Global Equity Capital Markets Surpass USD 1 Trillion as AI-Driven Deals Dominate
Global equity capital markets (ECM) have exceeded USD 1 trillion in issuance for the first nine months of 2026, according to a report by Dealogic. This marks a significant milestone and already surpasses full-year totals from previous years such as 2025, which stood at USD 997.6 billion. The surge is largely driven by large technology deals focused on AI infrastructure expansion. Technology accounted for nearly half of the third-quarter deal flow in 2026 with major transactions including SK Hynix's USD 26.5bn secondary listing, Intel’s USD 23bn follow-on offering and Alibaba's USD 10.2bn accelerated bookbuild. These megadeals have pushed smaller IPOs to the sidelines, as seen by a drop in global IPO volumes from USD 58.5 billion in Q3 2025 to USD 53.7 billion this year. The US remains dominant with nearly half of all deals coming from there and AI-related activity also boosting APAC markets like Hong Kong and India, while EMEA lags behind due to a lack of large-scale domestic AI industries.
Topics: AI infrastructure funding capital raising ECM market trends