Daily News 22nd June 26
Daily News
Stock Futures Fall on Iran Deal Uncertainty; S&P 500 and Nasdaq Rebound as Chips Rally; Gold Edges Toward $4,200; Crude Slips Below $76 on Peace Progress
22 June 2026
Today in Brief
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed, with Japan's Nikkei 225 advancing 1.95% past 72,000 to a fresh record and South Korea's Kospi rising 1.22%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.74% and the Kosdaq slipped 0.99%. U.S. stocks rebounded Thursday — the S&P 500 gained 1.08% to 7,500.58, the Nasdaq climbed 1.91% to 26,517.93, and the Dow rose 72 points to 51,564.70 — as chip stocks surged following Trump's Apple-Intel partnership announcement; Intel jumped 10.6%, with Nvidia and Micron also higher. Gold climbed toward $4,200 an ounce on Monday as oil prices fell further on US-Iran peace roadmap progress, while crude slipped below $76 per barrel after Qatar and Pakistan confirmed both sides agreed to a 60-day timeline for a final deal.
In other news: The U.S. and Iran agreed during Lake Lucerne Summit talks to establish a High Level Committee and a mechanism to end hostilities in Lebanon; China retaliated against a Pentagon blacklist by placing 10 U.S. firms including MP Materials and Oshkosh Defense on its export control list; an explosion at Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG site left 54 injured and 18 missing; UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer weighed his political future after Andy Burnham's decisive by-election win; Intel named industry veteran Seok-Hee Lee to lead its foundry packaging division; Meta secured 1.6 gigawatts of AI computing capacity through new deals with Crusoe; SpaceX shares dropped over 6% as post-IPO momentum faded; and President Trump told Axios he no longer views Anthropic as a national security threat.
Stock futures fall as investors weigh Iran deal progress and await key reading on inflation
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed, with Japan's Nikkei 225 jumping to a fresh record, advancing 1.95% to rise past the 72,000 mark, while the Topix rose 1.29%. South Korea's Kospi rose 1.22%, while the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.99%. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was marginally higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.74%, while the mainland CSI 300 was up 0.28%. The three leading U.S. indexes staged a comeback Thursday after a sell-off on Wednesday, with the declines fueled by investor uncertainty about the trajectory of monetary policy. Thursday's comeback — led by a rise in chip stocks — helped the indexes finish the trading week higher.
S&P 500 closes higher, Nasdaq climbs nearly 2% as chips fuel comeback from Fed sell-off
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, staging a comeback after the Federal Reserve indicated the possibility of a rate hike this year — a move that sparked a sell-off in equities during the previous session. The S&P 500 added 1.08%, closing at 7,500.58, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.91% to 26,517.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 72.15 points, or 0.14%, to end at 51,564.70. Intel led chip stocks higher, rising 10.6% after President Donald Trump said the company will partner with Apple on designing chips in the U.S. Fellow semiconductor names such as Nvidia and Micron Technology were also higher by about 3% and almost 9%, respectively.
Gold climbed toward $4,200 an ounce on Monday, recouping some losses from recent sessions
Gold climbed toward $4,200 an ounce on Monday, recouping some losses from recent sessions as oil prices fell further following reports that the US and Iran had agreed on a roadmap toward a final peace deal within 60 days. The development helped ease market concerns after both sides recently exchanged threats over the conflict in Lebanon, with Tehran claiming it had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz. However, millions of barrels of crude continued to pass through the waterway over the weekend, while Persian Gulf producers prepared to increase output. Investors also looked ahead to this week's release of the US PCE price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation. Last week, the Fed left interest rates unchanged but maintained a more hawkish stance.
Crude oil slipped below $76 per barrel on Monday, giving up earlier gains
Crude oil slipped below $76 per barrel on Monday, giving up earlier gains as investors reacted positively to signs of progress in ongoing peace talks between the US and Iran. According to a joint statement from Qatar and Pakistan, which are facilitating negotiations in Switzerland, both sides have agreed to a roadmap aimed at securing a final agreement within 60 days. Oil prices started the session sharply higher after President Donald Trump threatened fresh strikes if Hezbollah continues attacking Israel and warned Tehran against closing the Strait of Hormuz again. Iranian media later reported that Tehran had suspended talks in response to Trump's remarks, though sources familiar with the negotiations said discussions were still underway.
U.S., Iran agree on roadmap for final deal and plan to end military operations in Lebanon
The U.S. and Iran made progress during talks in Switzerland on Monday toward reaching a final deal within 60 days, including the agreement to establish a committee and a mechanism to end hostilities in Lebanon. "The Lake Lucerne Summit was conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere. Encouraging progress has been made, including the creation of a mechanism for further technical talks," according to a joint statement by mediating parties Qatar and Pakistan. Building on a memorandum of understanding signed last week, the parties agreed to establish a "High Level Committee" that will provide political oversight of the mediation. Chief negotiators will report regularly to the committee and lead working groups on nuclear, sanctions, and dispute resolution, according to the joint statement.
