Daily News 26th June 26
Daily News
Global Tech Sell-Off Deepens as Kospi Sinks 7%; Nasdaq Posts Four-Day Losing Streak; Gold Slips Below $4,000; Crude Falls Under $71 on Hormuz Disruption
26 June 2026
Today in Brief
A global tech sell-off deepened on Friday, hitting Asia hardest: South Korea's Kospi plunged more than 7% and the Kosdaq lost over 5%, triggering a 20-minute trading halt, while Japan's Nikkei 225 fell as much as 5.15% below 69,000. In the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 0.46% — its first four-day losing streak since February — while the S&P 500 slipped 0.01% and the Dow eked out a 0.14% gain on rotation into healthcare, financials, and industrials. Apple shed 6% after announcing price hikes on MacBooks and iPads, citing an unprecedented surge in memory and storage costs driven by AI data-centre demand; Microsoft dropped more than 3% on higher Xbox prices.
Gold fell below $4,000 an ounce — on track for a weekly loss of more than 5% — as hawkish Fed signals outweighed support from US-Iran peace progress. Crude oil slipped below $71 per barrel after a vessel was struck by a projectile off Oman, prompting the IMO to pause its ship-evacuation plan and raising fresh concerns about Hormuz. Fed officials Goolsbee and Williams both addressed inflation, with core PCE hitting 3.4% in May — the highest since October 2023 — and markets pricing in an 80% chance of a December rate hike. Iraq piled pressure on OPEC over production quotas following the UAE's exit; SpaceX outlined plans for a Starlink mobile service for U.S. consumers; OpenAI is leaning toward a 2027 IPO at a $1 trillion valuation; and Micron briefly overtook Meta and Tesla in market capitalisation as AI chip demand surged.
Global tech sell-off deepens as South Korea's Kospi sinks 7%
The sell-off was particularly severe in Asia. South Korea's benchmark Kospi plunged more than 7%, while the small-cap Kosdaq lost more than 5%, prompting the country's exchange to halt trading on the main index for around 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell as much as 5.15%, falling below the 69,000 level. In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was unchanged. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down almost 2% while the mainland's CSI 300 lost 2.82%.
Nasdaq posts first four-day losing streak since February as tech rotation continues
Investors continued to move out of tech names on Thursday, causing the Nasdaq Composite to pull back 0.46% and notch its first four-day losing streak since February. The S&P 500 slipped 0.01%. On the other hand, a rotation into healthcare, financial and industrial names boosted the blue-chip Dow 71.72 points, or 0.14%, higher. In Thursday's regular session, Apple lost 6% after announcing price hikes on its iPads and MacBooks, pointing to rising demand for memory and storage. Microsoft dropped more than 3% after announcing higher prices on its Xbox gaming consoles, citing surging component costs.
Gold fell below $4,000 an ounce on Friday and was on track to lose over 5% for the week
Gold fell below $4,000 an ounce on Friday and was on track to lose over 5% for the week as hawkish signals from the US Federal Reserve outweighed support from the impact of US-Iran peace efforts. On Thursday, bullion rebounded modestly after the latest US PCE inflation data came in broadly in line with expectations, easing fears of imminent Fed rate hikes and pushing the dollar and Treasury yields lower. Even so, markets are pricing in an 80% chance of a Fed rate hike in December following last week's hawkish pause, while the probability of a September increase stands at around 63%.
Crude oil fell below $71 per barrel on Friday, reversing the previous session's gains
Crude oil fell below $71 per barrel on Friday, reversing the previous session's gains as investors assessed rising shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz despite a vessel being struck by an unidentified projectile off the coast of Oman. The incident revived security concerns and heightened fears that Iran could exert greater control over traffic in the key waterway, while several commercial ships turned back, threatening the progress achieved through US-Iran peace efforts. Washington and Tehran continue to negotiate a permanent agreement to end the conflict, though talks on key issues such as nuclear policy are expected to remain prolonged. Even with the latest disruption, oil flows from the Persian Gulf through Hormuz reached their fastest pace since the war began.
UN agency pauses Hormuz ship evacuation plan after first vessel attack under peace deal
The International Maritime Organization has paused its efforts aimed at evacuating ships and seafarers stranded inside the Middle East Gulf after a vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The pause follows a container ship being struck by an unknown projectile near the coast of Oman on Thursday, with a U.S. official telling MS Now that Iran was behind the attack. The evacuation plan would be temporarily paused "in order to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on our evacuation list and all those in the region," Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, said in a statement.
