Top News Today: Stocks Rise; Treasury Yields Mixed; Oil Tops $91 After Escalation

MARKET WRAPS

STOCKS: Stocks rose after Treasury yields stabilized but gains were muted as oil futures continued climbing due to escalation in the Middle East.

TREASURYS: Treasury yields were mostly lower, though the yield on the 30-year bond was unchanged, hovering near multiyear highs.

FOREX: The U.S. dollar slipped after a weak private-sector jobs survey.

COMMODITIES: Oil futures closed at a six-week high, topping $91 a barrel.

HEADLINES

Google Avoids Breakup of Dominant Ad Tech Business

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Justice Department's request

to dismantle Google's online advertising business, the second time a

court has denied government efforts to break up the company after it was

found liable for engaging in illegal monopoly tactics.

The decision is a historical marker that effectively closes the book

on nearly two decades of U.S. antitrust risk for Alphabet's Google,

dating back to when government enforcers during the Obama administration

considered bringing a monopoly case against the company.

It also is another severe blow to an antimonopoly political

movement-at times embraced by both parties-that gained prominence over

the past decade and focused on fighting Silicon Valley. Proponents of

that approach saw antitrust law as the most direct way to break apart

corporate goliaths accused of abusing their power to stifle smaller

competitors.

Uber's $15 Billion Takeover Bid Gets Delivery Hero Board Backing

Delivery Hero confirmed it is in favor of a $14.8 billion takeover bid

from Uber Technologies and advised shareholders to accept it, advancing

the planned tie-up of two of the world's biggest food-delivery platforms.

The German delivery company said Wednesday its management and

supervisory boards had independently reviewed the U.S. giant's offer.

"They deem the offer to be in the best interest of the Company, its

shareholders, employees and other stakeholders," Delivery Hero said.

"They therefore support the offer and recommend that Delivery Hero

shareholders accept it."

Chevron to Invest $7 Billion in Venezuela, Doubling Production

Chevron, Italian oil giant ENI and other energy companies inked deals

Wednesday in Caracas to plow billions of dollars into Venezuela's oil

fields following months of tense negotiations.

The agreements mark the first big win for the Trump administration's

push to revitalize the Latin American country's dilapidated oil industry.

Since ousting strongman Nicolás Maduro in early January, President Trump

has said he intends to secure Western crude supply lines and cut fuel

prices for Americans.

"We were trying to work at what I call Trump speed," Energy Secretary

Chris Wright said at a signing ceremony at the Miraflores Palace.

"President Trump didn't want a nudge or a slow drift in a positive

direction. He wanted to see as fast as possible a transformation in

Venezuela."

Private-Sector Hiring Slowed in August

Hiring by private-sector employers saw softer growth last month,

according to human-resources company ADP.

Private companies added a net 38,000 jobs in August, after adding a

revised 46,000 jobs in July, ADP said. August saw the slowest pace of job

creation since January.

Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected to see

47,000 new private-sector jobs added.

U.S. Government Backs OpenAI in Copyright Fight With Publishers

The U.S. government has filed a statement in support of OpenAI in its

legal battle with the New York Times and other publishers, arguing that

training on news content is within the bounds of "fair use" under U.S.

copyright law.

Making it more difficult for large language models to train on

copyrighted content would be "inconsistent with basic copyright law

principles" and thwart creative and scientific progress, according to a

letter submitted by Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr.

and Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate from the Justice Department.

Fair use is a doctrine that allows for copyright material to be used

without permission in certain circumstances.

Bank of Canada Keeps Rate Steady as Inflation Worries Intensify

OTTAWA-The Bank of Canada left its main interest rate unchanged at

2.25% and adopted a more alarmed tone about the upside risks to inflation

amid new cross-border tariffs and no imminent end to the war in the

Middle East.

Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said Wednesday that a sharp

deterioration in U.S.-Canada commercial ties does pose challenges for the

economy, and risks stifling a nascent recovery that suggested businesses

are learning to live with heightened trade-policy uncertainty.

Fresh U.S. tariffs and retaliatory duties from Canada could increase

costs to consumers and pose a drag on growth in the fourth quarter, he

said.

AIG's Zaffino Stepping Down as Chairman, Joining Palantir

American International Group's executive chairman, Peter Zaffino, is

stepping down from the insurer's board and will join data-analytics

company Palantir Technologies as global head of financial services.

AIG on Wednesday said Zaffino will leave the board on Sept. 15, and

that John Rice, a board member since March 2022 who currently serves as

the New York company's lead independent director, will succeed him as

chairman.

Zaffino, who earlier this year retired as AIG's chief executive, will

become a senior adviser, the company said.

Thoma Bravo-Owned Proofpoint in Advanced Talks to Buy Varonis

Thoma Bravo-backed Proofpoint is in advanced talks to buy

cybersecurity firm Varonis Systems, according to people familiar with the

matter.

Varonis had a market value of around $5 billion as of Tuesday

afternoon. Its shares jumped over 10% Wednesday afternoon on news of the

discussions, giving it a market value of around $5.4 billion.

There are no guarantees a deal will come together, as talks could

still fall apart or another suitor could emerge.

TALKING POINT Investor David Booth on Life, Stocks and (Not) Trying to Beat the Market

David Booth launched his investing firm 45 years ago, from his Brooklyn Heights apartment. It just passed $1 trillion in assets under management.

Milestones, and perhaps especially those punctuated with 13-digit achievements, can serve as a good time to reflect, says Booth, the chairman of Dimensional Fund Advisors. And Booth, who turns 80 later this year, is choosing this moment to reflect on his life and five-decade investing career in a new book, "Stay Calm: Learn to Embrace Uncertainty in Investing and Life" (Authors Equity, 220 pgs.).

The book, published Sept. 1, details Booth's early years at the forefront of the index-fund revolution. Investing, he writes, is really just a bet on human innovation-and one that is worth the risks.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Booth discussed why market uncertainty is a good thing, the "miracle" of modern investing access, and why he's optimistic about the future.

WSJ: You spent decades touting passive, follow-the-market stock investing. What's it been like to watch that go from an obscure, unpopular strategy to a dominant force in U.S. investing?

DAVID BOOTH: It's been refreshing. In 1971 when I got out of school, people fought these ideas. You'd talk to fund managers or journalists, and they'd say, "You eggheads. You don't understand markets."

Still, it's not clear how many people have really got the message about how difficult the market is to beat. If you look at the growth in index funds, there's been similar growth in trading volumes. Some people are trading in and out of these, trying to time the market.

--Jack Pitcher

Expected Major Events for Thursday 00:30/JPN: Aug Japan Services PMI

06:00/JPN: Jul Revised Machine Tool Orders

06:00/RUS: Aug Russian Services PMI

07:45/ITA: Aug Italy Services PMI

07:50/FRA: Aug France Services PMI

07:55/GER: Aug Germany Services PMI

08:30/UK: Aug UK Official Reserves

08:30/UK: Aug S&P Global UK Services PMI

08:30/UK: Aug Narrow money (Notes & Coin) and reserve balances

08:30/GER: ifo Economic Forecast

09:30/US: Aug Challenger Job-Cut Report

12:15/CAN: Aug Official International Reserves

12:30/CAN: 2Q Labour productivity, hourly compensation & unit labour cost

12:30/CAN: Jul International merchandise trade

(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

September 02, 2026 16:31 ET (20:31 GMT)