Gold Price Holds Near Record High as Cooling U.S. Inflation Offsets Fed Caution 
China Trade Surplus Hits $125.6 Billion as June Exports, Imports Smash Forecasts 
South Korea Raises Interest Rates to 2.75% as Inflation and Weak Won Drive Tightening 
Gold Prices Slip as Oil Rally Fuels Inflation Fears, Strengthens Dollar 
China Q2 2026 GDP Misses Forecast as Weak Domestic Demand Offsets Export Strength 
Oil Prices Rise as U.S. Strikes on Iran Raise Strait of Hormuz Supply Fears 
Oil Prices Surge as U.S.-Iran Conflict Escalates and Strait of Hormuz Risks Grow 
Asian Currencies Hold Steady as Middle East Tensions Offset Weaker US Dollar 
IEA Warns China Rare Earth Export Curbs Could Threaten $6.5 Trillion in Global Production 
China Home Prices Fall Again in June Despite Slower Pace of Decline 
US Stock Futures Hold Steady as Soft Inflation Data Eases Fed Rate Hike Fears 
Asian Stocks Slide as Chip Selloff Deepens Ahead of TSMC Earnings 
U.S. Imposes 25% Tariff on Select Brazilian Imports After Section 301 Trade Investigation 
Asian Stocks Slide as Oil Surge, U.S.-Iran Tensions and Fed Rate Bets Weigh on Markets 
Asian Stocks Rise as Softer U.S. Inflation Boosts Sentiment Despite Middle East Tensions 
Dollar Slides as Softer US Inflation Dims Fed Rate Hike Expectations 
U.S. stock futures edged lower on Thursday evening as renewed pressure on technology and artificial intelligence stocks overshadowed optimism surrounding a more accommodative Federal Reserve. The pullback was driven largely by a sharp decline in Broadcom shares, which fell in after-hours trading despite posting strong quarterly earnings, raising fresh concerns about the sustainability of the AI-led rally.
Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) dropped as much as 5% after the chipmaker warned that its higher-margin, non-AI businesses could see muted performance in the current quarter. Investors were also unsettled by the company’s comments that a major data center deal linked to OpenAI is unlikely to generate meaningful returns until at least 2027. While Broadcom exceeded expectations for fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and issued an above-consensus revenue forecast, the cautious outlook was enough to trigger profit-taking after the stock’s roughly 75% surge so far in 2025. The company did highlight a sizable AI-related order backlog of $73 billion over the next 18 months, but concerns lingered about customer concentration and the possibility of major clients developing in-house AI chips.
Weakness in Broadcom followed a steep selloff in Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), which plunged more than 10% during Thursday’s regular session. Although Oracle delivered solid earnings, investor skepticism over its exposure to OpenAI and the reliability of its future AI-driven cloud orders weighed heavily on sentiment, dragging down the broader tech sector.
By 19:29 ET, S&P 500 Futures slipped nearly 0.1% to 6,903.75 points, Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.2% to 25,671.25 points, and Dow Jones Futures bucked the trend, rising 0.1% to 48,799.0 points. Earlier in the day, Wall Street closed mostly higher, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching record highs, supported by gains in non-tech stocks.
Investor confidence was bolstered by the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points and signal a less hawkish policy stance. Fed Chair Jerome Powell also announced an immediate resumption of asset purchases, with the central bank set to buy $40 billion in Treasury bills per month. The move is expected to inject additional liquidity into financial markets, potentially supporting risk assets in the months ahead, even as near-term volatility persists in the tech and AI sectors.
