Market Summary
Technology Stocks Surge as AI Optimism Returns: Global technology stocks rebounded sharply overnight as investors returned to the artificial intelligence trade following this week's heavy sell-off. South Korea's Kospi Index surged as much as 17%, recovering from a three-day rout, led by gains of more than 23% in SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. also climbed 10%, making chipmakers the largest contributors to gains in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. The rally followed the strongest advance in U.S. semiconductor stocks in more than a year, while Nasdaq 100 futures are up 1.20% this morning. After the close, Amazon jumped 9.5% following strong earnings, although Apple fell more than 6% after supply shortages weighed on its sales outlook.
BOJ and BOE Hold Rates as Focus Shifts to Markets: The Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged at 1% this morning, in line with expectations. The Japanese yen, which strengthened sharply yesterday from around 163 to 159.49 against the U.S. dollar following another round of official intervention, has surrendered some of those gains this morning. Meanwhile, the Bank of England also left rates unchanged yesterday at 3.75%, with markets now assigning a 30.5% probability of a rate change by September.
Treasury Yields Ease While Oil Retreats: Longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields edged lower this morning, with the 30-year Treasury yield falling 2 basis points to 5.19% after reaching multi-year highs earlier this week. The pullback comes as investors digest the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged while remaining concerned about persistent inflation. In commodities, Brent crude has fallen around 2% to $87.30 per barrel, while spot gold is trading near $4,080 per ounce.
Economic Calendar
- Eurozone CPI
- France CPI
- Canada GDP
- University of Michigan Sentiment Survey
Key Market Moves Today
- S&P 500 Futures: +0.29% (7,494.5)
- U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield: -2.63 bps (4.65%)
- Brent Crude: -1.08% ($88.07)
- Bitcoin: -0.60% ($64,330)
- Spot Gold: -0.68% ($4,075)
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