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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, is in discussions to lease data center capacity in Saudi Arabia, according to people familiar with the matter, part of an effort to expand its infrastructure in regions offering cheap energy and political goodwill.

The company is in early talks with two potential partners: Humain, a Saudi-backed artificial intelligence firm offering xAI several gigawatts of capacity, and another company building a smaller but more immediately available 200-megawatt facility, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private talks.

The Humain proposal, while massive in ambition, remains distant. While the AI company is backed by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, the firm has yet to break ground on much of the infrastructure it’s pledged to build. Any arrangement with xAI would offer Musk computing resources years down the road instead of being a near-term solution.

Private equity firm Henderson Park Capital Partners UK is selling one of its Irish assets to family office M Core, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Arena Centre in Tallaght, a Dublin suburb, is being bought for just shy of the €35 million ($40.7 million) guide price, the people said. The mixed-used asset, including office and retail, had already been up for sale before, but failed to find a buyer.

In 2023, agents sought €45 million on behalf of Henderson Park. Part of the discount this time round is because a unit leased to Lidl has been sold separately for €7 million. Previous owner Green Reit offered the asset to the market with a guide price in excess of €65 million in 2016, the Irish Times reported then.

Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa pledged $17 billion worth of investments in the US as he met with President Donald Trump at the White House. “This is real. These aren’t fake deals,” the crown prince, who also serves as his country’s prime minister, told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Trump, in his second term has sought to harness his ties to many foreign leaders to encourage them to boost investments in the US, part of an economic agenda that seeks to rebalance trade flows and create more manufacturing jobs on American shores.

Bahrain’s national carrier, Gulf Air, has been considering purchasing about a dozen of Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner jets in a firm order, with an option to buy additional planes, Bloomberg reported earlier Wednesday, citing people familiar with the plan who asked not to be identified discussing private negotiations.

US President Donald Trump said he would send letters to more than 150 countries notifying them of tariff rates as he pushes ahead with a trade agenda that has sent US partners racing to avoid higher import taxes.

“We’ll have well, over 150 countries that we’re just going to send a notice of payment out, and the notice of payment is going to say what the tariff” rate will be, Trump told reporters on Wednesday at the White House. “It’s all going to be the same for everyone, for that group.”

“They’re not big countries, and they don’t do that much business,” Trump added about the trading partners that would receive upcoming letters.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has barred Nvidia Corp. from selling its H20 chip in China, an escalation of Washington’s tech battle with Beijing that will cost the company billions of dollars and hamstring a product line it explicitly designed to comply with previous US curbs.

The US government informed Nvidia on Monday that the H20 would require a license to export to China “for the indefinite future.” The new rules address Washington’s concerns that “the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a supercomputer in China,” the company said in a filing. Nvidia warned it will report about $5.5 billion in write-downs during the current quarter, tied to inventory and commitments for the chip.

Stocks were taken on a wild ride Wednesday as a White House official indicated to CNBC that President Donald Trump was moving closer to firing Jerome Powell from his post as Federal Reserve chairman, initially knocking down the S&P 500. The benchmark then rebounded as Trump later denied the report.

The S&P 500 was last down 0.1% after losing as much as 0.6% earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite traded 0.2% lower after briefly dropping as much as 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline. The 30-stock index had earlier fallen 264.31 points, or 0.6%.

Oil slipped for a third day on nascent signs of a softening physical market, as traders assess the likelihood of a glut in the second half of the year.

West Texas Intermediate futures fell by as much as 1.7% to trade near $68 a barrel after a weekly report from the US Energy Information Administration showed inventories at the key storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, rose to the highest since June, while US distillate demand ticked down. At the same time, crude inventories fell by 3.86 million barrels.

Traders and analysts remain preoccupied with the prospect of an oversupply later this year, as global demand growth cools, the OPEC+ alliance fast—tracks the return of halted supplies and output across the Americas booms. Price gauges indicate that availability is tight for the time being, with a premium of $1.06 cents on the US benchmark’s prompt spread, and US distillate inventories, which include diesel, sitting at the lowest level since the 1996 seasonally.

BNP Paribas SA is betting an army of 500 coders will be able to help it grab more market share in the growing business of prime brokerage.

