The 18th #JapanETF26 Conference brought industry leaders to Tokyo for two days of forward-looking discussion on investing and capital markets. Martina Cheung, CEO of S&P Global, opened by emphasizing transparency, insight and the continued growth of ETFs in Japan. Her remarks highlighted how essential intelligence helps foster stronger, more accessible markets.
Catherine Clay, CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices, and Cameron Drinkwater, Chief Product & Operations Officer at S&P Dow Jones Indices, joined Martina in a forward-looking discussion on the forces shaping the industry, including DeFi, private markets and AI, and how evolving approaches to indexing and benchmarking are reshaping views on risk and opportunity.
Discover more: https://t.co/z7aYIgqC42
This report provides an updated view of AI and labor market dynamics from the latest Purchasing Managers' Index® (PMI) special survey on AI investment, along with recent data from 451 Research’s Voice of the Enterprise survey lines.
Read the full report: https://t.co/kowI1ZIcNp
In response to severe economic shocks from the ongoing Middle East conflict, India is pivoting its risk management approach from providing immediate buffers to building long-term strategic resilience. To navigate this global volatility, the country is actively recalibrating its fiscal policies, easing foreign investment rules to boost domestic self-sufficiency, and diversifying its energy and labor partnerships.
Read the full report here: https://t.co/FNYRyHxy3n
The number of risky credits is stabilizing near the long-term average. Since end-January 2026, the number of risky credits has declined by four to 52, still slightly above the five-year average of 51. The share of risky credits declined to 8.8% as of end-April 2026 from 9.3% at end-January. This was due to a reduction in both the number of risky credits and the size of the speculative-grade universe.
Discover more from @SPGlobalRatings >> https://t.co/cCWgfCL8B2
Catherine Clay, CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices, spoke to Bloomberg’s The Asia Trade on the sidelines of the 18th Japan ETF Conference in Tokyo. Cathy shares her insights on the outlook for Japan’s capital markets and mega IPOs in the US.
Watch the full interview here: https://t.co/RoJ0k0jjNp
Recent data from @SPGMarketIntel indicated a notable shift in the near-term outlook for the chemicals industry in April 2026. Global demand for chemicals and chemical-related products showed signs of strengthening, driven by increased new orders and a faster pace of production growth. However, the overall environment remains complex, with rising costs and geopolitical uncertainties tempering optimism.
Read more: https://t.co/uuFElxpHOV
Chinese refineries are likely to extend the downtrend in crude throughput in June due to reduced feedstock supply, low oil products demand and high domestic inventories, analysts and refinery sources told Platts, part of @EnergySPG, May 29.
A Singapore-based analyst with an international oil company expected China's crude throughput to fall below 13 million barrels/day in June, continuing a decline from a 44-month low of 13.35 million b/d in April.
Platts data showed that 49 of China's state-owned refineries had an average run rate of 71.6% in May, a 74-month low since 70.4% in March 2020, when the country was hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The utilization was at a 43-month low of 75.6% in April.
Read more: https://t.co/OlCIIE1Kaf
Private equity and venture capital investment in waste management hit a five-year high just about five months into 2026, as investors shifted focus toward materials recovery and recycling.
Transaction value in the sector reached $9.34 billion globally between Jan. 1 and May 17, exceeding the $2.4 billion recorded in all of 2025, according to @SPGMarketIntel data.
The year-to-date transaction value in 2026 has already surpassed the full-year totals for each year since 2021, when the value reached $10.78 billion.
Read more: https://t.co/lZR0W6Ut9b
The central government debt-to-GDP ratio could rise to 57.5% from 56.1% in fiscal year 2025–26, delaying the goal to reduce it to 49%-51% by fiscal year 2030–31. To meet this objective, the Indian government may need to reduce its infrastructure-linked capital expenditure, a key driver of growth in recent years.
Read the full report here: https://t.co/LQxJuxhk3S
China's tightening of beef safeguard measures is expected to shift global trade flows, impacting top suppliers Brazil and Australia, according to exporters and traders in both countries.
China, the largest beef importer, decided to impose an additional tariff of 55% on beef imports from different countries, including Brazil, Australia and the US, when shipments exceed the annual quotas from 2026 through 2028, the country's commerce ministry said Dec. 31, 2025. For 2026, China set the quota for Brazil at 1.1 million metric tons, Australia at 205,000 mt and the US at 164,000 mt, it said.
Read more with @EnergySPG:
https://t.co/E4SR2HYPgE
Financial supervisors globally face two parallel challenges: adopting AI to improve internal efficiency, while also effectively supervising the risks arising from AI adoption by regulated banks.
Read our latest research: https://t.co/PsraLn3Im8
In some ways, GameStop is the story of the suburbs, of being an idle teenager, of sifting through the bargain bin, of late night Call of Duty launch parties, of buying your first console and then selling it back a few years later. But it's also the story of the end of the shopping mall, the decline of physical media and the shifting center of power in the $200 billion gaming industry. Oh, and it's also the story of the rise of the retail investor? And maybe, it's the story of the future of shopping… although maybe not.
