Market news archive — page 28

Asian equities traded unevenly while U.S. stock futures inched higher, as investors focused on an upcoming Federal Reserve rate decision and a separate U.S.-Iran peace agreement signing.

With no rate change expected at the June FOMC, traders are focused on the Fed’s tone, updated forecasts and how the statement could move currencies, gold and equity benchmarks.

UK inflation held steady in May, according to the latest data, while London-listed stocks edged lower as investors assessed the implication for the outlook.

BMW lowered its fiscal outlook after citing softer demand in China, the impact of Middle East conflict and a one-time charge, sending its shares lower in trading.

Asian currencies and the dollar were subdued, European shares were set for a softer start, and gold extended gains as investors watched Iran truce details and awaited the Federal Reserve's decision.

SpaceX’s first day of options trading followed a record-setting IPO and drew a surge of speculative positioning, with one strategist warning the contracts looked unusually costly and risky.

The Bank of England is expected to hold at 3.75% on June 18, but a divided MPC — with the chief economist already voting for a hike and softer April inflation muddying the picture — keeps the meeting live, with the May CPI due the day before as a key swing factor.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a budget with a 0.2% tax on crypto transactions, transfers and custody, collected from digital-asset brokers and effective January 2027 — drawing fierce industry opposition that it's the most punitive such tax in the US.

The Dow set a record near 52,000 and Japan's Nikkei topped 70,000 for the first time as oil fell below $80 on US-Iran peace hopes — but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped on a tech pullback and FX stayed muted as markets awaited the Fed's first decision under Warsh.

GM Defense and Lockheed Martin signed an MOU on June 16 to expand US weapons production, pairing the automaker's high-volume manufacturing with Lockheed's defense needs — prompted by a Pentagon request as Washington races to rebuild military stockpiles.

With TSMC's advanced capacity booked out on AI demand, Samsung is winning more foundry orders — reportedly from Google, AMD and BYD per Nikkei — as customers diversify; its 2nm yields and rising orders could return the loss-making foundry to profit, though it trails TSMC badly.

Yum! Brands is selling Pizza Hut for $2.7 billion in two deals — LongRange Capital takes the ex-China business for ~$1.5bn and Yum China the mainland operations for ~$1.2bn — ending roughly 30 years of ownership of a chain that lost ground to Domino's and delivery apps.

Reuters reports the US-Iran framework includes a $300 billion investment fund, more than half already committed — but Trump dismissed the claim and VP Vance said no US money is involved, with any financing coming from Gulf states and conditional on Iran's compliance.

Uniswap surged ~22% on June 17 after Standard Chartered set a $100 long-term target, with HYPE and Solana leading a broad altcoin rally, while bitcoin stalled near $66,000 ahead of the Fed and as oil hit a three-month low.

XRP slipped below $1.23 on June 17 as heavy selling erased its recent breakout, with traders fading a rally to ~$1.28 amid subdued ETF inflows and resistance at the 50-day average — part of a cautious crypto market ahead of the Fed.

India's Sensex rose about 0.3% to near 77,000 and the Nifty added ~0.25% on June 17, led by IT stocks, as the oil-price slide and US-Iran peace optimism lifted the oil-importing economy — though gains were capped by caution ahead of the Fed.

RedNote owner Xiaohongshu is preparing a confidential Hong Kong IPO filing by end-June, working with Goldman Sachs and CICC, and could seek a valuation above $70 billion per a WSJ report — up sharply from the ~$31bn-$50bn at which it traded privately.

Oil slipped again on June 17, holding below $80 after Brent's 5% drop to $78.96 — its first sub-$80 close since March — as investors weighed an imminent US-Iran deal that would reopen Hormuz against uncertainty over how fast supply returns.

The Fed is set to hold rates at 3.50%-3.75% on June 17 in Kevin Warsh's first meeting as chair, with markets ~97% sure of no change — and focus on whether the dot plot drops to zero cuts for 2026 and the statement loses its easing bias.

Markets are watching GBP/USD and USD/CHF as traders await the Fed and UK CPI, with dollar sentiment and a tightening technical pattern shaping near-term attention.

