Daily Update — August 14, 2026
EU Inverter Funding Ban; New Private Market Taxonomy; and Broadening S&P 500 Performance
Today is Friday, August 14, 2026, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.
Energy Expansion
Listen: Cybersecurity and clean energy: Inside the EU funding ban for solar and storage inverters
In April, the European Commission adopted interim guidance stipulating that solar and battery storage projects using inverters or power conversion systems from high-risk countries would be ineligible for EU funding. The commission cited concerns over cybersecurity and grid resilience. Among the affected countries is China, Europe's dominant supplier of clean energy technologies.
In this episode of the “Energy Evolution” podcast, S&P Global Energy experts Lena Dias Martin and Cormac Gilligan, as well as Czech Solar Association Executive Director Jan Krčmář, joined host Eklavya Gupte to explore the implications of this policy, how markets have responded, which regions may be most affected and whether viable alternatives to China-made inverters are available at scale.
Private Markets
A New and Expanded Taxonomy for Private Markets
Despite the dramatic growth and diversification of private markets in recent decades, the foundational approach to classification and analysis has remained largely unchanged. Total assets under management have increased, but the absence of a granular taxonomy has become a critical barrier to modernization.
To address this gap, S&P Global, Cambridge Associates and Mercer created an evidence-led and industrywide taxonomy to support reporting demands, regulatory requirements and consistent investment analysis for private markets funds, assets, vehicles, fund structures and geographies. This new classification system is part of the private markets performance analytics being developed by the three companies.
Market Dynamics
Broadening the Base
Despite recent declines amid renewed geopolitical concerns, the S&P 500 reached two all-time closing highs in the week ended Aug. 11. This was due to reduced expectations of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve after announcements of a soft job market and robust corporate earnings. One tailwind has been the broadening of performance beyond the mega-cap hyperscalers, which addressed concerns about the dominance of the AI trade by a handful of companies. More than 60% of stocks beat the S&P 500 in June and July.
S&P Dow Jones Indices previously discussed the movement of AI infrastructure investment toward the rapidly growing semiconductors industry. But the huge capital expenditure investments in AI appear to be benefiting the overall market. Aside from its slight month-to-date underperformance, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index outperformed the S&P 500 in June and July.
In case you missed it
- South Korea plans to begin importing crude oil from Argentina in 2027 after several domestic refining and petrochemical companies completed trial shipments and feedstock testing.
- S&P Global Ratings raised its GDP growth forecasts for New Zealand to 2.4% in 2026 and 2.5% in 2027 due to rising domestic confidence.
- Market participants expect container freight rates from North Asia to the east and west coasts of South America to remain elevated through August as widespread schedule disruptions, cargo rollings and irregular blank sailings continue to tighten available space.
Upcoming events
- S&P Ratings' Views on Artificial Intelligence & Hyperscalers | August 18 (Webinar)
- Q3’26 Outlook for U.S. Banks: How Oil Prices Could Impact the Fed’s Next Rate Move | August 19 (Webinar)
- Moving from Data to Risk Management: The New Operating Reality | August 26 (Los Angeles)