Kurt Mayell, Head of Markets at CMC, explained the significance of these trends: "While there is no crystal ball, we have identified five key themes that defined 2025 and will continue to impact markets, for better or worse, in 2026. These macro and sector thematics are poised to shape risk, opportunity and overall market direction and as such have meaningful implications for investors."

AI breakthroughs and bubbles

The AI sector has been a driving force behind market highs in 2025, with big tech companies spending nearly USD$400 billion on AI-related investments. This trend is expected to continue into 2026, with industry leaders planning to allocate up to 35% of their annual revenue toward AI initiatives. The increasing demand for compute supply, driven by the rise of agentic AI, is anticipated to exacerbate capacity constraints, requiring significantly more resources than simpler generative AI tasks.

As speculation grows around potential initial public offerings (IPOs) of major private AI firms, including OpenAI, investors are closely monitoring the sector. Mr Mayell noted, "AI embodies both promise and risk. History has shown that asset bubbles don’t burst on schedule. They expand, defy caution, and pop without forewarning. AI bulls would argue that this isn’t 1999 - unlike the dot-com era, today’s AI boom is led by profitable, cash-rich big tech firms that don’t rely solely on AI to drive earnings."

Investors are urged to explore the entire AI ecosystem, including chipmakers, fabricators, infrastructure providers, semiconductor suppliers, and cloud platforms, to identify the right opportunities.

Energy to power the AI revolution

The energy sector is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by the AI revolution. Power-hungry AI data centres are reshaping electricity prices, straining ageing grids, and influencing clean energy markets. This shift has also revitalised interest in the nuclear energy sector. Multi-trillion-dollar investment plans announced by leading tech companies are expected to drive massive infrastructure spending, particularly in energy.

"Amid this disruption could emerge both challenges and opportunities across the energy landscape," Mr Mayell said. "The key will be identifying which segments of the market may be best positioned to adapt to this generational realignment. AI has disrupted the energy landscape, pulling investors back into a sector once seen as mature and slow-moving. The energy narrative of 2026 is unlike anything before."

Robotics to scale in 2026

Automation and robotics are set to reshape various industries, including transportation, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and corporate workforces. The humanoid robot market is projected to reach $5 trillion by 2050, with over 1 billion robots deployed across factories, logistics hubs, and households.

"Automation and robotics are moving from early adoption to real-world scale in 2026," Mr Mayell stated. "From autonomous vehicles to industrial and surgical robotics, the landscape is shifting from proving the technology to demonstrating profitability and resilience."

Despite the potential for growth, the robotics sector faces uncertainties, including regulatory challenges, training-data limitations, and political scrutiny over job displacement.

New opportunities in defence

The defence sector is undergoing significant changes, with 2026 shaping up to be a defining year for the US's legacy defence contractors. Over the past four years, major contractors like Lockheed Martin, RTX, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman have accounted for a substantial portion of the Pentagon's discretionary spending. Critics argue that this concentration has led to complacency and slowed innovation.

In response, the US Department of Defence is implementing sweeping procurement reforms, aiming to collaborate with technology firms from Silicon Valley. "The defence sector is undergoing one of the most consequential industry shifts in decades," Mr Mayell said. "Palantir is a key beneficiary of this, becoming the most valuable defence stock in the world due to its multi-billion dollar US government contracts."

As world military expenditure reaches record highs, investors are advised to remain nimble, as changes in US defence spending could reshape the sector.

Investors rotate into stores of value

In 2025, gold and Bitcoin achieved all-time highs, reviving interest in the "debasement trade." This trend refers to the decline in purchasing power of the US dollar due to inflation and poor fiscal and monetary policies. With persistent inflation and ballooning government debt, the US dollar index fell over 8% against a basket of global currencies. Meanwhile, gold surged to over $4,370 per ounce, and Bitcoin reached a new high above $126,000 before pulling back.

"While the dollar remains dominant, the steady rotation into alternative stores of value points to a world preparing for policy volatility rather than stability," Mr Mayell commented. "As we head into 2026, the key question for investors is whether the debasement argument is strong enough to warrant repositioning portfolios, either for the near term or with a longer horizon in mind."

These five megatrends – AI, energy, robotics, defence, and stores of value – are expected to be structural drivers shaping the global economy in 2026, presenting both opportunities and challenges for investors.