Daily Briefing — 2026-08-18

Global markets remain dominated by a broad bond selloff. The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield has hit its highest level since 2007, with bond markets from the US to Japan under pressure on inflation and fiscal worries. Equities have largely shrugged off higher yields, though headlines also show stocks declining as crude oil jumped to $91 amid U.S.-Iran tensions; Russia additionally warned the UK over drone supplies. China’s central bank lifted its daily yuan fix slightly against the dollar, and European Central Bank commentary has raised the question of whether markets are heading toward an AI-led crash similar to the dot-com era.

In crypto, U.S. legislative progress is stalled — with the Clarity Act in limbo, regulators are effectively setting policy as the SEC and CFTC move to shape digital-asset rules. The SEC has also delayed a crypto regulation meeting. The Treasury has opened a 60-day comment period on GENIUS Act stablecoin rules, while World Liberty Financial received conditional OCC approval for a bank charter. Elsewhere, Bank of Russia limited broker crypto equity to 25%, and Japan brought crypto under Financial Instruments and Exchange Act rules, including insider-trading restrictions. Crypto lending fell 17% to $56 billion.

Today’s calendar is mostly low-impact, but Canadian CPI is the high-importance release, with median, trimmed and common measures also due. China publishes a broad set of activity data — industrial production, retail sales, fixed-asset investment, unemployment and new home prices — plus an NBS press conference. Japan reports preliminary GDP and revised industrial production, and the U.S. releases the Empire State manufacturing index. Watch these releases and the Treasury yield level that could finally crack equity resilience, with oil headlines and Washington crypto policy also in focus.