Singapore’s exports climbed sharply in May, with AI-linked electronics driving the strongest monthly increase in about two decades.

A bipartisan group of senators is urging the Treasury Department to keep state regulators involved as it develops the process for applying the GENIUS Act to stablecoins.

Japan’s export growth accelerated in May and April machinery orders also rose, offering signs of external and capital spending resilience even as the monthly trade balance moved back into deficit.

Traders are focused on the Federal Reserve’s upcoming statement, while data from New Zealand, Japan and Australia is expected to play a limited role in Asia trade.

The Federal Reserve’s next policy update has drawn attention as officials weigh another interest-rate move amid inflation concerns, with retirees among the groups likely to feel the effects.

Reports said SpaceX’s market value climbed enough to overtake Amazon and briefly move ahead of Microsoft, drawing fresh attention to how investors should interpret the company’s valuation.

Asset managers have filed for exchange-traded funds built around artificial intelligence and the newly coined “MANGOS” stock group as Wall Street looks for fresh ways to package the AI trade.

Snap fell sharply after unveiling its $2,195 SPECS augmented-reality glasses, as investors assessed the company’s push beyond smartphones.

A reported U.S.-Iran agreement could let Tehran resume oil sales quickly, but Barclays says physical supply chains through the Strait of Hormuz may still take weeks to normalize.

Oil prices fell sharply to a three-month low as markets priced in the possibility of wider access through the Strait of Hormuz, while questions remained over non-crude cargoes.

Reports said Elon Musk’s SpaceX has agreed to acquire Anysphere, the maker of Cursor, in a $60 billion all-stock transaction that would fold the AI startup into the company.

Rivian said it is reducing headcount by hundreds of employees, a move reported as less than 2% of its workforce and linked to the automaker’s R2 launch plans.

Snap is backing its new AR glasses as a long-term consumer bet, with CEO Evan Spiegel defending the product amid activist pressure and framing the device as part of a post-smartphone future.

Binance said its European regulatory application meets compliance standards after reports said Greek regulators were set to reject the request, warning that delays could affect liquidity.

Ripple has invested in Flutterwave in a deal that values the African fintech at $3.2 billion and will bring RLUSD and the XRP Ledger into cross-border payments across the region.

SpaceX has agreed to buy Cursor, an AI coding startup, in a deal reported at $60 billion after a prior agreement gave it the option to do so.

Olin and Huntsman have agreed to combine in an all-stock merger of equals as the chemicals industry faces a difficult operating backdrop.

A handful of well-known names moved sharply before the opening bell, with reports highlighting gains in SpaceX and Rackspace alongside declines in Edgewise Therapeutics and Huntsman.

Solana Company and another Solana treasury firm resisted acquisition offers from Forward Industries, while a third proposal reportedly expired without any response.

Labor Department data showed U.S. import prices climbed more than forecast in May, while export prices also increased, pointing to firmer trade-related price pressures.

Yum Brands is selling Pizza Hut to private equity firm LongRange Capital for $2.7 billion, ending years of weakness at the pizza chain.

Robinhood said it will reduce its workforce by about 10% as the company moves to flatten management layers and keep operations leaner.

BlackRock has introduced a bitcoin ETF aimed at capturing volatility-linked income, but the structure limits how much of bitcoin’s gains investors can keep.

Asian equities traded unevenly on Tuesday as investors weighed disappointing China data, a fading relief rally tied to the U.S.-Iran preliminary deal, and caution ahead of central bank meetings.

SpaceX’s post-IPO rally has pushed its market value to about $2.1 trillion, with reports saying the company is now positioned to move ahead of Amazon in market-cap terms.

Goldman Sachs trimmed its oil price outlook after reports that a US-Iran deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ease a major supply-risk concern.

Asian currencies were little changed as hopes for easing Middle East tensions supported sentiment, while the Bank of Japan raised rates to a multi-decade high and attention turned to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base, with the eight-member crew presumed dead, according to reports.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment reported first-quarter earnings that showed lower profit than a year earlier, and the stock moved lower after the release.

China’s economy softened further in May as retail sales fell for the first time in more than three years, even as industrial output came in above forecasts.