US equity futures point to a firmer cash open as traders return from the long weekend, but the bigger question is whether investors continue to rotate out of the crowded AI trade and into the broader market. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures rise 0.4%, while Nasdaq 100 contract rise 1.1% as most Mag 7 names are in the green. In premarket trading, chip/memory stocks rebound from last week's rout which follows the an 18% plunge in the GS High Beta Momentum (GSPRHIMO) basket over the last two sessions, on track for 2nd worst month in >15 years. This follows an APAC session on Monday which took a more downbeat view of the tech sector; South Korea’s Kospi index fell, having gained as much as 3% earlier. Memory chipmaker Samsung Electronics’s preliminary earnings Tuesday will provide further clues on demand for AI infrastructure and the durability of the sector’s growth narrative. The MSCI APAC index fell as much as 0.7% before returning to the unchanged mark. The Stoxx 600 has just slipped into negative territory, down 0.1%, after hitting another record high earlier in the session. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is up 0.2% with the greenback firmer versus most G10 peers. Gains are most pronounced against the yen with USD/JPY venturing as high as 162.31 but still below last week’s multi-decade peak at 162.84. Treasuries are seeing a modest bid with the 10-year yield down 2 basis points at 4.46%. Oil prices fell as flows through the Strait of Hormuz persisted and OPEC+ signaled higher supplies, with Brent trading about 0.4% lower at $71.82 a barrel. Precious metals are on the back foot with spot gold and silver posting respective losses of 0.8% and 0.7%. Bitcoin is down 0.1%. Today's US economic data calendar includes June final S&P Global US services PMI (9:45am) and June ISM services (10am). Fed speaker slate includes Waller at 11am
In premarket trading, Mag 7 names are mostly higher (Meta +1.4%, Tesla +1.3%, Amazon +0.7%, Alphabet +0.5%, Nvidia +0.3%, Microsoft is unchanged, Apple -0.6%). Chipmakers and other AI-related firms rise ahead of Samsung’s June quarter earnings and updates to SK Hynix Inc.’s massive ADR listing.
This week presents key tests for tech leadership. SpaceX joins the Nasdaq 100 on Tuesday, likely prompting index-related repositioning. That same day, Samsung’s preliminary earnings are due. Then on Friday comes SK Hynix’s Nasdaq listing, which could be the biggest-ever first-time share sale by a foreign company.
The events will take on added significance in a week that features a thin data calendar, while the US earnings season is yet to kick into gear. Global stocks have gone through a stretch of uneven trading as investors question whether the past quarter’s AI-driven rally has run too far and whether vast capital outlays are guaranteed to produce strong returns.
The macro calendar picks up on Wednesday with minutes from the Fed’s June meeting. They take on added significance after Warsh shortened the policy statement and declined to contribute to rate forecasts. Bloomberg Economics’ Andrew Sacher expects the account to reinforce the commitee’s focus on above-target inflation and its preference to preserve the option of further tightening. Further detail about Fed-think will likely guide equity positioning into the upcoming earnings season. BNY strategist Geoffrey Yu says the question is whether the Fed can stay patient without seeing inflation risks reemerge.
Separately, SpaceX is due to join the Nasdaq 100 on Tuesday, an inclusion that may trigger some index-related repositioning.
“Speculative positioning in semiconductors and other hot technology themes is likely to continue being reduced,” said Roberto Scholtes, head of strategy at Singular Bank. “The key question will be whether this triggers a rotation into lagging sectors or a broader correction.”
Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson thinks the market broadening story continues to gain momentum as chips underperform; he believes US stocks will struggle to reach new highs as investors rotate out of some of this year’s biggest tech trades. Wilson says momentum is fading in semiconductor stocks as investors shift toward laggards, including AI hyperscalers. The steep fall in oil has helped to stabilize rates, which is another driver of the rotation to lagging areas of the market, he adds. He favors AI hyperscalers, consumer discretionary goods, transports, and biotech.
For Kokou Agbo-Bloua, global head of research at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking, the market is increasingly learning to live with short-term volatility. “I wonder whether the market is becoming a bit more anti-fragile, in the sense of adapting the news flow and seeing through the noise and focusing on the fundamentals, especially with the whole AI boom and the ecosystem around it,” he said.
In a week with few major data releases, the key variable for Treasuries would be oil prices, said Francisco Simon, European head of strategy at Santander Asset Management. “Specifically, whether the recent downward trend remains in place and whether the newsflow around energy markets continues to stabilize,” Simon said. “Central bank communication could also move markets, although in the absence of significant new developments we would not expect a major shift in tone.”
Defense is also back on traders’ radar ahead of the two-day NATO summit starting in Turkey tomorrow. Trump meets Ukraine’s Zelenskyy there on Wednesday.