The French bank has been adding dozens of software engineers to help it develop a new platform that determines how much margin it requires hedge fund clients to keep on hand. Already, the division has amassed more than half a trillion dollars worth of prime balances and has a line of sight to add another $40 billion by year-end.

“We’re not currently constrained,” Ashley Wilson, BNP’s global head of prime services, said in an interview. “We have a lot of capacity to grow.”

President Donald Trump told a room full of Republican lawmakers that he will fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, after receiving approval from them to make the move, a senior White House official told CNBC.

Amid repeated denials from administration officials and high-ranking Republicans, the exchange came Tuesday evening in the Oval Office, following Republicans blocking a vote on cryptocurrency legislation that Trump has favoured.

“The President asked lawmakers how they felt about firing the Fed Chair. They expressed approval for firing him. The President indicated he likely will soon,” the official said.

A rout in chipmakers weighed on stocks, which briefly wiped out gains fueled by a softer-than-estimated inflation reading that reinforced the case for the Federal Reserve to cut rates this year. Bond yields fell. The dollar halted a four-day advance.

The S&P 500 was little changed. A 10% plunge in ASML Holding NV after the company walked back its sales forecast dragged down the semiconductor space. Revenue surprises from US financial giants like Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley fueled optimism about their ability to navigate the tariff turmoil.

Treasuries saw mild gains, with the 10-year yield dropping three basis points to 4.45%. Money markets slightly increased bets on Fed cuts this year, with traders still projecting about two reductions before the year is over.

The slowdown at Europe’s cocoa factories is deepening, highlighting how historically high prices are curbing demand and hurting processors’ profits in the top chocolate-consuming region.

The amount of beans ground into butter and powder that’s used in confectionery probably fell almost 5% in Europe in the second quarter from the same period in 2024, the average estimate of seven traders, brokers and processors surveyed by Bloomberg shows. That would mark a fourth straight quarter of year-on-year declines and the lowest grindings for the period since early in the pandemic.

Swiss officials approved the draft of a framework trade deal with the US almost two weeks ago, and are continuing talks while awaiting sign off from President Donald Trump, according to the government.

That twist in the ongoing negotiations was revealed to Bloomberg in an email on Wednesday that suggests Bern remains in suspense over whether the agreement will get over the line before the Aug. 1 deadline set by the White House.

“On July 4, 2025, the Federal Council approved the draft of a joint declaration of intent,” a spokesperson said, adding that this still lacks a nod from the American president. “Switzerland continues to be in touch with the relevant authorities in the US.”

President Donald Trump has dialled down his confrontational tone with China in an effort to secure a summit with counterpart Xi Jinping and a trade deal with the world’s second-largest economy, people familiar with internal deliberations said.

Six months into his second term, Trump has softened his harsh campaign rhetoric that focused on the US’s massive trade deficit with China and resulting job losses. The warmer posture contrasts with his threats against other trading partners to ravage their economies with crushing tariffs.

Trump is now focused on cutting purchase deals with Beijing — similar to one he forged during his first term — and celebrating quick wins instead of addressing the root causes of the trade imbalances. China posted a record trade surplus in the first half of the year amid booming exports.

For a decade, a Chinese tailor toiled in a three-story building on the outskirts of Milan, working 13 hours a day making high-end garments for brands including Italian cashmere label Loro Piana.

The unnamed worker was paid off-the-books, earning roughly €1,500 ($1,742) a month, according to legal documents seen by Bloomberg — about the price of one Loro Piana baby cashmere sweater. He became part of a hidden, underground labor force, employed by third parties, who craft luxury clothing for Italy’s most renowned fashion houses.

His case, which came to light after the tailor’s boss stopped paying wages and allegedly attacked him, became part of an ongoing probe of persistent worker abuses in one of Italy’s most important industries.

For two years, prosecutors have sought to reform an export model where premium brands sell Italian fashion abroad at luxury prices, even as inexpensive workshops proliferate around Milan, flouting labour standards in Italy’s capital of style.

Tesla Inc. is preparing to launch a longer, six-seat version of its Model Y sport utility vehicle in China, where the carmaker has been losing ground to domestic manufacturers with fresher lineups.

