Global stocks headed for a third straight weekly gain as investors returned to the artificial intelligence trade and cooling US inflation bolstered bets that the Federal Reserve would refrain from raising interest rates. MSCI’s Asia Pacific share benchmark rose 0.2% Friday, putting the All Country World Index on course for its longest weekly winning streak since April. The global gauge closed at a record high Thursday, as did the S&P 500 Index, as semiconductor shares extended their rebound from last month’s selloff. Futures contracts pointed to gains in Europe, where stocks hit a peak earlier this week. South Korea’s Kospi Index — a bellwether for AI investment — added almost 1.8% Friday, bringing its weekly gain to 10% and snapping a seven-week losing streak. Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. both advanced more than 15% over the past five days. Treasuries held on to this week’s gains, bolstered by two days of benign US inflation numbers, with shorter-maturity notes outperforming their longer-dated counterparts. The yield on the rate-sensitive two-year note was little changed at 4.15%, after falling six basis points Thursday, ahead of US retail sales data. Money markets are now pricing in about a 35% chance of a Fed rate hike in September, despite a recent rally in crude oil prices and no sign of a deal to ease Middle East tensions. Back-to-back benign inflation prints, coupled with last week’s softer-than-expected jobs report, eased pressure on policymakers to tighten policy at its meeting next month, allowing equity traders to turn their attention to the revival in the AI trade. Momentum returned to technology stocks after last month’s selloff, which was sparked by concerns the year’s hottest trade had run too far, too fast. Robust earnings from several megacap companies eased some of those fears, drawing investors back to AI and pushing the Nasdaq 100 more than 1% higher Thursday to its highest since late June. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index rose 0.5% to close at its highest level since mid July. An Asian gauge of chip-related stocks gained almost 1% on Friday, also set for its highest close since July. In other corners of the market, Brent held its losses from the prior session, trading around $87.10 a barrel. Gold slipped 0.6% to $4,325 an ounce. China’s 10-year bond yield fell to the lowest since July last year after the central bank injected liquidity into the market through overnight reverse repos on Friday, marking its first such operation in the middle of a month. In Asia, the yen remained within striking distance of 160 per dollar, even after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government was said to support an interest-rate increase. The Japanese currency was little changed Friday, near 159.40 per dollar. As investors have trimmed bets on Fed rate hikes, the rate-sensitive short-dated Treasuries outperformed longer maturities. The extra yield on 30-year Treasuries over their five-year peers has widened for a third straight week, the longest such run since mid-April. Even as Treasuries rallied Thursday, the US sold 30-year bonds at the highest yield in a quarter century, underscoring the premium investors are demanding to finance the nation’s deficits. US After Hours AMAT -5.1%, KLC -21.5%, GLOB -13.1% lower on earnings; RDDT +10.5% to join S&P 500; SUI +3.2% to join S&P MidCap 400
Nikkei +0.48% Hang Seng -0.96% CSI -0.27% Kospi +2.04% Shanghai -0.40% Shenzen -0.37%
Eur$ 1.1541 CNH 6.7450 CNY 6.7439 JPY 159.29 GBP 1.3499 CHF 0.8134 RUB 83.5272 TRY 47.8829 WTI$ 81.66 +0.44% Gold 4,328 -0.90% BTC 63,295 -0.07% ETH 1,882 -0.12%
S&P +0.02% Nasdaq -0.08% EuroStoxx +0.30% FTSE +0.34% Dax +0.45% SMI
Macro :
- Catania Airport Extends Flight Suspension Until August 15
- Kushner’s Thrive Fund Grows Sevenfold to $3.7 Billion on AI Bets
13F :
- Baupost Exits Willis Towers, Boosts Amazon: 13F
Keep an eye on :
Keep an eye on :
- AAL LN : Anglo Strikes Yearlong Iron Ore Deal With China’s State Buyer
- ANORA FH : Anora 2Q EPS Misses Estimates
- Anthropic IPO : Anthropic Has Resolved Degraded Performance in Claude Code
- AMAT US : Applied Materials Down as Results Don’t Extend Sharp Rally
- BIRK LN : Birkenstock Offering by Holder Prices at $39.35/Share, L Catterton Seeks to Sell $1 Billion of Birkenstock Shares
- BP/ LN : BP Wins Loran Phase 2 Licence in Venezuela with XRG, UCC
- BP/ LN : BP Wins Loran Phase 2 Licence in Venezuela with XRG, UCC
- EXEL FH : Exel Composites 2Q Revenue Beats Estimates
- FER SM : Ferrovial To Delist Shares From Euronext Amsterdam in September
- GOOGL US :Google Introduces Gemini 3.7 Flash, Three Weeks After 3.6 Flash
- HTZ US : Hertz Shares Fall After Ackman’s Pershing Sells Stake in Firm
- JPM US : JPMorgan Ended Polymarket Banking Ties on Regulatory Concern: FT
- LULU US : Lululemon’s AI Chief Departs Retailer After Less Than a Year
- NHY NO : Norsk Hydro Ramps up Brazil Alumina Production After Gas Deal
- NKT DC : NKT 2Q Adjusted Revenue EU657M
- NKTR US : Nektar 2Q Revenue Misses Estimates
- Open AI IPO : *OPENAI’S REVENUE RUN RATE TOPS $40 BILLION AHEAD OF IPO
- RYA ID : NTSB Finds Bird Remains in Engine After Ryanair Window Blowout
- TLX GY : Talanx Sees FY Net Income Above EU2.70B, Saw About EU2.7B
- 8TRA GY : VW’s Overhaul Puts Truckmaker Stake in Focus as Sell-Down Looms
- VLA FP : Pfizer, Valneva Lyme Vaccine Application Validated by EU Agency
- VEI NO : Veidekke 2Q Pretax Profit Beats Estimates
- VZN SW : VZ Holding 1H Net Income CHF131.9M Vs. CHF112.0M Y/y
- VOW GY : VW’s Overhaul Puts Truckmaker Stake in Focus as Sell-Down Looms