Stock Market Update

Equity futures point to a lower open this morning as semiconductor stocks face pressure in the premarket while lingering hostilities between the U.S. and Iran send oil prices higher. Both semiconductors and oil contributed to considerable choppiness last week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notching solid weekly gains, while the DJIA faced a modest loss.

Crude oil is currently up $2.43 (+3.4%) to $73.84 per barrel after the U.S. and Iran traded strikes over the weekend. Iran maintains that the Strait of Hormuz is closed (and attacked a commercial ship travelling the waterway), though Bloomberg reports that a southern route remains open.

Meanwhile, semiconductor stocks are under pressure after shares of SK Hynix moved sharply lower following a successful ADS debut on the Nasdaq on Friday.

There are no earnings on the calendar today, but tomorrow will effectively kick off the Q2 earnings season with a slate of major banking names.

Similarly, there are no economic data releases of note today, though tomorrow will feature the June CPI (Briefing.com consensus -0.1%).

In corporate news:

• Apple (AAPL 315.94, +0.62, +0.2%) sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing company secrets, according to The New York Times.
• Meta Platforms (META 664.25, -5.09, -0.8%) suspended its newly released Muse Image AI image generator, according to Business Insider.
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 434.60, +0.49, +0.1%) reported June revenues up 68% year-over-year, with first half revenues rising 36%.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region had a mostly higher start to the week while South Korea's Kospi (-9.0%) struggled, reaching its lowest level since early May, with SK Hynix falling more than 15.0% after its Friday debut in the U.S. Japan's Nikkei: -1.9%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng: +0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite: -2.1%, India's Sensex: +0.1%, South Korea's Kospi: -9.0%, Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: UNCH.

In news:

• U.S. South Korea's exports were up 54% yr/yr through the first ten days of June with chip exports jumping nearly 200%.
• China imposed temporary export restrictions on helium due to renewed fighting in the Middle East.
• Citigroup upgraded Japan to Overweight from Underweight.

In economic data:

• India's June trade deficit $30.43 bln (last deficit of $28.21 bln). June CPI 4.38% yr/yr (expected 4.30%; last 3.93%)
• New Zealand's June Performance of Services Index 50.6 (last 48.0)

Major European indices trade near their flat lines amid some ongoing Iran-related worries after reports of continued strikes over the weekend. STOXX Europe 600: -0.1%, Germany's DAX: +0.1%, U.K.'s FTSE 100: -0.1%, France's CAC 40: +0.1%, Italy's FTSE MIB: +0.3%, Spain's IBEX 35: +0.2%.

In news:

• The U.K.'s leadership race will take shape this week with Andy Burnham still seen as the clear favorite to become next prime minister.
• Reports suggest that he is planning to combine a departmental spending review with an autumn budget.

There is no economic data of note.