European shares slip following Friday’s record close. Stoxx 600 falls 0.2% to 651.15 as investors digest a slate of M&A news, with EasyJet jumping after agreeing to a takeover offer from Castlelake. ITV rose after agreeing to sell an arm to Sky, while Thales has said it wants to buy Exail. Media stocks are outperforming, followed by autos. Utilities and construction sectors are the biggest laggards. Here are some of the biggest movers on Monday:
Stocks in Asia fluctuated, with Samsung Electronics to come under scrutiny when the chipmaker releases earnings on Tuesday after a 165% year-to-date rally. The report will be followed days later by SK Hynix Inc.’s $28 billion US listing. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index swung between narrow gains and losses. South Korea’s Kospi index fell, having gained as much as 3% earlier. Memory chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co.’s preliminary earnings Tuesday will provide further clues on demand for AI infrastructure and the durability of the sector’s growth narrative. “The market is in a holding pattern ahead of Samsung’s preliminary results, which is the centerpiece of what’s shaping up to be a semiconductor super week,” said Dilin Wu, a strategist at Pepperstone Group. If the results disappoint, “the conversation shifts to whether this is a cyclical pause or the beginning of something more structural.” Bucking the trend, Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong rose for a third day, up more than 1%. Tencent Holdings was the top contributor, after JPMorgan said it expects its stock to rebound thanks to its AI agent launch in Weixin. Japan’s Topix index rose to another all-time high, supported by defense stocks on signs of government policy tailwinds. In South Korea, the government is looking at creating an investment fund using excess tax revenue from the semiconductor industry to finance long-term economic growth, according to a senior official. Investors are also turning their attention to SK Hynix Inc.’s listing of $29 billion American depositary receipts later this week. Here Are the Most Notable Movers
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is up 0.2% with the greenback firmer versus most G10 peers. Gains are most pronounced against the yen with USD/JPY venturing as high as 162.31 but still below last week’s multi-decade peak at 162.84. The yen lost ground against all major currencies as traders tested the resolve of Japanese authorities to intervene. Goldman Sachs joined the growing ranks of investors and strategists who are increasingly bearish on the yen, which is already trading around its lowest levels since 1986. The Wall Street bank revised its 12-month forecast to 165 from 155, reflecting fiscal pressures in Japan, higher-for-longer Treasury yields and only gradual rate hikes from the Bank of Japan, strategist Karen Reichgott Fishman noted.
In rates, treasuries are seeing a modest bid with the 10-year yield down 2 basis points at 4.46%. Treasury futures hold small gains accumulated during Asia session and London morning, led by front-end and belly tenors as oil prices remain near three-month lows and stock futures advance. US intermediate yields are 3bp-4bp richer on the day, steepening 5s30s spread by 2.5bp; 10-year, around 2bp richer near 4.46%, outperforms bunds and gilts in the sector by 2bp and 2.5bp respectively. IG dollar issuance slate includes a few names already. Dealer forecasts for this month are around $100 billion, with around $25 billion lined up for this week. This week’s Treasury auctions start Tuesday with $58 billion 3-year new issue, followed by $39 billion 10-year and $22 billion 30-year reopenings Wednesday and Thursday. US session includes June ISM services gauge and scheduled remarks by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.
In commodities, WTI oil is holding below $69 a barrel after seven OPEC+ members agreed on Sunday to increase their collective production quotas by a modest 188,000 barrels a day for next month, adding to the prospect of more supply eventually hitting the market if a US-Iran peace pact can stick. Shipping through a US-protected corridor in the Strait of Hormuz showed signs of recovery. Precious metals are on the back foot with spot gold and silver posting respective losses of 0.8% and 0.7%. Bitcoin slides back under $62000 on news Michael Saylor's Strategy sold 3,588 in the past week.
US economic data calendar includes June final S&P Global US services PMI (9:45am) and June ISM services (10am). Fed speaker slate includes Waller at 11am. Bloomberg Economics expects the ISM services index to have remained in expansionary territory, but to have softened after jumping to 54.5 in May. A modest decline in orders growth likely led to a deceleration in production activity.
Market Snapshot
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A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk
Asia-Pac stocks initially started the session with broad gains but reversed as the session continued, with a busy week ahead, which includes Samsung Electronics' Q2 earnings and SK Hynix's US listing. ASX 200 managed to limit its downside, and only posted modest losses, as upside in Energy and Health Care broadly offset the downside seen in Consumer Staples and Mining names. Further on the mining topic, Genesis Minerals made a AUD 5.6bln bid for Vault Minerals, hijacking a deal previously made with Regis Resources. Nikkei 225 was softer as it continued to pull back from its ATH of 72,832. Kioxia was one of the big underperformers, after the Co. began shipping sample next-gen semiconductor products. KOSPI was under significant pressure, despite initially printing gains of as much as 2.9%, with Samsung set to report Q2 figures on Tuesday; operating profit expected to print at KRW 86tln. However, a miss would be detrimental to tech valuations, since doubts have crept in over the scale and durability of AI demand and capex. Shanghai Comp. traded either side of the unchanged mark while the Hang Seng posted decent gains. Alibaba found some comfort after a US federal judge ordered the Pentagon to give the Co. a reprieve from a lobbying ban tied to the Pentagon's curbs on Chinese companies.