The new variant of Tesla’s top-selling model will be about 150 centimeters (5.9 inches) longer than the existing Model Y, according to figures posted Wednesday on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s website. The filing lists LG New Energy as the battery supplier.

Tesla confirmed the upcoming release on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, sharing two images of the SUV along with the caption: “Model Y L, see you in the autumn!”

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said the government in Berlin stands by its commitment to a global minimum corporate tax, clarifying remarks by Chancellor Friedrich Merz that appeared to call Berlin’s support for the levy into question.

Merz told reporters during a trip to Bavaria on Tuesday that he agreed with a conservative ally that there’s little point in Europe enforcing the 15% tax as US President Donald Trump’s Treasury Department has vetoed it.

Quizzed about Merz’s comments, Klingbeil said that he had spoken with the chancellor and they agreed that Germany “will stick to the global minimum tax” and “do everything to ensure that this project is pursued.”

US industrial production rose in June, boosted by a jump in utility output and a modest gain in manufacturing.

The 0.3% increase in production at factories, mines and utilities followed little change a month earlier, Federal Reserve data showed Wednesday. The median estimate of the Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.1% increase.

Manufacturing output, which accounts for three-fourths of total industrial production, rose 0.1% after an upwardly revised 0.3% May increase. Output at utilities climbed 2.8%. Mining and energy extraction declined.

Canadian officials are open to considering limits on how much softwood lumber can be exported to the US to try to resolve some of the trade friction between the countries, according to the leader of British Columbia.

“We think there is actually an opportunity for lumber to be one of the early agreements and wins that are struck,” Premier David Eby said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

“One of the asks for years out of the American coalition has been a quota — that there’s a fixed amount of lumber that gets to come from Canada,” he said. “And I think that, for the first time, there’s some willingness to have a conversation about what that could look like.”

The European Union has proposed a budget of close to €2 trillion ($2.3 trillion) for its next seven-year budget, as it seeks to fend off a range of challenges from rising global economic competition to increased defence demands.

The plan, which will kick in from 2028, was agreed after intense negotiations that stretched late into Tuesday night and resumed on Wednesday morning, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The figure of €1.98 trillion represents a substantial jump from the €1.2 trillion — equivalent to 1% of the EU’s output — that was allocated to the budget during the last budgetary cycle, between 2021 and 2027. The bumper budget figure is likely to get pushback from some EU member states already struggling with budgetary issues, and who will be responsible for funding most of the package through national contributions.

Senegal’s heavy debt burden, which has triggered its second credit-rating downgrade in five months, could ease sharply when the government does a technical reset of economic data later this year, according to Barclays Plc.

The emerging oil and gas producer’s 2024 nominal gross domestic product could be lifted by between 15% to 25%, Barclays analyst Michael Kafe wrote in a note to clients, pushing debt-to-GDP back toward or below 100% from 119% currently.

The debt ratio jumped after an audit by the administration of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye found a $7 billion hole in the West African nation’s public finances, blamed in part on underreporting during the final five-year rule of his predecessor.

France is set to cut the rate on its popular regulated savings products, following a recommendation from the central bank.

The return on so-called Livret A and LDDS accounts should be lowered next month to 1.7% from 2.4%, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said in a statement on Wednesday.

Reducing returns for savers contributes to lowering funding costs for French banks and social housing projects that are financed by the deposits. It could prove politically unpopular, however, as the instant-access, state-guaranteed accounts are widely used by households.

Diageo Plc Chief Executive Officer Debra Crew stepped down after a bruising run in which the company’s stock has plummeted.

The maker of Guinness and Johnnie Walker whisky said Wednesday Chief Financial Officer Nik Jhangiani had been appointed interim CEO, with a search already under way for Crew’s permanent replacement.

Shares of Diageo rose as much as 4.5%, the most since April on an intraday basis. The stock had slumped 43% through Tuesday’s close since Crew took over in June 2023.

Her tenure has been punctuated by setbacks, including a drop in sales on cooling demand in China and the US, and a profit warning after being caught out by piles of unsold inventory in Mexico and Brazil.

