US stocks slipped yesterday as traders weighed tech valuations against optimistic US-Iran talks

Japan's Nikkei 225 hit a new ATH to take YTD gains past 40%

Chinese stocks in Hong Kong rebounded 2% from the edge of a bear market

Oil prices slid after US cleared Iran to sell crude in dollars

Dollar hit a YTD high vs Swiss franc

What we're watching this week:  

Full calendar here

Keri Starmer become the sixth UK prime minister to resign before term. Talk about fragile democracy…

Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market

US says Greenland control can revive unlimited shrimp at Red Lobster (NYP)

JD Vance claims 'successful foundation' laid in US-Iran talks (FT)

Trump called stock buybacks a 'fake way' to raise valuations (BN) 

ETFs are set to shatter records with $1T+ inflows YTD (BBG)

Korea's regulator regrets allowing single-stock leveraged ETFs (BBG)

Hong Kong is in talk with China to let Chinese investors access IPOs (BBG)

Portugal plans to create a sovereign wealth fund (BBG)

Global banks drive India ABS sales to record (BBG)

Bain & Co. is 'vibe coding' new software tools for PE DD projects (FT)

Carlyle unveils new framework to incorporate weather in portfolio risk (BBG)

SK Hynix overtook Samsung as South Korea's most valuable company (RT)

SpaceX cash piles rises to $100B (RT)

Meta is lobbying Congress for protection from child-harm lawsuits (RT)

Domino's named COO Joe Jordan as new CEO (WSJ)

Trump signed executive orders on quantum adoption and cyber defense (BBG)

China targets US rare earths firms in response to Pentagon (BBG)

UK PM Keir Starmer resigned (CNBC)

Germany and France are set to hold equal 40% stakes in tank maker KNDS ahead of its IPO which could fetch an over $25B valuation 

Pharma giant AbbVie will acquire anti-inflammatory-focused Apogee Therapeutics for $10.9B at a 50% premium

Irish building materials group CRH will acquire US rival Arcosa in an $8.5B cash deal, including debt, at a 10% premium

UK budget airline EasyJet has rebuffed three separate offers from Castlelake, prompting the investment firm to go hostile with its $6.3B offer

Manchester United acquired a plot of land from a Blackstone-backed firm to build a new $2B stadium close to its Old Trafford home ground

UK utility Southern Water reached a target to raise $1.6B in equity from owners Asterion Industrial Partners, Macquarie, and others

French foods giant Danone will acquire Australian drinks and dairy producer Made Group from TPG Capital for $1.4B and will also buy the remaining 49% stake in its JV with Saputo Dairy Australia

Biggest shareholder Pointillist Family Office is pushing offshore energy services company $200M-listed SEACOR to explore a sale at a 300% premium

Agri-commodities giant Cargill is aiming to complete a sale of its metals unit by August

AppsFlyer, a marketing analytics and mobile ad attribution platform, raised a $1B Series E at a $2.7B post-money valuation from Moloco, Google, Meta, and others

CRED, an Indian fintech platform, raised a $900M round at a $4.5B post-money valuation led by Meta

Nearfield Instruments, an advanced semiconductor 3D metrology and inspection company, raised a $380M Series D at a $1.6B valuation led by Fidelity

Upscale AI, a pure-play AI networking infrastructure company, raised a $190M Series A-1 extension at a $2B valuation led by Premji Invest

Fomo, a crypto trading app, raised a $75M Series B at a $550M valuation led by Index Ventures

Ploy, an AI growth platform, raised a $27M seed round led by First Round Capital and Y Combinator 

German energy company RWE is seeking to raise $4.75B in a share issuance to acquire a 30% stake in transmission system operator Amprion to boost ownership to 55%

Italian app investor Bending Spoons is seeking to raise $1.6B at a $19B valuation in a US IPO

GM and Toyota-backed Chinese autonomous-driving startup Momenta is set to raise $1B in a Hong Kong IPO; the firm is valued at $9B

Oaktree-backed digital infrastructure company ITG is seeking to raise $430M at a $2.7B valuation in a US IPO

VITRO REIT, the data center subsidiary of Philippine telecoms firm PLDT, is looking to raise $400M in Philippine's first IPO of the year

Mexican silver mining company Sinda is looking to raise $345M at a $2B valuation in a US IPO

Uber-backed EV bike firm Lime is seeking to raise $180M at a $1.7B valuation in an IPO

Banks are marketing $2.75B of leveraged loans to back infrastructure investor Stonepeak's $10.1B acquisition of BP's lubricants business Castrol

Mexico is offering $6.3B of bonds to fund a buyback

Argentine O&G firm Pluspetrol is planning a $500M bond sale

Sony is planning its first dollar bond sale in three decades

Asian PE firm MBK Partners is in talks with banks to extend the repayment deadline on $465M of leveraged loans for Belgian chocolate maker Godiva's Japan unit

Apollo again restricted withdrawals from its $25B non-traded private credit fund for retail investors

French pension FRR selected Swen Capital Partners and Flexstone Partners to manage $570M worth of PE FOF mandates

Palladio Partners raised a $515M CV for Railpool, Europe's leading rail vehicle leasing firm

Two ex-DOGE employees raised $225M for new VC firm Banner VC

Healthcare VC Marram Ventures spun out of investment group The 4100 Group and is targeting a $100M debut fund

Baltic-focused INVL Family Office debuted a new secondaries fund to be managed by PE FOF firm Adams Street Partners

Ex-NY governor Andrew Cuomo will co-chair a JV between NYSE-owner ICE and OKX

BoE dilutes stablecoin rules with plan for $53B issuer limit

CME Group sued CFTC over Bitcoin perps approval

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Robin Powell published an interesting piece on the challenges that women face with their wealth managers. Read it here.