Market news archive — page 50

Citigroup raised its year-end Nikkei 225 target to 90,000, one of Wall Street's most aggressive calls, citing Japan's tech- and AI-driven bull market, a weak yen and corporate reforms — implying sizeable upside from the index's recent break above 70,000.

With Starmer resigning and a Labour leadership contest set to conclude in early September, frontrunner Andy Burnham has become the focus of investor anxiety over UK fiscal discipline — though sterling's slide to three-month lows and steady gilts suggest markets had largely priced the change.

An explosion and fire at the Barzan gas facility in Qatar's Ras Laffan complex late Sunday injured 54 people and left 18 missing, blamed on a technical malfunction during a restart — a fresh blow to the world's largest LNG hub as it recovers from wartime damage.

Following a shift in expectations, Bank of America now sees three Fed rate hikes this year, while commentators note a sizable portion of FOMC participants anticipate at least one hike during the year under new chair Warsh

Sterling steadies near the 1.3000 level after news of Keir Starmer's resignation and reports of Downing Street staff departures, with markets largely expecting the developments amid ongoing political pressure

Following a blockbuster IPO that pegged SpaceX near a $2 trillion valuation, the stock eased in the two days of trading after a strong debut rally, with investors parsing the post-IPO move and broader market impulses.

Castlelake reportedly failed in its third attempt to acquire EasyJet with a 625 pence per share offer, which was rejected by the British airline as a deadline concluded without a deal.

Lisi shares rose after Berenberg initiated coverage with a Buy rating, citing a positive long-term outlook as investors weigh defense and tech-market dynamics highlighted by defense and space industry coverage.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to present a timetable for his departure, amid escalating calls to resign and a defining day in UK politics

Colombia’s right‑wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella has secured a narrow victory in the presidential contest, with reports noting his backing from Donald Trump and a close overall result.

Iran's crude flows via the Strait of Hormuz reportedly rise to their highest level since before the conflict, while threats of renewed strikes and renewed restrictions on Hormuz weigh on oil markets and stock futures.

Oil prices edged lower after reports that the United States and Iran agreed on a 60-day roadmap toward a final deal, with the talks conducted under a memorandum of understanding and linked to broader regional ceasefire arrangements

As US-Iran discussions advance, bitcoin trades around $64k while crypto generally weakens; gold rebounds and stocks rally on a softer backdrop for the Fed, with oil price movements noted

Beijing responds to the Pentagon's expanded blacklist by curbing trade with dozens of American firms and targeting rare earth materials linked to U.S. military-linked entities, according to reports from CNBC and ForexLive.

Oil declines amid diplomatic developments as the U.S. and Iran outline a framework to end conflict, while the USD/JPY moves above 161 following the FOMC announcement.

Oil prices edged higher as a threat of renewed U.S. action against Iran coincided with ongoing US-Iran peace talks, with Brent benchmark gaining after a choppy start to negotiations.

Reports say Kevin Warsh, tapped by Trump to succeed Powell, signaled a broad restructuring of Fed processes and tasked groups to rethink core operations, signaling a quiet shift in policy approach

Bitcoin steadies near the $64,000 level as Iran signals the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, raising risk tensions amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

A ceasefire in southern Lebanon was tested as Israeli strikes killed at least five people, with a drone attack reportedly claiming two more lives, underscoring the fragility of the pause in fighting.

Charles Schwab is preparing to launch S&P 500 prediction markets offering yes-or-no wagers on the index closing above or below a target price, according to WSJ reports

A converted Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar has been revealed as a stopgap aircraft to ferry the U.S. president while a new Air Force One fleet, ordered from Boeing, is pending delivery, according to reports from CNBC and Investing.com.

Trump told Axios he no longer views Anthropic as a national security threat after previously pressing the firm to block foreign nationals from accessing its advanced AI models.

A House Republican introduces a bill to bar lawmakers and their families from policy-related bets on prediction markets, aiming to curb potential insider trading while sparing certain officials from a broader ban

Charles Schwab plans to collaborate with Cboe to launch a prediction market tied to S&P 500 index moves, according to the Wall Street Journal and corroborated by other outlets

An original analysis: the metals complex has split, with copper at record highs while gold and silver slide. The wedge is real interest rates and the source of demand — a hawkish Fed and fading war premium punish non-yielding monetary metals, while a supply deficit and AI-driven demand keep industrial copper bid.

EU-licensed exchanges including Binance, Coinbase and Kraken have removed Tether's USDT for European users ahead of the July 1 MiCA deadline, after Tether declined to seek authorization — handing an edge to compliant rivals like Circle's USDC, though USDT remains the largest stablecoin globally at about $175 billion.

Kroger shares dropped by high single digits after its quarterly results showed price cuts boosting sales but squeezing earnings, sliding toward $59 even as the grocer affirmed its full-year outlook — highlighting the margin trade-off facing supermarkets amid fierce competition and value-seeking shoppers.

Copper is trading near record highs around $13,500-$13,700 a tonne on the LME as a looming end-of-June US tariff review spurs stockpiling, mine disruptions deepen a global supply deficit and AI and electrification demand stays strong — though a hawkish Fed clouds the longer-term demand outlook.

Bank Indonesia raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 5.75% on June 18, its third hike in about a month and 75 basis points of tightening since late May, as it moves to defend the rupiah against Middle East-driven capital outflows and a stronger dollar while keeping inflation on target.