Chicago Fed President Goolsbee says inflation is too high; Williams sees price pressures easing
Two Federal Reserve officials on Thursday indicated some optimism on inflation, though neither indicated a likelihood that interest rates will change anytime soon. Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said Thursday that inflation is still trending the wrong way though there have been a few bright spots. A little later in the afternoon, New York Fed President John Williams said he expects inflation readings to start trending lower. In a live CNBC interview from his home district, Goolsbee declined to speculate on where he thinks interest rates are headed. However, he said he remains squarely focused on inflation, in remarks that reflected sentiment new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh expressed a week ago.
Core inflation rate hit 3.4% in May, highest since October 2023, Fed's preferred gauge shows
The Federal Reserve's primary price gauge rose at its highest level since 2023, reinforcing the central bank's recent tough talk on inflation. Excluding food and energy, the personal consumption expenditures price index showed a 3.4% annual rate after rising 0.3% for the month, both in line with the Dow Jones consensus. The annual core reading was the highest since October 2023. For the all-items reading, the PCE index showed inflation running at a seasonally adjusted 4.1% annual rate, the highest since April 2023, according to a Commerce Department report Thursday. On a monthly basis, the PCE accelerated 0.4%. The annual level was in line with the Dow Jones consensus estimate while the monthly reading was 0.1 percentage point below.
Iraq piles pressure on OPEC over quota dispute after UAE exit
Iraq wants OPEC to significantly increase the country's oil supply quota, Baghdad said on Thursday, following reports it would consider quitting the cartel over the dispute. As the second-largest oil exporter in the group, Iraq holds significant influence over OPEC, which saw its third-largest producer, the United Arab Emirates, exit in April. It comes after Reuters reported Iraq was weighing leaving the cartel and Bloomberg quoted an Iraqi oil ministry spokesperson warning that a "decision will have to be made regarding whether to remain in or withdraw" if oil quotas are not lifted. Iraq's oil ministry said later on Thursday that reports suggesting Baghdad could end its membership in OPEC "did not reflect the Iraqi government's official position," but added that it continues to stress the importance of reviewing oil production quotas.
Apple posts worst day in over a year after MacBook and iPad price hikes
Apple on Thursday announced price hikes on MacBooks and iPads, its first formal move to pass higher memory and storage costs on to consumers after CEO Tim Cook said increases had become unavoidable. Shares of the company closed more than 6% lower on Thursday after the price change, the worst fall since April 2025. Apple's online store briefly went down Thursday morning and updated with the price changes. "The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge," the company said in a statement. "The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly." Apple added that it has "reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products," leaving the door open to more increases down the line.
Musk's SpaceX targets US consumers with Starlink mobile service push
Elon Musk's SpaceX has told investors that it plans to launch a Starlink mobile service for U.S. consumers, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. SpaceX was considering launching a Starlink retail product and could build its own terrestrial U.S. mobile network, President Gwynne Shotwell told investors during a recent IPO roadshow, according to the FT report.
OpenAI leans toward waiting until next year for IPO
OpenAI is considering holding off on its public debut until next year, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing three people involved in the company's deliberations. The AI startup, which has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, is targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion, Reuters has reported, adding Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has told some associates the company is aiming for a 2027 listing. OpenAI's advisers presented company executives with the option of waiting until 2027 to go public with a $1 trillion valuation, or lower the targeted valuation for a quicker listing. CEO Sam Altman responded that any change to the trillion-dollar valuation was a non-starter. Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has asked OpenAI to stagger the release of its new model over security concerns, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Micron overtakes Meta, Tesla in market value amid relentless AI infrastructure demand
Micron Technology edged past the market valuation of Meta Platforms and briefly Tesla's for the first time on Thursday, after the memory chipmaker's solid forecast helped extend its AI-driven ascent. The company's shares were last up 18.4% at $1,236, giving it a market capitalisation of $1.398 trillion, compared with Meta's $1.392 trillion. Tesla had a market value of $1.4 trillion. Micron's fourth-quarter revenue and profit forecasts on Wednesday helped shares reverse a recent slump, with the company disclosing its customers had committed $22 billion to lock in supplies of memory chips. The chip company topped $1 trillion in market value on May 26, following the entry of South Korea's Samsung Electronics into the club, as memory chipmakers benefit from investor appetite for beneficiaries of Big Tech's mega AI spending plans.
