Global markets navigated competing pressures from AI spending and geopolitical tensions as significant corporate, regulatory, and conflict developments unfolded. In international finance, Alibaba shares dropped 10 percent in Hong Kong following a $10 billion equity plan that triggered dilution fears, while Shein filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering targeting a $27 billion valuation to raise up to $1.77 billion. In the United States, retail trading activity surged past GameStop-era levels, driven by prediction markets as Robinhood's fastest-growing business line, while Paramount CEO David Ellison and California Attorney General Rob Bonta held high-stakes discussions regarding structural remedies for the $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Geopolitically, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the IDF to escalate the demolition of infrastructure across southern Lebanon, and the U.S. military struck an alleged drug vessel in the eastern Pacific according to Southcom. In technology and digital assets, Xiaomi launched its new Xring chip through a production partnership with TSMC, whereas the Ethereum lending app Term Finance lost $8.5 million after an attacker bought voting power to exploit the protocol, even as the ETH/BTC ratio formed a bullish golden cross. Meanwhile, healthcare updates featured GSK receiving its first global approval in Japan for the hepatitis B treatment Hibsago alongside FDA acceptance for its Jemperli rectal cancer application.