On the stock markets they are still the technology stocks to run, while investors do not seem to be concerned about a Petroleum rose to a five-week high, which sent the government bond yields for fear of the rekindling of theinflationAfter a positive session on Wall Street yesterday, Asia showed great strength, which only faded towards the end of the Eastern session.
The fighting in the Middle East, however, remains the focus of attention, pushing oil prices up again. Brent rose 1,2% to $92,13 after two tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in Red Sea yesterday, following threats from the Houthi Yemenis, Iran's allies. The closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Canal could worsen shipping disruptions due to the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Wall Street rose yesterday ahead of earnings calls. Super Micro Computer jumped 20% in after-hours trading.
Yesterday the main indices of Wall Street closed higher, with the Nasdaq leading the way thanks to a strong rally in semiconductor stocks as investors await the main quarterly results from the technology sector and fear being left out of the market if it rebounds after the data. Dow Jones closed at +0,74%, S & P 500 with +0,89%, Nasdaq with +1,29%. Leading the S&P 500 index was Sandisk with an increase of 14,3%, Western Digital increased by 12,5% and micron Technology with an increase of 12,2%. And then there is 3M which rose 7,3% after the industrial giant raised its full-year profit forecast. The SOX semiconductor sector index gained 5,2%, its best gain in a month.
Investors are waiting for the quarterly results from big names like Alphabet, Tesla, Philip Morris International, Texas Instruments, IBM Following solid results, primarily from the financial sector. Next week, it will be Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Apple, and Amazon.com. According to data collected by LSEG, markets expect S&P 500 earnings to grow 26% year-over-year in the second quarter, up from the previous estimate of 23,7%.
Investors ignored the announcement of OpenAI yesterday according to which a autonomous agent, based on its advanced artificial intelligence models, went out of control during a security test and triggered a attacco informatico which compromised the AI startup's infrastructure hugging face to try to achieve its testing objective. OpenAI said the cyberattack was "unprecedented, involving cutting-edge computing capabilities" and that the company was strengthening its security measures. The cybersecurity community became concerned when Hugging Face, a platform used to host language models and large open-source datasets, said in a blog post last week that the cyberattack was “different from any other” as "guided, from start to finish, from an autonomous system of artificial intelligence agents”.
In 'after-hours Super Micro Computers it splashed up +20% Thanks to its excellent fourth-quarter results, which highlighted record demand and soaring profitability, the server and AI infrastructure giant reported that gross margins for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, are expected to be between 15% and 17%, nearly double the company's previous forecast of 8,2% to 8,4%, an expansion directly attributable to an extremely favorable product and customer mix.
Asia starts with a turbo boost in tech, then slows its gains
The sector ofartificial intelligence recorded a strong recovery in Asia, thanks to thesurge in export demand, pushing chipmaker stocks higher and sending the regional benchmark index to its highest level in a week. Only towards the end of the Asian session did the surge ease. The index MSCI Asia-Pacific shares rose as much as 1,3%, extending gains for the second straight day,
Il Kospi the Seoul Stock Exchange rose as much as 6,2%, before slowing to +1,8%, bringing the rebound of the last two days to almost 10%. According to Bloomberg The unwinding of leveraged positions, the same ones that had helped push the benchmark index nearly 30% below its peak, appears to be coming to an end. Last night, the Korean stock exchange temporarily suspended programmatic trading, a safeguard measure that has become almost routine in this market that has reached a market capitalization of $4.000 trillion. The rebound is being driven by SK Hynix +13,7% and from the other chip giant Samsung Electronics, which rose by more than 6%, then limited its gains to +1,6%
In Japan the Nikkei 225, after a 1,9% rise, turns to parity. In the spotlight is the yen, stable at 163,105 yen against the dollar, its lowest level since 1986, with Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama saying this morning that the government remains ready to take “decisive measures” in currency markets if necessary, but refraining from commenting on specific exchange rate levels. cheap imports Japanese stocks rose to a record high in June and so did exports They exceeded expectations, thanks to strong demand from data centers related to artificial intelligence and the weak yen, which continues to boost exports. The value of imports increased 25,4% in June compared to a year earlier, while exports rose 19,3%. The value of oil imports from the United States increased by approximately 900%, while volumes increased by 460%. At the same time, Japan purchased less oil from the Middle East. The auction of government bonds Japanese 40-year bonds saw their strongest demand since March 2025, driven by investor interest attracted by high yields rarely seen in the past half-century. The bid-to-ask ratio at Wednesday's auction was 2,82, compared to 2,702 at the last auction and a 12-month average of 2,55.
In ChinaHong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0,8% to 24.900 points, near its five-week high. The CSI 300 in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 0,5%. Taipei's Taiex rose 1,4%.
The index of dollar The US dollar, which measures the greenback's strength against six currencies, held near a one-week high of 101,14. The yield on the treasury bonds U.S. 10-year bonds rose 0,2 basis points to 4,628%.'gold gained 1,2%, reaching $4.124,74. The Copper rose to its highest since early June at $13.885. In the stock market cryptocurrencyBitcoin lost 0,5% to $66.077,16, while ether remained unchanged at $1.923,25.
European stock markets opened slightly higher. At the Milan Stock Exchange, Leonardo, Saipem, DiaSorin, and Telecommunications were all eyes on the stock market.
European stock markets are expected to open slightly higher. The Euro Stoxx 50 Index is up 0,2%.
On the agenda the quarterly of Banco Santander, Iberdrola, Experian, Deutsche Boerse, Equinor, UniCredit
banks According to press reports, Banco BPM and Monte dei Paschi di Siena are actively working on a potential merger, with the possibility of selling some MPS assets to distribute a large dividend.
DiaSorin Diagnostics competitor Danaher fell 11% after reporting its earnings. Guidance fell short of expectations.
Leonardo – It has signed a contract for the supply of 12 M-346F Block 20 light attack aircraft to the Indonesian Air Force, following the Letter of Intent announced in February. The contract is expected to be worth approximately one billion euros, equivalent to approximately 3,8% of the 2026 order intake target.
Saipem – New offshore drilling contract valued at approximately $260 million.
Tim/Telecommunications Sector – Negative impact on the sector after KPN lowered its full-year service revenue growth forecast, citing a slowdown in the business market in the second quarter.
UniCredit – Moody's has placed its rating under review for a possible upgrade following the Commerzbank offer.
