Asia Markets
Update: US Equity Indexes Drop as Chipmakers Head for Bear Market, Crude Oil Surges After Iran Expands Attack in Middle East
(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data and company/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)US equity indexes slumped as growth sectors sold off, with chipmakers on the doorstep of a bear market, and crude oil surged after Iran widened its attack to a desalination plant in Kuwait.The Nasdaq retreated 1.4% to 25,520.24, with the S&P 500 down 1% to 7,457.69 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 0.8% to 52,146.42 on Friday. Communication services, consumer discretionary, and technology led decliners, while energy was the sole gainer.The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), with net assets of $77.2 billion, fell to $556.53 on Friday from an intraday high of $671.83 on June 22, a decline of about 17%, heading into bear market territory."A Chinese startup called Moonshot announced it had a new Kimi K3 model that it claims is on par with American AI offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic," Derek Holt, head of capital market economics at Scotiabank, said in a note. "It's a replay of the prior market scare around China's DeepSeek which markets ultimately shook off and which itself may be important guidance for today. Still, AI and AI-related stocks across the tech world are under negative pressure."Netflix (NFLX), part of the communication services sector, reported mixed fiscal Q2 results overnight, with earnings above consensus while sales missed, and Q3 guidance lagging market expectations. Shares sank 7.3%, helping lead the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lower.Shares of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) slumped 14%, the worst performer on the Nasdaq, as growth in the company's da Vinci robotic surgery system in the US moderated amid changes in Affordable Care Act subsidies.Meta Platforms (META) is in talks to rent out computing power from its data centers to Anthropic in a deal that could be worth up to $10 billion over two years, The New York Times reported Friday, citing people with knowledge of the discussions.In geopolitical news, the US and Iran escalated attacks across the Middle East on Friday, trading strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets as their battle over the Strait of Hormuz intensified, the Associated Press reported. The US hit more bridges and energy sites while collapsing a tower at a key Iranian port, following through on President Donald Trump's threats to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the waterway vital to world energy supplies, the news report said.In response, Iran launched missiles into US-allied nations in the region, including Qatar, a mediator in the war, and Kuwait, where one of the desert nation's water desalination plants was damaged, according to the Associated Press.The front-month US West Texas Intermediate jumped 4.2% to $82.24 a barrel, and global benchmark North Sea Brent advanced 4.3% to $87.83 a barrel.US Treasury yields traded mixed, with the 10-year down 1.6 basis points to 4.55%. The two-year rose 2.7 basis points to 4.18%.In precious metal markets, gold futures rose 0.6% to $4,017.9, and silver futures climbed 0.3% to $56.34.In economic news, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 54.4 in July from 49.5 in June, above expectations for 51.0 in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.Michigan said that despite the highest index reading since February, consumers remain dissatisfied due to high prices, adding that it would be difficult to maintain the recent improvement in sentiment if gasoline prices rebound. "Interviews for this release spanned June 23 to July 13, with more than 70% completed before the resumption of US strikes against Iran on July 7 and the subsequent increase in gas prices."Michigan poll respondents saw one-year inflation expectations at 4.2%, down from 4.6% in June, while five-year inflation expectations remained at 3.3%.
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