The global race for AI supremacy and the historic USD 86.2bn IPO of Elon Musk’s SpaceX have propelled global ECM volumes to a huge USD 729.4bn in the first half of 2026. This gargantuan number is the second-best start to a year on record, and a 73.1% increase on 1H25.

Only 1H21 beats this year’s total so far, which was characterized by equity exuberance amid unnaturally loose monetary policy from global central banks trying to prop up economies through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite the huge rise in volumes, deal numbers are roughly the same and ECM activity in 2026 has been highly concentrated towards tech issuance, riding the AI bull market.

Around 30% of the total deal flow comes from pure tech deals this half – not including SpaceX which is classified as Aerospace under Dealogic methodology.

However, if SpaceX were to be added to the tech issuance numbers, not unreasonable given the AI component in its equity story and the company itself being a conglomerate made up of Musk’s space technology and AI holdings, technology deals would account for over USD 302bn, or 41.4%, of total ECM issuance this half – a huge concentration.

Whether markets can sustain such exceptional issuance from a single sector, mainly based on the sole theme of artificial intelligence growth, is a question on which the next few quarters of ECM issuance are likely to hinge.