On Thursday, the US stock indices closed mixed. By the end of the day, the Dow Jones Index (US30) rose by 0.14%. The S&P 500 Index (US500) slipped by 0.01%. The Technology Index Nasdaq (US100) once again closed in the red, falling by 0.46%. On one hand, the semiconductor sector received strong support: Micron shares surged more than 15% on the back of a phenomenal quarterly report and a revenue outlook of $50 billion, while Qualcomm shares gained nearly 4% thanks to strong sales outside the mobile segment. However, this triumph of AI infrastructure turned into severe pressure on end‑device manufacturers: Apple shares plunged by 6.1% after an unprecedented forced price increase of up to 25% on MacBook and iPad lineups, driven by a doubling in memory‑chip (DRAM/NAND) costs amid the so‑called “RAMageddon.” Fears that extreme AI‑component costs will begin to crush margins in the consumer sector triggered a wave of sell‑offs in other tech giants – Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet lost up to 3.7%.
Counterbalancing the tech slump were optimistic macroeconomic data from the US economy. The latest GDP revision pointed to stronger economic growth, while consumer inflation rose strictly in line with market expectations. As a result, swap markets priced in a 32% probability of a rate cut at the upcoming FOMC meeting on July 28-29, hoping that inflation stabilization will prevent the Fed from further tightening.
The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) unanimously kept its benchmark interest rate at 6.50%, fully matching market expectations. Despite hopes for moderate economic recovery in Q2, the regulator highlighted persistent risks of weakening business activity amid sluggish domestic demand. Monetary authorities welcomed the slowdown in inflationary pressure from April to mid‑June, when headline inflation plunged from 4.45% to 3.55%, while the more stable core component fell from 4.26% to 4.12%. This allowed the central bank to revise its short‑term headline inflation predictions downward, although long‑term core inflation projections for the end of 2026 were slightly raised.
Bitcoin (BTC) continued its prolonged decline and tested the $58,000 level. After an extended correction, the flagship digital asset fell to its lowest level since September 2024, losing around 50% from its all‑time high. As institutional investors began shifting capital into higher‑yielding assets and AI‑related equities, the digital asset market lost a key source of liquidity. This trend is clearly reflected in US spot bitcoin ETFs, which recorded a record net monthly outflow of $2.92 billion. This Friday marks the expiration of a massive volume of bitcoin options with a combined notional value of around $10 billion – roughly 37% of all open interest on the platform.
European indices traded without a unified direction yesterday. By the end of the day, Germany’s DAX (DE40) rose by 1.03%, France’s CAC 40 (FR40) closed down by 0.46%, Spain’s IBEX 35 (ES35) gained 0.64%, and the UK’s FTSE 100 (UK100) ended the session higher by 0.65%.
On Thursday, global crude oil prices (WTI) rose nearly 2%, rebounding to $71.6 per barrel (European benchmark Brent stabilized around $75.8) after four consecutive days of decline. The sharp reversal was triggered by an emergency report from the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) about an attack on an unidentified merchant vessel, which was struck by an unknown projectile near the southeastern coast of Oman. This incident instantly restored the geopolitical risk premium, raising concerns that Tehran may be using kinetic pressure in the Strait of Hormuz to secure more favorable terms in the final stage of peace negotiations with Washington. Several commercial vessels urgently altered their routes, threatening the early normalization of supply flows. Despite the local panic, long‑term investor sentiment remains moderately bearish due to expectations of a global oil surplus in the second half of 2026, prompting Iraq to formally demand that OPEC revise and increase its production quota.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 (JP225) rose by 4.61%, China’s FTSE China A50 closed higher by 1.18%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HK50) fell by 1.43%, and Australia’s ASX 200 (AU200) closed lower by 0.68%.
On Friday, the offshore yuan (CNY) weakened to 6.80 per US dollar, heading for a second consecutive weekly decline. The main driver of pressure on the Chinese currency remains the broad strengthening of the US dollar (DXY), fueled by the Fed’s hawkish rhetoric. Domestically, the focus shifted to major steps by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to reform the national financial system. The regulator officially announced the launch of an overnight reverse repo operation on June 29-30 to smooth the traditional end‑of‑half‑year liquidity shortage. This new tool will operate at a fixed rate via quantitative tendering and will complement the seven‑day reverse repo rate (currently 1.4%). The move aims to narrow the interest‑rate corridor and gradually transition toward targeting short‑term borrowing costs, making the PBoC’s operational framework more transparent and structurally closer to the mechanisms of the US Federal Reserve.
S&P 500 (US500) 7,357.49 -0.73 (-0.01%)
Dow Jones (US30) 51,920.62 +71.72 (+0.14%)
DAX (DE40) 24,994.83 +254.47 (+1.03%)
FTSE 100 (UK100) 10,529.89 +68.26 (+0.65%)
USD Index 101.44 -0.17 (-0.17%)
News feed for: 2026.06.26
Japan Tokyo Core CPI (m/m) at 02:30 (GMT+3) – JPY (MED)
US Michigan Inflation Expectations (m/m) at 17:00 (GMT+3) – USD (MED)
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