On August 12, Lumentum's shares rose over 10% following strong quarterly results, leading the optical communication sector. Nokia's shares increased by over 9%, while Ciena, Fabrinet, and Tower Semiconductor saw gains of over 7%. Coherent, Credo Technology, and Corning also rose by more than 5%. The news highlights robust demand for AI optical communication, with Lumentum reporting a strong performance for its fourth fiscal quarter. During this period, net revenue more than doubled year-on-year to $1.01 billion, with adjusted earnings per share soaring 267% to $3.23 and gross margin exceeding 50%. The company's guidance for the first fiscal quarter also surpassed expectations. CEO Michael Hurlston confirmed during the earnings call that production for its major CPO customers is 'on track,' with demand signals showing an increase since the last update. The company reiterated its expectation for demand for high-power laser chips to ramp up in the second half of 2027.

On August 12, the cloud computing sector saw significant gains, with CoreWeave rising over 23%, NEBIUS up over 17%, IREN increasing over 8%, and Hut 8 climbing over 6%. Additionally, Oracle and Riot Platforms both rose over 3%. In terms of news, cloud computing giants' earnings have confirmed a surge in computing demand. CoreWeave reported Q2 revenue of $2.575 billion, a 112% year-over-year increase, exceeding expectations; its core revenue backlog reached approximately $104 billion. Furthermore, NEBIUS reported a 454% year-over-year increase in Q2 revenue to $582 million, with AI cloud business revenue skyrocketing by 514%, and it has raised its guidance for contracted power capacity for 2026.

On August 12, news emerged that Hyperliquid is looking to explore pathways to enter the U.S. market for its perpetual contracts. Currently, the platform is not open to U.S. users. Previously, the Hyperliquid Policy Center, funded by Hyper Foundation, has conducted policy research and initiatives in Washington to advocate for the establishment of a regulated access framework for on-chain perpetual contracts and decentralized market infrastructure in the U.S. (The Information)

On August 12, during Tencent's Q2 2026 earnings conference call, President Liu Chiping addressed the issue of increased capital expenditure in the second quarter. He stated that Tencent is indeed making significant investments in computing power and has already seen a clear potential for returns. Several new applications are performing well. Additionally, the computing power used for cloud leasing services is expected to bring considerable revenue growth, enhancing the return on capital expenditure. Regarding some previously placed computing power orders, if sold, they could yield profits exceeding 30% compared to the purchase price from a few months ago.

The Dow Jones increased by 0.3%, while the S&P 500 rose by 0.5%. CoreWeave surged approximately 21% after its Q2 revenue doubled, exceeding expectations, with backlog orders reaching $104 billion. AMD saw a rise of about 9% due to sustained demand for AI infrastructure, with last quarter's sales nearly doubling and guidance for this quarter and the new fiscal year significantly surpassing expectations. Optical communication stocks broadly increased, with Lumentum rising around 11% as strong AI optical communication demand led to a doubling of its revenue last quarter, and its guidance for this quarter also exceeded expectations, despite a debt restructuring resulting in a massive loss of over $7 billion. Marvell Technology climbed about 5%, Coherent rose about 7%, Credo increased around 7%, and Corning gained about 5%. Nebius saw an increase of approximately 15% after its Q2 revenue exceeded expectations. Memory chip stocks also broadly rose, with SK Hynix increasing by about 6%. Data showed that the U.S. core inflation in July performed moderately, which may ease pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. The core CPI in July increased by 2.5% year-on-year, matching the lowest growth rate since March 2021 and in line with expectations, compared to a previous increase of 2.6%.

Spot gold has surpassed $4,440 per ounce, marking a new high since June 5, with an intraday increase of 1.66%.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose by 1%; S&P 500 futures increased by 0.5%.

On August 12, Bank of America announced the launch of a critical infrastructure financing initiative, planning to invest $250 billion in U.S. digital and infrastructure projects to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The initiative aims to strengthen and modernize the nation's infrastructure, support energy security, and enhance job opportunities and economic competitiveness.

According to prediction market Ploymarket, the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike in September has dropped to 34% following the release of CPI data. This is the lowest probability for a September rate hike since July 17, and is only half of what it was on that date.

Matheus Dibo, head of investment strategy for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Goldman Sachs, stated that the Federal Reserve is likely to maintain interest rates unchanged throughout 2026, with inflation risks expected to ease in the second half of the year. "Clearly, the market is still digesting the expectations for interest rate hikes, but we actually disagree with this view and believe that the Fed will keep rates unchanged for the foreseeable future," Dibo said in an interview on Wednesday. He noted that the inflation data released earlier this year was influenced by oil prices, the World Cup, and tariffs, but there are currently few signs that inflation will spread throughout the remainder of 2026. Dibo added that, given trends in the housing market, housing inflation should also ease. (Bloomberg)