A measure of wholesale prices showed no change in June, providing a conflicting sign over whether tariffs threaten to boost inflation in the coming months.

The producer price index was flat, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for an increase of 0.2%. The same was true for core PPI, which was also expected to show a 0.2% increase.

Combined with Tuesday’s consumer price index release, the data suggests that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are indicating only a marginal bite on the US economy and the prices for goods and services.

Morgan Stanley’s stock traders posted their best second quarter on record as the biggest US banks continue to reap the benefits of market volatility tied to President Donald Trump’s policy moves.

The firm earned $3.72 billion in equity-trading revenue, a 23% jump from a year ago and ahead of analyst expectations, according to a statement Wednesday. The firm’s closely-watched wealth management unit reeled in $59.2 billion of net new assets in the period, also surpassing predictions.

Morgan Stanley joins rivals Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in reporting earnings Wednesday, with investors keen to parse results for further details of the impact of Trump’s tariffs. The volatility sparked by his proposals helped Goldman’s stock traders post their largest haul ever.

Johnson & Johnson beat Wall Street’s quarterly sales expectations and raised its full-year outlook, a show of confidence as the pharmaceutical industry faces the dual threats of tariffs and a crackdown on drug pricing.

J&J’s strong second quarter comes as President Donald Trump floats the idea of levies on the sector. On Tuesday night, he said tariffs on drugs could “probably” come at the end of the month, starting low and working their way up.

Bang Si-hyuk, the billionaire founder of BTS-agency Hybe Co. Ltd. faces investigation by South Korean prosecutors for allegedly misleading investors ahead of its 2020 IPO.

The Financial Services Commission referred the largest shareholder of an unidentified company and its former executives on allegations of deceiving investors and violating trading practices. While the FSC did not name the probe’s targets in its statement, a person familiar with the investigation told Bloomberg News the company in question was Hybe.

The parties “deceived existing shareholders by making it seem as if the listing would be delayed” even though the company was preparing for the IPO, the FSC said in the statement. That prompted the existing investors to sell their holdings to a special purpose vehicle that was established by a private equity fund in which the company executives were involved, the statement added.

Bank of America Corp.’s traders posted a record second quarter as the company reaped the benefits of volatile markets and net interest income topped analysts’ estimates.

Revenue from fixed income, currencies and commodities trading jumped 19% to $3.25 billion in the three months through June, the company said in a statement Wednesday. That helped Bank of America top analysts’ estimates for per-share earnings. Equity trading rose 9.6% to $2.13 billion, also topping expectations.

Volatility has whipsawed global markets since US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on trading partners around the world in April. That’s been good news for the markets businesses at Bank of America and its rivals across Wall Street as they’ve benefited from a surge in client activity while also thwarting expectations for a strong rebound in mergers and acquisitions.

The chief executive officer of Italian real estate developer Coima Sgr faces questioning as part of a broad probe of alleged corruption in property developments in Milan, according to people familiar with the matter.

Manfredi Catella, who leads one of Italy’s largest real estate investors, is one of the people to be questioned in the probe and could potentially face arrest, the people said, who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorised to discuss it. Coima had no immediate comment, and Catella wasn’t available, a company representative said.

Police in Milan raided several offices and homes on Wednesday, targeting developers, architects, public officials and members of the mayoral office, according to a statement issued by the city’s chief prosecutor.

ASML Holding NV Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet walked back the company’s sales forecast for next year, blaming trade disputes and global tensions.

“We continue to see increasing uncertainty driven by macro-economic and geopolitical developments,” Fouquet said in a statement on ASML’s quarterly results Wednesday. “Therefore, while we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage.”

The Dutch firm’s shares fell as much as 8.5% to €646.30 in Amsterdam on Wednesday, the biggest intraday decline since April 7. They have fallen 32% in the last year.

Turkey’s most popular opposition politician, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was sentenced to nearly two years in prison on Wednesday, after a court found him guilty of “threatening” Istanbul’s chief prosecutor.

The sentence falls short of banning Imamoglu from politics, which would have dealt a serious blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest political rival. Imamoglu is expected to appeal the decision and the prison sentence won’t become effective until all legal means to contest it have been exhausted.

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