US OPEN: Indices Recover Amid More Expensive iPhones and GTA 6 Preorders (18.06.2026)

Wall Street is seeing a cautious recovery from yesterday's post-FOMC selloff. Futures on S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up 1.4% and 2.25% respectively, DJIA futures are adding 1.1%, while small-cap Russell 2000 stocks gain 1.7%.

Investors are navigating a complex macro environment following a historic US-Iran peace deal, cooling gasoline prices and the blockbuster SpaceX IPO, which drew massive retail inflows. However, anxiety remains high under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. His decision to abandon explicit forward guidance introduces policy uncertainty, forcing markets to price data in real time.

Jobless Claims Fall to 226k Amid Low Layoffs

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits slipped by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 226,000 for the week ended June 13, matching expectations and cementing a stable labor market backdrop. While initial layoffs remain historically low, continuing claims rose by 24,000 to 1.81 million, signaling that finding new employment is taking longer amid policy and geopolitical uncertainty. Nevertheless this is a minor signal and the number remains within the healthy labour market range.

Source: XTB Research

US100 (H4)

US100 contracts surged 2.0% today, breaking decisively past the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level ($30,264) on strong bullish momentum. The price continues to trade well above its 10, 30, and 100-period Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) on the 4-hour chart, signaling an intact short-term upstream. Buyers are now eyeing a retest of the psychological resistance near the recent peak at 30769, while the 14-period RSI sits comfortably at 58.4, leaving plenty of room before entering overbought territory.

Source: xStation5

Company News:

• SpaceX (SPCX.US) extends yesterday's losses by 7.3%, dropping to approx. 178 USD.

• Apple flags "unavoidable" price hikes over surging chip costs (AAPL.US: +0.6%): Outgoing CEO Tim Cook warned that hardware price increases are inevitable due to an unsustainable spike in memory chip costs. Driven by intensive AI demand and Middle East war disruptions to helium supply chains, RAM prices have doubled since late 2025. Analysts estimate upcoming smartphone prices globally could jump 20%, potentially adding up to $150 to the upcoming iPhone 18.

• Accenture sparks global IT consulting rout on guidance cut (ACN.US: -16.7%): shares tumbled after reporting a Q3 fiscal 2026 revenue miss ($18.7B vs. $18.78B expected) and narrowing its full-year organic growth forecast to 3%–4%. The revenue sluggishness triggered heavy selling across the skittish sector amid AI structural transition concerns, dragging French rival Capgemini (CAP.FR) down 8.4% to a new 52-week low, while Cognizant and Infosys slipped up to 5.8%.

• HIVE Digital skyrockets on massive $220M GPU contract and expansion (HIVE.US: +7.5%): shares surged after securing a three-year, $220 million GPU cloud contract with Bell Canada and Cohere to deploy 2,304 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs, adding $70 million in ARR. Separately, HIVE won municipal approval to acquire its leased 32 MW "Big Boden" data center in Sweden.

• Pfizer CFO Dave Denton to step down in August (PFE.US: -2.3%): the company announced that Chief Financial Officer Dave Denton will exit on August 15 to pursue a consumer goods opportunity outside the pharma industry. Cecile Guegan, Senior VP of Finance for the global biopharmaceutical business, will take over as Interim CFO on August 16 while the company initiates a comprehensive search for a permanent successor.

• Rockstar sets GTA 6 pre-orders for June 25 amid pricing debate: Rockstar Games officially revealed the animated panel cover art for Grand Theft Auto 6 and announced console pre-orders will launch on June 25 ahead of its November 19 release. While a PC launch remains unconfirmed, the announcement sets up an immediate focus on final pricing, amid intense speculation that Take-Two may push the standard edition price to $80 or more.

• Rumble surges on Northern Data buyout and AI pivot (RUM.US: +7%): share jumped after closing its acquisition of an 85.2% stake in Northern Data AG. The company rebranded as RUM Group Inc. and formed "Quake AI"—a cloud infrastructure unit combining Rumble Cloud with Northern Data’s estate of 22,000 NVIDIA H100/H200 GPUs. Backed by a $270M Together AI pipeline deal, Northern Data concurrently lifted its full-year 2026 revenue guidance by 30% to €170M–€190M.