Although the renewed mutual attacks have further weakened the fragile cease-fire between United States and Iran, in force for only three weeks, the markets internationals have mostly reacted with relative calm even if the prices of the Petroleum and their impact inflationary and on rates remain at the center of attention. The theme of theartificial intelligence has returned to the forefront ahead of its highly anticipated US market debut today. SK Hynix, a leading company in the chip sector and one of the symbols of AI. In Japan the government played the ace of using the pension funds to stimulate the economy and the repatriation of capital, thus also supporting the yen and government bondsEuropean stock markets are more cautious and have opened slightly lower.
La craving for chips It remains dominant. According to UBS's Memory Monthly report for July, global monthly memory sales reached a record $74,6 billion, up 31,7% month-over-month and 2,8 percentage points above the 10-year seasonal average. This has prompted both UBS and Bernstein to forecast a sharp increase in contract prices, although the two firms differ on the duration of this recovery.
South Korean giant SK Hynix makes its US debut today.
Attention will be focused later today on the debut of SK Hynix on the US market after the company placed its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) at dollars 149 yesterday, raising approximately $26,5 billion, demonstrating investors' strong interest in gaining exposure to the artificial intelligence sector. The colossal offering, which will finance new factories and equipment to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence chips, it is poised to become the world's second-largest stock sale after that of SpaceX last month. Investors are eager to see how it goes evaluated in the stock market compared to its US rival Micron: the latter is trading at a 12-month forecast price-to-earnings ratio of 6,66 times, versus SK Hynix's 5,5 times.
The listing in the US offers the world's leading supplier of memory chip High Bandwidth (HBM) is a powerful fundraising channel, targeting investors seeking additional opportunities to participate in the booming AI infrastructure sector. Expressions of interest have been received from Baillie Gifford, Coatue Management, and Situational Awareness Partners for up to $7 billion in ADRs, according to the filing.
The price set by SK Hynix for the listing brings a approximately 3% premium compared to Thursday's closing price of common stock in Korea. This move could reduce the so-called "Korea discount," the tendency for South Korean companies to be valued less than their international peers due to concerns about local governance and corporate structures.
SK Hynix shares are more than tripled this year, with a 238% increase, taking the broader benchmark index to record highs and making the Kospi the world's best-performing stock market since the beginning of 2025.
Yesterday, Wall Street saw a return to the desire for tech thanks to investments planned by Micron.
Yesterday a Wall Street il Nasdaq closed sharply higher (+1,30%) thanks to Micron Technology which fueled a rally in semiconductor stocks, overshadowing fears about the consequences of the crisis in the Middle East.chip index gained 3,06%, recording a rise for the second consecutive session. The Dow Jones andS & P 500 closed in positive territory at +0,81% and +0,27% respectively.
micron Technology jumped 4,5% after the company announced plans to invest over 250 billion dollars in the United States by 2035, to benefit from demand for memory chips needed to support the artificial intelligence boom. Other tech stocks rose, as investors brushed aside recent concerns about excessive capital expenditures: Applied materials rose by 3,2% and Sandisk of 7,6%. Meta it went up after that Reuters reported that the company plans to begin producing artificial intelligence chips in September. In the consumer sector PepsiCo lost 3,3% despite the snack and beverage giant beating second-quarter revenue estimates, while Costco Wholesale fell 4,2% to a six-month low after the retailer reported slowing same-store sales in June.
With yesterday's gains, the index S & P 500 is up by about 10% in 2026 and remains down less than 1% from the all-time high reached on June 2. With the start of the season quarterly, analysts on average expect a increase in profits of companies in the S&P 500 index of 24% on an annual basis, with technology companies expected to contribute the lion's share, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. The S&P 500 index is trading at about 20 times expected earnings, down slightly from 21 times a month ago.
Asia rises, Japan plays its pension fund ace and the yen recovers
The higher closing on Wall Street also gave a boost to the Asia Pacific stock markets, led by companies chip and artificial intelligence and, ignoring the mutual attacks between the United States and Iran, have the spotlight on the long-awaited debut on the US market of the South Korean chip giant SK Hynix.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index is up 1,3% with a weekly balance of approximately -1%. Kospi South Korea's stock has gained more than 5% (-8% since the beginning of the month). The chipmaker SK Hynix e Samsung Electronics They rose by nearly 3% and 6%, respectively, before retreating slightly toward the close. Taiwanese markets remained closed due to a typhoon.
