US Markets Edge Up Ahead of Micron Earnings – Dollar and Gold Under Pressure

Earlier, Asian markets had provided positive momentum. Semiconductor stocks rebounded sharply in Tokyo and Seoul, pushing Japan's Nikkei-225 and South Korea's Kospi back toward their recent record levels. In Europe, the leading exchanges mostly rose; Infineon gained around five percent in early trading. On Wall Street itself, however, the recovery was hesitant, particularly among technology stocks. Intel gained 1.8 percent and Nvidia 0.4 percent, but many names remained under pressure.

Asia Provides Support, Europe Follows – US Tech Hesitant

Among individual stocks, chip designer Qualcomm made headlines: the company announced the acquisition of AI software specialist Modular in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $3.9 billion. Modular develops software that enables AI to run efficiently across different hardware architectures. The quarterly report from AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems, on the other hand, was mixed: despite better-than-expected results, the stock plunged 16.5 percent because expectations had been extremely high following its IPO in May.

Logistics stock FedEx lost one percent after the company reported higher revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter, thanks to increased freight rates and volumes, but slightly lower earnings. Analysts at Morgan Stanley pointed out that the company's outlook was difficult to assess due to several structural changes in financial reporting. The Dow Jones also saw the addition of Alphabet, which gained 1.1 percent; at the same time, shares of Verizon Communications fell 2.3 percent to make room for the Google parent company in the leading index.

Dollar and Bonds: Fed Expectations Set the Course

In the currency market, the dollar index rose by 0.2 percent, supported by the prospect of rising interest rates from the US Federal Reserve over the remainder of the year. Bas Kooijman of DHF Capital S.A. said the expected tightening could continue to drive dollar strength and keep bond yields at an elevated level. The yield on ten-year US Treasuries, however, fell by nine basis points to 4.40 percent. EUR/USD traded at 1.1351, down 0.3 percent.

The gold price came under significant pressure, falling a further 2.6 percent to $4,003 per troy ounce, briefly breaking below the psychologically important $4,000 mark. The precious metal was weighed down by the strong dollar and the prospect of rising interest rates. Oil prices also continued to decline: a barrel of North Sea Brent crude fell by 4 percent to $74.02, fully giving back the massive rally seen since March in the wake of the Middle East war. US President Donald Trump had previously stated in a social media post that Iran had informed the United States that it would not charge or collect fees from ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Gold and Oil Under Pressure – Economic Data in Focus

A series of economic data was eagerly awaited in the market. The consumer research institutes GfK and NIM forecast only a slight upward movement in consumer sentiment for July; the overall indicator rose only to minus 29.2 points from a revised minus 29.7 points. Analysts had expected a stronger recovery and had on average forecast a figure of minus 28.0 points. Income expectations, which had already risen in the previous month, edged up again slightly. On Thursday, the PCE inflation data – the Fed's preferred inflation gauge – as well as the results of the central bank's bank stress tests are due to be released.

EasyJet and H&M: Corporate News from Europe

In addition to the macroeconomic data, individual corporate announcements from Europe also moved markets. The British low-cost airline EasyJet rejected a fourth unsolicited offer from US investor Castlelake, now at £6.50 per share. EasyJet shares nevertheless rose by five percent to 566.87 pence. Swedish fashion group H&M felt the impact of weak consumer sentiment in the second fiscal quarter: revenue in the three months to the end of May fell by 3 percent to 54.8 billion Swedish kronor (approximately €4.95 billion), weighed down by negative currency effects. Analysts had expected a smaller decline, and earnings development also disappointed; H&M shares lost around 2.5 percent.

From South Korea came news that chipmaker SK Hynix aims to raise more than $29 billion through its planned listing on Wall Street; trading is scheduled to begin on July 10. Japanese company Kioxia is also planning a US listing, which was received positively by the markets. Bitcoin traded at $60,220.71, down 3.5 percent.

The major US indices had earlier fallen to new daily lows on Wednesday after the European trading session ended, before stabilizing during the course of trading. Overall, trading was thus nervous: despite the partial recovery, sentiment remained tense in view of the upcoming Micron earnings, US economic data, and monetary policy expectations.