Stock Market
As of Jul 8, U.S. stock index futures performed as follows: Dow futures were lower by 1.01%, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.73%, and Nasdaq 100 futures retreated 1.14%. The pull-back reflects heightened geopolitical risk after fresh tensions in the Middle East pushed oil sharply higher, while investors continued to rotate away from high-valuation growth names following an extended first-half rally.
Notable Stock Movers: Chinese e-commerce leader BABA up 9.08% at $107.05 led pre-market gainers on upbeat cloud growth commentary.
Memory-chip bellwether MU fell 3.66% at $904.07, extending a multi-session slide, while graphics-processing heavyweight NVDA down 1.27% at $194.43 eased after announcing new CPU partnerships.
Mega-cap handset maker AAPL down 0.2% at $31.00 edged lower despite unveiling a multibillion-dollar chip-supply pact. Software titan MSFT down 1.30% at $383.77 and electric-vehicle leader TSLA down 1.26% at $397.84 both weakened alongside broader tech selling, and semiconductor designer AMD down 1.82% at $506.74 tracked sector softness.
Traders also noted brisk action in leveraged semiconductor exchange-traded products: bearish fund SOXS up 6.46% at $5.11 advanced as long-side counterpart SOXL fell 6.21% at $155.02. Overall, strength in selected Chinese ADRs was counterbalanced by continued pressure on memory and AI hardware plays, setting a cautious tone ahead of the New York opening bell.
Other Markets
• 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 0.80%, to 4.57%.
• U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.0791% to 101.20.
• WTI crude oil futures rose 5.48% to 74.30 USD/barrel; COMEX gold futures fell 2.06% to 4 071.90 USD/ounce.
Key News
1. U.S. President Donald Trump declared the Iran cease-fire framework “over” and revoked related oil-sanction waivers, sending energy prices higher. The policy shift reignited concerns over global supply disruptions, immediately supporting crude benchmarks and boosting major oil producers in pre-market trade.
2. Apple agreed to purchase more than $30 billion of radio-frequency chips from Broadcom, triggering a $1.5 billion expansion of the supplier’s Colorado facility. The long-term pact secures future FBAR filter supply for iPhones and other devices, deepening Apple’s on-shore sourcing strategy and supporting hundreds of manufacturing jobs in Fort Collins.
3. Apple lost its challenge against the EU’s Digital Markets Act, cementing iOS and the App Store as regulated “gatekeeper” platforms. Europe’s General Court dismissed the company’s appeal in full, meaning Apple must comply with new interoperability and antitrust obligations or face potential fines of up to 10 % of global turnover.
4. ResMed will divest its MatrixCare software unit to Frazier Healthcare Partners in a $490 million all-cash deal. Proceeds will bolster the med-tech group’s balance sheet and allow renewed focus on its core respiratory and sleep-apnea franchises, with closing expected following customary regulatory approvals.
5. South32 obtained a final federal record of decision for the $2.16 billion Hermosa manganese-zinc project in Arizona. Clearance from the U.S. Forest Service paves the way for construction of one of the country’s largest critical-minerals developments, aimed at strengthening domestic battery-supply chains.
6. Adairs warned that fiscal-year earnings will decline and flagged a non-cash impairment of up to AU$68 million on its Focus on Furniture brand. The Australian home-furnishings retailer now sees underlying EBIT between AU$53.5 million and AU$55.5 million, reflecting soft consumer demand and higher costs.
7. U.S. Central Command conducted airstrikes on more than 80 Iranian targets, including air-defense sites and naval assets. The action escalates regional tensions and underscores the Biden administration’s readiness to counter further maritime threats in the Strait of Hormuz.
8. Amazon signaled plans to raise at least $25 billion in new bond issuance to fund expansion and refinancing efforts. The prospective jumbo offering highlights the e-commerce giant’s appetite for low-cost capital as it scales cloud infrastructure and generative-AI investments.
9. AI startup Perplexity selected Nvidia’s Vera central-processing units for next-generation autonomous agent workloads. Management said the chips execute coding tasks roughly 1.5 times faster than conventional CPUs, validating Nvidia’s push to diversify beyond GPUs and targeting a potential $20 billion CPU market.
10. Digital-asset platform Ctrl Wallet announced it will cease operations and disable all services on 3 August. Users can still transfer, swap, or export their recovery phrases until the deadline, after which the company will wind down entirely, citing strategic realignment within the crypto-wallet sector.
Sources: Reuters, Dow Jones, Tiger Newspress, public market data
Disclaimer: For informational purposes only; not investment advice.
