Nvidia Taps Wall Street for $500B; Iran Deal Hopes Dim | The Asia Trade 8/11/2026

Summary

The episode covers Nvidia’s $500B AI infrastructure funding coalition with major Wall Street firms, Intel’s historic $20B share sale, yen weakness as BOJ silence undermines intervention, US-Iran tensions stalling a Hormuz deal and lifting oil, the RBA’s hawkish hold, a rotation from AI into Asian bank stocks, fading momentum in Korea’s KOSPI, and a bullish thesis on Sunrise Energy Metals’ scandium project backed by a US government loan.

• Nvidia partners with BlackRock, Blackstone, Apollo, KKR for $500B AI infrastructure funding, raising circular-deal concerns
• Intel targets $95/share in upsized $20B stock offering, its first public share sale since 1971
• Yen gives back half of intervention gains as BOJ stays silent and US tightening risks persist
• Oil prices hold gains after Trump and Iran exchange new demands, dimming Strait of Hormuz reopening
• RBA expected to hold rates with hawkish rhetoric amid sticky inflation and falling house prices
• AI-led equity rally takes a back seat as investors rotate into Asian banks across Japan, Australia, HK, India, Singapore
• KOSPI loses momentum with foreign outflows and retail fatigue; need for Samsung/SK Hynix shareholder-return narrative
• Sunrise Energy Metals secures $400M US loan for scandium project, seen as critical for AI data centers, defense, and semiconductors