The two-year Treasury yield jumped more than 16 basis points on June 17 — its biggest Fed-day move since March 2008 — and rose above 4.2% the next day after Chair Kevin Warsh's hawkish debut, flattening the curve as the 10-year held near 4.45% and markets abandoned bets on rate cuts.

Carnival is set to report fiscal Q2 results in the coming days on record booking momentum — with about 85% of 2026 sailings booked at high prices and record customer deposits — but higher fuel costs from the Middle East energy shock and Gulf itinerary disruptions could weigh on margins.

FedEx reports fiscal Q4 results on June 23, its first quarter after spinning off its freight division on June 1; analysts expect adjusted EPS near $5.80-$5.90 on about $24 billion in revenue, with cost cuts and the network overhaul in focus against an uncertain economic backdrop.

The yen slid past 161 per dollar toward its weakest level in about 40 years, prompting Japan's finance minister to warn Tokyo will "act decisively" — but with the move driven by a hawkish Fed and a wide rate gap, a record ~$73 billion of recent intervention and a BOJ rate hike have failed to reverse the slide.

Robinhood is cutting about 290 jobs, roughly 10% of its workforce, to flatten management layers — a move CEO Vlad Tenev framed as proactive given record June trading volumes, with about $28 million in Q2 restructuring charges, even as the brokerage keeps hiring selectively.

OPEC Secretary General Haitham al-Ghais has dismissed the IEA's forecast of a major oil glut next year — which sees supply rising 8 million bpd versus 2 million for demand if the US-Iran war fully resolves — arguing OPEC sees no peak in demand and questioning the agency's assumptions as Hormuz reopens.

Nevada has led the US in job growth for nine straight months, with its workforce expanding about 1.9% over the past year — the fastest of any state — and accounting for roughly 12% of new US jobs despite holding 1% of the population, as it diversifies beyond casinos into AI infrastructure, even with unemployment above the national rate.

Bitcoin slipped toward $63,000 on Friday, trading on its own with US stock markets closed for Juneteenth, as traders priced in nearly a 40% chance of a July Fed rate hike following Warsh's hawkish meeting — with the US-Iran peace deal and falling oil offering only limited support to the largest cryptocurrency.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is rebounding sharply as the US-Iran deal is implemented, with tracking data showing a jump in transits, the blockade lifted and threat levels downgraded — but Iran's toll-free passage runs only 60 days, leaving the strait's long-term governance unresolved.

Knight-Swift Transportation shares fell roughly 10% this week, retreating from near 52-week highs after Citigroup downgraded the trucking giant to Neutral on valuation following a ~50% year-to-date run — a sharp pullback that tests how much of an anticipated 2026 freight-cycle recovery is already priced in.

Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy national homebuilder Taylor Morrison for $72.50 a share, about $8.5 billion including debt and a 24% premium — one of the first major deals under new CEO Greg Abel, deepening the conglomerate's long-term bet on US housing. The all-cash deal is expected to close in late 2026.

Fox Corporation shares fell about 25% this week after it agreed to buy streaming-platform maker Roku for $160 a share, or roughly $22 billion, in cash and stock — a deal that pairs Fox's live sports and news with Roku's connected-TV reach but has rattled investors wary of the price, debt and dilution.

A report says several UK cabinet ministers plan to press PM Keir Starmer to set a departure timetable, reviving leadership questions that have dogged his government all year — adding a layer of domestic political risk for a pound already pressured by a hawkish Fed, a stronger dollar and the Bank of England's split-vote hold.

Silver fell below $65 an ounce on Friday, down about 5% on the week and roughly 20% from its post-Fed high, as the central bank's hawkish hold lifted the dollar and yields and the US-Iran peace deal drained safe-haven demand — a sharp reversal for a metal that hit a record above $121 in January.

Nio is under renewed pressure as China's car market contracts and an EV price war grinds on; CEO William Li warned 2026 retail sales could fall 15-20%, with NEV sales down 8% in early June and 15% year-to-date even as penetration hits records — leaving the BEV-only, export-light maker exposed.

Markets turn next week to US PCE inflation (Friday), with core seen near 3.3% and headline around 4.0%, plus June flash PMIs and CPI from Canada, Australia and Tokyo — the first big data test of new Fed Chair Warsh's hawkish stance as the energy shock fades and the yen hovers near intervention levels.

Canada's May CPI, due Monday, is expected to show headline inflation edging higher on energy costs while the Bank of Canada's core measures hold near the 2% target — a result that would support the central bank's June decision to keep rates at 2.25% ahead of its July 15 meeting.

Binance faces possible rejection of its MiCA license in Greece before the July 1 EU deadline, and unverified reports that the ECB pressured the decision have raised questions over the central bank's role — though legal experts note MiCA allows ECB-regulator contact while leaving licensing to member states.

Prediction-market platform Kalshi has begun early, informal IPO talks with investment banks after annualized revenue tripled past $2 billion on a surge in sports contracts, lifting its valuation to $22 billion — though state lawsuits over sports betting cloud the path to any listing.

Amazon MGM Studios has dropped Luca Guadagnino's nearly finished Sam Altman film 'Artificial' — which reportedly portrays the OpenAI chief unflatteringly — and is shopping it to other distributors, months after Amazon's $50 billion OpenAI investment, raising questions about business interests shaping creative decisions.

A filing shows Stellantis owns a 9.5% stake in solid-state battery developer Factorial Energy, acquired by converting earlier investments at Factorial's June 5 public-market debut, with a board seat — deepening its bet on next-gen EV batteries days after road tests began in a Dodge Charger Daytona.