The two big stories of the week have been AI and the less eye catching but perhaps more impactful move in bond yields.

Throughout July, as Europe battled heatwaves and wildfires, markets showed growing concern for those invested in AI's future. The primary driver of markets in recent years has been AI. Specifically, the enormous spending from hyperscalers Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Oracle, who plan to spend just shy of $725bn on AI infrastructure this year alone. That colossal figure is having a visible impact on US and global GDP.

1. Semiconductor stock supernova The dominant positive trend in equity markets since the recovery began in early April has been strength in AI infrastructure-related stocks. This has been influenced primarily by growing evidence that large language models (LLMs) are beginning to generate meaningful revenue and are becoming increasingly embedded within enterprise workflows. At the beginning of April, Anthropic - the company behind Claude - announced a 300% increase in annualised revenue to...