TradingKey Daily Market Briefing: SK Hynix Jumps 12% on First Day of Trading, Oil Prices Surge on US-Iran Conflict

Tracking Market Trends

TradingKey - On July 10, Eastern Time, the three major U.S. stock indices closed higher across the board as the market continued to price in AI growth and the upcoming second-quarter earnings season. Although the U.S.-Iran conflict continues to disrupt the energy market, investors temporarily shifted their focus back to corporate earnings, AI infrastructure investment, and the performance of mega-cap tech stocks.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.29% to 52,642.27; the S&P 500 rose 0.42% to 7,575.39; and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.29% to 26,281.61.

In terms of sectors, information technology and the AI supply chain remained the main market themes. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ticked up 0.06%, rising for the third consecutive trading day. Among individual stocks, Nvidia ( NVDA) rose 4.02%, Meta ( META) surged 5.97%, SanDisk ( SNDK) rose 3.1%. In contrast, Micron Technology ( MU) fell 1.24%, indicating divergence among some memory stocks after recent sharp gains.

In commodities, the crude oil market pulled back before jumping again. By the close on July 10, as the market bet that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz might gradually resume, WTI ( USOIL) crude fell 0.42% to $71.50, and Brent crude fell 0.91% to $75.22. However, entering early Asian trading on July 13, oil prices surged again as the U.S. and Iran escalated military strikes against each other over the weekend. Brent crude rose over 4% to $78.60, and WTI crude rose over 3% to $73.90.

In precious metals, gold ( XAUUSD) continued to face pressure. Spot gold fell 0.11% on July 10 to $4,119.06. At the opening of today's Asian session, gold prices faced heavy pressure and pulled back sharply due to the resurgence of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran; gold prices plunged over 1% at one point, hitting an intraday low of $4,061.04.

Market News

SK Hynix ( SKHYV) surged on its US debut, as the AI memory boom continues. SK Hynix raised approximately $26.5 billion through its American Depositary Receipt listing at an offering price of $149, closing at $168 on its first day of trading, up about 12% from the offering price. The listing is viewed by the market as a key pricing milestone for AI memory assets in the US capital market. As demand for AI servers, HBM, and enterprise SSDs continues to grow, investors remain willing to pay a premium for the memory chip leader.

US stocks enter the second-quarter earnings season, with the market focusing on whether corporate earnings can support high valuations. Major US banks will be the first to report earnings, followed by TSMC ( TSM ), ASML ( ASML ), Netflix and other companies will also release their results. The market expects second-quarter earnings for S&P 500 components to increase by about 24% year-on-year, with technology companies remaining the main source of growth. As US stock indices are already near historic highs, the margin for error in this earnings season is low, and any corporate guidance falling short of expectations could trigger volatility in high-valuation sectors.

The US-Iran conflict escalated again over the weekend, sending oil prices jumping more than 3% in early Asian trading. Latest reports show that the US and Iran continued to launch strikes against each other over the weekend, once again threatening shipping safety in the Strait of Hormuz. Vessel-tracking data showed that the number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday fell to a five-week low. Although Trump stated that commercial shipping lanes remain open, the market fears that if the military conflict escalates, global crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments will be disrupted again.

Inflation data and Fed Chairman Warsh's hearing are the macro focus of the week. This week, the US will release key data including June CPI, PPI, retail sales, and consumer confidence, while Fed Chairman Warsh will testify before Congress. With recent oil price rebounds, market sensitivity to resurgent inflation has risen significantly. If inflation data exceeds expectations, it could further reinforce expectations that the Fed will maintain high interest rates or even hike rates again, putting pressure on gold, growth stocks, and crypto assets.

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