China imposes trade curbs on dozens of U.S. firms in retaliation for Pentagon blacklist
China imposed fresh trade restrictions on dozens of U.S. entities on Monday, retaliating against Washington's move to add more Chinese companies to a Pentagon list of businesses it accuses of aiding Beijing's military. On Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce placed 10 American industrial suppliers on its export control list, including rare earth miners MP Materials Corp and USA Rare Earth, and drone makers Teal Drones and Jaia Robotics — barring exports of any dual-use items originating in China to the companies. Other companies included on the list are California-headquartered electronics manufacturer Aveox Inc, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp, and military equipment provider Oshkosh Defense.
54 injured and 18 missing after explosion at Qatar LNG site, authorities say
Fifty-four people have been injured while 18 are missing after an explosion at Qatar's core liquefied natural gas processing site of Ras Laffan on Sunday, authorities said. An incident during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City resulted in an explosion and fire at the Barzan local gas supply facility on Sunday evening, QatarEnergy said in a statement. Emergency response teams were deployed to contain the fire, which was now under control, it said. Fifty-four people had been injured and rescue teams were looking for 18 missing people, Qatar's Interior Ministry said in a statement. It attributed the explosion to a "technical accident" and said there was no threat to public safety. QatarEnergy did not indicate whether the explosion had caused any damage to the plant, which supplies gas to the domestic market.
UK's Starmer considers political future, could decide as soon as Monday
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was considering his political future on Sunday, after rival Andy Burnham's decisive election victory in parliament prompted more ministers in the governing Labour Party to call for him to go. Struggling with some of the lowest popularity ratings for any British leader in modern political history, Starmer could decide as soon as Monday whether to step aside or fight a leadership contest against Burnham, one source said. The scale of victory Burnham won for a parliamentary seat in northwestern England on Friday has piled pressure on Starmer, with dozens of lawmakers and some ministers privately calling for him to set out a timetable for his departure to clear the way for the former Greater Manchester mayor. A source with knowledge of the matter said Starmer was spending the weekend thinking about and discussing his position with his family but that an expected conversation with Burnham would clarify matters.
Intel taps industry veteran Seok-Hee Lee to lead foundry packaging push
Intel on Thursday named Seok-Hee Lee executive vice president of its contract chip-manufacturing division as it sharpens focus on its advanced packaging business. The American chipmaker has been trying to reinvigorate its manufacturing business under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, after missing out on the AI boom. The appointment follows President Donald Trump's announcement earlier in the day that Apple had agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture its chips in the U.S. in a boost to the chipmaker's contract manufacturing business. Advanced packaging has become increasingly important as chipmakers seek to improve performance by integrating multiple chips into a single package. Lee, who will report directly to CEO Lip-Bu Tan, will lead all advanced packaging, system integration, back-end technology development and back-end manufacturing, Intel said in a statement.
Meta signs new AI computing deals with data center firm Crusoe
Meta Platforms has secured new agreements to get AI computing power from data center developer Crusoe, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, as it strengthens infrastructure required to support its AI expansion. Meta and Crusoe did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the report, which cited people familiar with the situation. Reuters could not independently verify the report. Meta is under contract to buy computing capacity from Crusoe at two data centers, which are located in Childress, Texas, and Warrenton, Missouri, according to the report. Meta is set to get roughly 1.6 gigawatts of capacity combined across the two sites, the report said. A single gigawatt is enough to roughly power 750,000 U.S. homes. The Bloomberg report said that it was not immediately clear how much Meta will be spending or when the computing capacity will be delivered.
SpaceX shares fall as post-IPO frenzy loses steam
Shares of SpaceX dropped more than 6% on Thursday, as the post-IPO frenzy that briefly placed Elon Musk's rockets-to-AI firm among the world's top five most valuable companies appeared to fizzle out. The stock was last down 6.5% at $178.50, after falling nearly 5% in the last session. It was still more than 30% above its $135 offering price. If the losses persist, SpaceX's market value of $2.52 trillion would shrink by more than $150 billion on Thursday. Shares of other U.S. space companies were also down. Rocket Lab and Planet Labs dropped around 3%, while AST SpaceMobile and Intuitive Machines declined around 7% and 3%, respectively.
Trump tells Axios he no longer views Anthropic as national security threat
U.S. President Donald Trump said he might have viewed artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a national security threat last week, but he no longer does, according to an interview with "The Axios Show" published on Friday. Senior Anthropic technical staff were scheduled to meet with Trump administration officials earlier this week to discuss a dispute over foreign access to its most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. The company last week disabled access for all users to those models after Trump ordered Anthropic to block foreign nationals from accessing them. When asked if he viewed Anthropic, or its CEO Dario Amodei, as a threat to national security, Trump said: "Well, not now, but a week ago, maybe."
