnings season, locking in some profits,” Lin said, adding that with company-specific results back in focus, broader macroeconomic concerns may “temporarily take a back seat” as investors sift through individual earnings reports.

Jun Bei Liu, founder and portfolio manager at Ten Cap, said she expected a mixed showing from the banking sector this reporting season. “Expecting a little soft results from the banks as their margin will continue to be under pressure, and limited ability to deliver more capital return,” Liu said, noting that Westpac and ANZ Group are scheduled to report their own quarterly results Friday and Saturday, respectively, following Commonwealth Bank’s lead. Liu added that results from companies outside the banking sector were likely to look considerably stronger, citing resilient economic conditions and easing inflationary pressure as supportive factors for corporate earnings more broadly this season.

Thursday’s session also featured a particularly dense slate of major companies reporting results, including Telstra Group, Insurance Australia Group, Origin Energy, ASX Ltd and Treasury Wine Estates, making it one of the busiest single days of the current reporting period. Elsewhere in the results calendar, jobs classifieds company Seek Ltd drew a downgrade from Bell Potter following its full-year results, with the broker cutting its rating to hold from buy and reducing its price target to $15.20 from $18.58, after concluding the stock’s shares were now fully valued following the report.

Energy stocks faced a modestly softer session after oil prices eased slightly overnight. According to Bloomberg data, West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.4% to $82.86 a barrel, while Brent crude fell 0.35% to $88.61 a barrel, even as reports emerged of vessel attacks in the Gulf of Oman, underscoring the continued volatility surrounding Middle East shipping routes despite Thursday’s modest pullback in prices. The softer crude backdrop weighed on ASX-listed energy producers, including Woodside Energy Group and Santos, both of which were expected to face a comparatively soft session as a result.

Thursday’s decline continues a broader pattern of caution that has characterized the ASX 200 through the opening stretch of August’s reporting season. The benchmark is entering the period with expectations for its first year of profit growth in four years, though that growth remains heavily concentrated in the resources sector. Industrial earnings outside of mining are forecast to grow by roughly 2.6%, below the underlying inflation rate of approximately 3.6%, meaning many non-resource companies are effectively expected to post earnings declines in real terms even while reporting nominal profit growth.

That backdrop has been further shaped by the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy path this year. The central bank raised its cash rate three times during 2026, in February, March and May, lifting it from 3.60% to 4.35%, before holding steady at its subsequent meetings, including its most recent decision on August 11, which landed in the middle of the current reporting season. Analysts have said company commentary on funding costs and consumer demand is likely to carry additional weight this earnings season given that backdrop of a still-elevated cash rate.

Despite the choppy start to reporting season, some market commentary has pointed to potential upside from currently subdued expectations, arguing that a reporting period widely anticipated to be difficult can often produce positive surprises precisely because expectations and investor positioning have already been set defensively heading in.

With Westpac and ANZ both due to report in the coming days, alongside a continued wave of results from companies across the industrial, retail and healthcare sectors, investors are likely to keep a close watch on whether the banking sector’s soft start to reporting season proves to be an isolated dynamic tied to CBA specifically, or a signal of broader margin pressure likely to weigh on the sector as a whole through the remainder of August.