MacroShed Daily Brief — September 25, 2026

US and China extend their trade truce

President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping extended the US–China trade truce by two months at their September 24 White House summit, Reuters reported. The extension gives both governments more time to negotiate terms affecting the world’s two largest powers. Taiwan, advanced technology and Iran remained points of contention. The temporary extension does not resolve those disputes.

US and Iran discuss a phased Hormuz deal

US and Iranian negotiators are discussing a sequence in which Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the US would lift its economic blockade, according to Reuters. Reopening the strait could restore access to a critical oil route. Neither side wants to surrender leverage first, and no agreement has been reached. The reported talks have not yet produced a reopened strait.

Oil prices drive a government-bond selloff

Government bonds sold off across major markets as higher oil prices revived inflation concerns, Reuters reported. US long-term yields reached multi-decade highs, while expectations of further central-bank tightening rose. Sustained increases in sovereign yields would raise financing costs for governments and other borrowers and could affect capital-intensive investment. The selloff’s lasting effect remains uncertain.

China expels two senior military leaders

China’s Politburo expelled Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli from the party and military, Reuters reported. Zhang served on China’s top military command body and had been viewed as a close ally of Xi Jinping. Their removal changes the senior leadership of the People’s Liberation Army. Its effect on military operations and readiness remains unclear.

Oracle issues notice on a Stargate data-center project

Oracle sent a force-majeure notice to the developer of Project Jupiter, a New Mexico data-center campus intended to support OpenAI. Reuters reported that the setback was affecting discussions about financing other AI infrastructure. The notice raises questions about delivery and funding for a flagship project. The eventual delay and cost remain unresolved, and the notice does not establish that the project is canceled.

Anthropic reports an AI-assisted biological finding

Anthropic says Claude agents identified a previously uncharacterized reverse-transcriptase system associated with repeating DNA sequences, which its scientists then investigated in the lab. If independently substantiated, the work could provide evidence that AI systems can generate useful leads for biological research. The findings are in a preprint, and the system’s function is still unknown.

US, Denmark and Greenland sign Arctic agreement

The US, Denmark and Greenland signed a September 22 security agreement paving the way for more US bases in Greenland, the Associated Press reported. The agreement eases a dispute over the island’s sovereignty and could expand the US military presence in a strategically important Arctic territory. Greenland’s sovereignty remains unchanged. The scale and timing of additional deployments are unclear.

Akamai announces $11.6 billion Anthropic commitment

Akamai announced a seven-year, $11.6 billion agreement to supply cloud infrastructure and software for Anthropic’s growing CPU workloads. The commitment illustrates the scale of infrastructure required to run AI systems. Akamai’s filing says payments depend on delivery and service conditions. The full contract value represents neither immediate spending nor capacity already delivered.

SoftBank raises record high-yield financing

SoftBank raised $11.1 billion through dollar- and euro-denominated bonds to support its extensive OpenAI investment. Reuters described the transaction as the largest high-yield corporate bond sale on record. The borrowing shows the amount of debt financing available for a leading AI investment and increases SoftBank’s financial exposure. The financing alone does not establish what returns that investment will produce.