Morning Wrap: Asia extends Wall Street selloff on expensive hardware (26.06.2026)

🇺🇸 US Equities & Market Sentiment

• US stock futures extend losses as tech sector struggles: Wall Street futures are adding to their losses as tech shares fail to establish a solid footing. The broader market sentiment remains weighed down by yesterday's sharp sell-off in Apple and global Xbox console price hikes announced by Microsoft. Nasdaq 100 futures are leading the decline (US100: -1.3%), followed by the S&P 500 (US500: -0.7%), the small-cap Russell 2000 (US2000: -0.5%), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (US30: -0.3%). Europe's Euro Stoxx 50 futures (EU50) are also down 0.6%.

🌏 Asian & Pacific Markets

• Asian shares plunge from records on tech price hikes: Asian benchmarks suffered a severe broad-based sell-off driven by aggressive profit-taking across the artificial intelligence and hardware sectors. Despite a stellar overnight blowout earnings report from Micron, sentiment soured heavily after Apple tumbled 6.1% and Microsoft lifted global Xbox prices by $150 due to soaring memory chip and input storage costs.

• KOSPI dives 7.7% in violent tech unwinding: South Korea's KOSPI index suffered a massive 7.7% plunge, leading regional losses as traders aggressively locked in profits following a monstrous 70% rally in the second quarter. The index wrapped up the week down 5% overall as high-flying artificial intelligence hardware play and memory supply stocks faced heavy liquidation.

• Nikkei slumps 4.4% in broad semiconductor retreat: Japan's Nikkei 225 plummeted 4.4% (with JP225 futures shedding 4% from the prior week) to lock in a sharp technical correction from its recent record highs. Despite the steep daily drop, the index remains up 6% for the month and 38% for the quarter.

• Chinese benchmarks log matching losses: China’s blue-chip Shanghai Composite index slipped 2.1% on Friday (SG20.cash: -0.8%), while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 1.9% lower (CHN.cash: -1.3%). Trading volumes across both regions remained heavily muted due to domestic market holidays.

🌍 Economics, Central Banks & Politics

• ECB's Schnabel flags further rate hikes over inflation risks: European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel signaled the likely necessity of further monetary policy tightening to bring inflation down to the 2% target. She emphasized that the recent US-Iran peace memorandum does not mean the all-clear for the Eurozone economy, noting that May inflation reached 3.2% and the ECB expects full-year inflation to average 3%.

• Fed's Williams tags policy "well positioned" but delays 2% target: New York Fed President John Williams stated that current restrictive policy is appropriate, though he officially pushed back his baseline timeline for hitting the 2% inflation target from 2027 to 2028. Following a hot 4.1% PCE print, Williams flagged persistent structural risks driven by the AI investment boom, import tariffs, and lingering Middle East conflict pressures.

• Fed's Goolsbee sees services' silver lining amid inflation uncertainty: Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee noted that while the hot PCE report brought negative headlines, the underlying data showed minor improvements in the services sector. Echoing the central bank's data-dependent shift, he expressed skepticism toward rigid long-term forward guidance while acknowledging the baseline value of the dot plot.

• Tokyo core inflation accelerates to 1.6% in June: Consumer prices in Japan’s capital rose 1.6% y/y, ticking up from May's 1.3% and matching consensus forecasts. Crucially, the "core-core" index—stripping out fresh food and energy—accelerated to 1.9% (vs. 1.6% prior). This pickup suggests that Middle East energy shocks and May’s 6.3% wholesale inflation spike are successfully filtering into non-energy items like food, keeping the Bank of Japan on track to consider further interest rate hikes.

• IMO halts sailor evacuation in Hormuz after missile strike on cargo ship: The UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) has paused its massive operation to evacuate over 11,000 stranded seafarers from the Strait of Hormuz. The suspension follows a projectile attack on the Singapore-flagged container ship Ever Lovely just 7.5 nautical miles off Oman's port of Dahit. While no casualties were reported and the vessel continued its transit without requiring assistance, IMO Chief Arsenio Dominguez halted the framework to secure firmer safety guarantees.

💱 Foreign Exchange (FX)

• Dollar eases off peaks while Swiss franc finds safe-haven demand: The U.S. dollar index softened for a second consecutive day (USDIDX: -0.1%) after hitting a fresh 13-month high on Wednesday. While broad volatility remains contained, the ongoing global equity rout is weighing slightly on risk-sensitive currencies like the Australian dollar (AUDUSD: -0.2%). Meanwhile, the Swiss franc is displaying considerable relative strength, especially against Scandinavian peers (CHFNOK: +0.4%, CHFSEK: +1.3%) and emerging European markets (CHFPLN: +0.25%, CHFHUF: +0.6%). The EURUSD pair is currently flat at 1.1370.

🛢️ Commodities, Energy & Metals

• Crude oil reacts to Hormuz ship attacks as gas continues streak: Crude oil prices bounced back in the early tradining following the overnight missile attacks on commercial cargo ships in the Middle East. Nevertheless Brent crude futures (OIL) and WTI crude futures (OIL.WTI) are still in the red, losing 0.75% and 1.05% respectively. Natural gas (NATGAS) is up for its third consecutive session, adding another 0.7%.

• Precious metals resume bearish momentum: Precious metals are turning back into the red as sellers dominate near-term price action. Gold futures (GOLD) shed 0.3% to trade back down around $4,017/oz, while silver futures (SILVER) slumped another 1.8% to lock in near $56.00/oz.