Using reporting and analysis from @SPGMarketIntel, Neil Barbour walks through the long arc of GameStop’s rise, decline and improbable afterlife. From the PlayStation 2 boom years to the 2021 short squeeze, to shrinking store counts and the company’s recent $55.5 billion bid for eBay.
Listen to the latest Data & Dimensions podcast episode:
https://t.co/xmaVtG5Err
Japan's world-beating automakers may find themselves further behind overseas competitors in electrification. Long pioneers in technologies for fuel efficiency, Japanese makers substantially lag global peers in battery electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid adoption.
The gap between Japan's stated decarbonization commitments and its implementation trajectory for autos could grow, in @SPGlobalRatings' view. Japanese battery electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) adoption remains among the weakest in the G-7. The government, meanwhile, has crafted policy frameworks calibrated to minimize disruption to incumbent business models.
Read more: https://t.co/yJqDLv1D9t
Asia's carmakers were already facing a difficult 2026; war in the Middle East has just added turbulence to their operations and credit profiles. Firms have been contending with weakening demand, policy risk and a precarious transition to electrification.
Now they are also navigating rising costs and consumer caginess.
China's domestic auto market will remain intensely competitive. To cope, the carmakers will accelerate overseas expansion. This will intensify competition in the international market.
Growing appetite for hybrids will benefit the key Japanese auto firms. Yet the rise of Chinese manufacturers will eat into their market share outside of the U.S. and India, as Japan's electric vehicle (EV) lineup falls short of peers.
Read more with @SPGlobalRatings:
https://t.co/sB7awF2TgS
The North American power sector is navigating a transformation driven by unprecedented electricity demand from data centers, industrial growth, and economy-wide electrification. The old paradigm of choosing between low-cost or dispatchable power has been replaced by a complex matrix where grid operators must balance cost, reliability, and emissions across a diverse and evolving technology landscape.
Insights from the S&P Global webinar, “Amid surging demand, complexity of the power supply puzzle grows,” reveal how these dynamics are reshaping regional markets, technology costs, and long-term capacity planning. The analysis shows convergent economics are creating intense competition between generation types, while significant revisions to load forecasts, particularly in PJM, create a two-speed outlook for the decade ahead.
Read more with @SPGMarketIntel:
https://t.co/4H7Uw9ofET
Today’s global economies must balance their macroeconomic, geopolitical, trade and energy options, aligning supply and demand dynamics with their immediate needs and long-term ambitions. India enters this volatile period backed by strong domestic fundamentals; the country is well positioned to harness these economic shifts and accelerate toward its goal of becoming an advanced economy by 2047.
Read the full report here: https://t.co/s8cmTZTXWN
From @EnergySPG: The animal protein trade is realigning in 2026 due to import restrictions, disease outbreaks, rising demand and supplier shifts.
Brazil expects increased demand for poultry from China as it reopens its market.
The beef trade focuses on China, which imposes import quotas for 2026 and a 55% tariff on any excess.
African swine fever in Europe is impacting pork supply, with the EU being the world’s second-largest pork exporter.
After the US Supreme Court struck down country-specific tariffs, India and Ecuador compete to expand their shrimp exports to the US, the second-largest importer.
Explore interactive data:
https://t.co/dpoB1T9qxX
From @SPGMarketIntel: Following a spring box office rebound, the latest MediaTalk episode highlights why the industry is entering summer 2026 with real momentum. S&P Global's box office experts, Wade Holden and Mac Mathews, point to a slate packed with major franchises and originals — from The Devil Wears Prada 2 to Supergirl, a new Spider-Man entry, and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey — as key reasons the market could push past the $4 billion summer threshold.
The conversation also underscores a meaningful audience shift: Gen Z is increasingly shaping theatrical performance, especially around low-budget horror, event films, and rediscovered catalog IP that gained traction through streaming. At the same time, the success of female-skewing sequels and musical biopics suggests the box office is becoming less dependent on superhero titles alone.
Listen to the latest MediaTalk podcast episode:
https://t.co/fxOLjMpybw
Floods triggered by Storm Boris in 2024 were Austria's most damaging weather event in at least two decades, highlighting the growing financial toll of climate hazards. Assessing how physical climate hazards affect state’s creditworthiness requires an understanding of climate risk exposure and the fiscal responsibilities across levels of government for disaster-related costs.
@SPGlobalRatings’ analysis reveals a complex interplay between federal support, state-level co-financing, and preventative investment. Beyond immediate relief costs, frequent and intensifying climate events could disrupt economic activity, erode tax bases, and require sustained increases in spending on adaptation and resilience.
Read more: https://t.co/V1RynLaiAt
European and Asian LPG fundamentals have sharply diverged following the disruption to flows through the Strait of Hormuz in late February and early March. The supply shock sent Asian propane prices sharply higher, tightened availability, and disrupted petrochemical demand. The European market, especially the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub, has remained comparatively well supplied and under pressure.
To examine the latest trends in this segment, @EnergySPG's Gary Clark, the associate director of the EMEA clean refined price reporting team, is joined by Senior Price Reporter Barbara Fernandez-Pita to help explain how record US exports, surging freight costs, a closed arbitrage window, and the end of the winter heating season have helped insulate European propane from the worst of the global squeeze.
Listen to the podcast: https://t.co/4k1y4z9dbl