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European bourses (STOXX 600 -0.2%) have traded on either side of the unchanged mark throughout the morning, with a lack of pertinent catalysts driving the action. European sectors are mixed but with a positive bias. Leading the table is Media, helped by ITV (+1%), Travel and Leisure is helped by easyJet (+10%), while European tech underperforms after modest losses in APAC (ASML -1.5%, STMicroelectronics -1.5%). For easyJet, the co. agreed in principle to Castlelake’s fifth takeover bid, at GBP 6.90/shr in cash. Stateside, futures play catch-up after US stocks were closed on Friday for US Independence Day. NQ +1% outperforms after broad tech gains on Friday, ES +0.4%, and RTY +0.2% also green.
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Fixed Income
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Geopolitics: Ukraine
Geopolitics: Iran
US Event Calendar
DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
I hope your weekend was good. Mine was certainly a big WOW! 8.5 months after back fusion surgery I won both the scratch and handicap 2-day over 50s club championship. I shot 72 and 71 (one over gross). It took Tiger Woods two years after the same fusion surgery to win The Masters so I'm seeing this as a greater achievement. My twins were very impressed with the two huge cups I brought home and have earmarked winning the same event. They qualify in 2068! I wonder if England will have won the football World Cup again by then. I did get up to watch the second half which has just finished as I type this. A crazy win against Mexico. To all the readers in Norway, see you on Saturday!
Moving on, the week after payrolls is usually a quieter affair but there's plenty of global events even if the US calendar is light. In terms of the main highlights, given the current focus on monetary policy the FOMC minutes (Wednesday) and the ECB’s June meeting account (Thursday) will be carefully watched, especially the former given it was the first of the new Warsh regime. Speeches from Fed Governors Waller (Monday), Williams and Logan (Thursday) will provide a more "live" update to the committees' thinking. Elsewhere, China inflation data (Thursday) and a run of German activity indicators including factory orders (today), industrial production (tomorrow) and trade (Thursday) are worth tracking. German reforms in recent weeks have offered some renewed optimism that we will finally see the benefits of the huge fiscal spending and reform agenda after scepticism had been building. Geopolitically, the NATO summit (Tuesday–Wednesday) will also be in focus, with Mr Trump in attendance, and could generate plenty of headlines.
In terms of other data and events, today sees ISM services (Monday) which follows the recent weakness in manufacturing, where our economists expect a modest improvement. Most of the other data in the US is second tier but includes existing home sales on Thursday. Outside of the US, the BoE’s financial stability report (tomorrow) will be interesting, while inflation prints from Sweden (Wednesday) and Denmark and Norway (Friday) deserve a glance. In Japan, the data flow includes labour cash earnings and household spending (tomorrow), the Economy Watchers survey (Wednesday) and PPI (Friday). Elsewhere, we will see the RBNZ policy decision (Wednesday), where our economists expect a rate hike, and Canada’s labour market report (Friday).
In Asia, it's all eyes on the KOSPI at the moment after a pretty wild time of late. After being up 3% early in the session, it's now -1.86% as I type with the Nikkei -1.18% lower. The Shanghai Comp is -0.35% with the ASX -0.22%. However, the Hang Seng is +1.16%. S&P (+0.23%) and Nasdaq (+0.76%) futures are up but are roughly around Friday's levels when the US was on holiday.
Recapping last week now and markets saw a decent risk-on move, with the S&P 500 posting its best weekly performance since early May, with a +1.76% advance. That came amidst several dovish headlines, which meant investors priced out the chance of an imminent rate cut. For instance, Fed Chair Warsh said that inflation risks had come down at the Sintra Forum on Wednesday. And then on Thursday, the US jobs report showed payrolls up +57k, which was weaker than expected (even if unemployment was a tenth lower than expected). So collectively, that meant market pricing for a July hike fell from a 30% chance to 22% over the course of the week. And that dovish repricing was clear further out the curve, as the amount of hikes priced by the December meeting also came down slightly from 32bps to 30bps.
Over in Europe there was a similar trend, with the STOXX 600 up +2.66% (+0.68% Friday) to a new record. That came as markets grew more doubtful about another ECB rate hike this year, with the latest flash CPI print also surprising on the downside. It showed headline inflation falling more than expected to +2.8% in June, and core CPI also falling to +2.4%. So markets also priced out the chance of another ECB rate hike by December, which fell from a 96% to an 83% chance over the week.
But even though equities did quite well on the whole, there were still clear pockets of weakness, most notably in the chip sector. Indeed, the Philly semiconductor index fell -4.37%, losing ground for a second week running. Interestingly as well, the dovish repricing failed to prevent a move up in longer-dated yields, with the 10yr Treasury yield up +11.5bps last week to 4.48%, whilst the 10yr German yield rose +8.4bps to 2.93%.
Finally, oil prices were comparatively steady last week, and Brent crude saw little movement with a +0.18% gain (+0.45% Friday), leaving it at $72.12/bbl. Otherwise, credit spreads tightened across the board, with US IG (-1bps) and HY (-15bps) spreads both coming down. It was a similar story in Europe too, where Euro IG (-1bps) and HY (-2bps) spreads also tightened.