I Japanese markets have received one positive thrust after the government he indicated that he wanted increase investment in domestic activities by state pension funds, including the giant Government Pension Investment Fund, a move long-anticipated to incentivize repatriation of capitalThe GPIF, one of the world's largest pension funds, had assets of 293.400 trillion yen ($1.810 trillion) at the end of December. Its movements are closely monitored by financial markets, as any shift in strategy is often replicated by other funds. Last month, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi unveiled a plan to invest 370 trillion yen ($2,3 trillion) in the economy over 14 years, with more than a quarter of that amount earmarked solely for artificial intelligence and chips.
Concerns about the expansionary fiscal policy of theTakaichi administration had recently intensified, and the risk of political interference in monetary policy had triggered a sell-off in Japanese government bonds, pushing yields to multi-decade highs earlier this week. But this latest move has the yen strengthened, eased pressure on bond yields government bonds and kept the momentum going for the Nikkei which is up 1,8% this morning and 1,4% since the beginning of the month. Mitsubishi Motors is up 17%, the highest since December 2024, after the carmaker announced a collaboration for the production of humanoid robots with a Tokyo-based startup. yen strengthened to 161,4 against the dollar. Government bonds are improving: the 10-year yield is at 2,78%, up from 2,89% yesterday, the highest since 1997. yen remained near 40-year lows, but strengthened by more than 0,5% to 161,45 per U.S. dollar after the Japanese government's comments.
In ChinaHong Kong's Hang Seng Index is up 1,8%, up 7% since the start of the month. The CSI 300 index in Shanghai and Shenzhen is up 0,5%, down 1,5% since the start of the month. Next week, Chinese memory giant CXMT will open investor subscriptions for its IPO, kicking off the final phase of China's most anticipated listing of the year. The company, which competes with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, will offer 6,688 billion shares as part of the deal and plans to raise at least 29,5 billion yuan ($4,3 billion) on the STAR Board, a market dominated by chipmakers, according to its prospectus. This figure could rise to over $5 billion if the over-allotment option is exercised. At that size, it would be the largest IPO in mainland China since Cnooc Ltd. raised $5,1 billion in 2022.
According to the Financial Times, OpenAI and Google They confirmed that they had provided artificial intelligence services to companies affiliated with Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent through their Singapore-based subsidiaries.
Oil futures Brent Brent crude has rallied 5% this week, but at $76,73 a barrel, it has lost much of the gains it made since the conflict began in late February.
European stock markets opened slightly lower. At the Milan Stock Exchange, eyes were on StM, Leonardo, and Unicredit.
European stocks are expected to open lower. The Euro Stoxx 50 Index futures are down 0,3%.
Bpm bank Deutsche Bank raised its target price to 16,20 euros, from 13,70 euros previously, with a Buy rating confirmed.
Diasorin – Private equity funds' interest in Qiagen reignites the diagnostics sector's speculative appeal.
Eni – Morgan Stanley cuts its target from 25,3 to 22 euros.
Fincantieri – It has signed two Memorandums of Understanding with the Croatian shipyards Brodotrogir Cruise and Iskra Shipyard, as part of a program promoted by the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia.
Italgas – Following the publication of the 2026-2032 strategic plan, Moody's upgraded the Outlook from Stable to Positive and affirmed the long-term credit rating at Baa2.
Leonardo – Jefferies raises its rating from Hold to Buy, with a target of €62 to €68.
Lottomatica – In June, volume and Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) growth was supported by the FIFA World Cup, driving Q2 market GGR to +8% in online and +1% in retail.
Mediobanca – Deutsche Bank raised its recommendation to Buy from Hold, bringing the target price to 29,40 euros, from 18,80 euros previously.
stm – Yesterday it closed up 7%. The semiconductor sector could also benefit today from SK Hynix's US debut.
Tim – Agcom has asked FiberCop to modify the new tariff scheme for telecommunications operators.
Unicredit – BNP Paribas raised its target price to €105 from €97. The Outperform rating is confirmed.
Unipol - Second MFThe European Parliament has reopened discussions on a possible extension of capital treatment similar to the Danish Compromise to insurance companies that hold stakes in banks. This measure could benefit Unipol's strategy regarding MPS and BPER.
