1. US Equities Stage Quarter-End Rebound as Alphabet Joins the Dow

US stocks closed sharply higher on Monday 29 June, the final trading day of Q2. The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, the Nasdaq 100 surged 2.3%, and the Dow Jones gained 307 points to finish at a fresh record, as investors reassessed the AI trade following the recent selloff. Geopolitical developments contributed to the lift: sentiment was also supported by easing tensions between the US and Iran over the weekend, with President Trump saying peace talks with Iran are set to resume on Tuesday. A notable index change also drove activity: shares of Alphabet jumped 4% as the Google parent joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The rally followed a difficult prior week — technology and industrials had lagged the previous week, with the technology sector ending down roughly 5%, as investors digested announcements from Apple and Microsoft regarding price increases on select hardware products amid rising memory costs.

Sources: Trading Economics, Edward Jones, CNBC — 28–29 June 2026

2. Asian Markets: AI Chip Rout Triggers Sharp Korea Selloff, Partial Recovery Follows

Asian markets experienced significant volatility mid-week. Asian markets sold off sharply on Tuesday, led by South Korea's Kospi which plunged 10% — its largest single-day drop in recent memory — as a selloff in SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics triggered a global AI chip rout. The Hang Seng Index fell 1.8% to 23,336, with Tencent down 4.2%, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 2%, entering bear market territory at 20% below its October peak. By Monday 29 June, the picture was more mixed: Asian markets showed mixed performance with tech stocks falling in Japan and South Korea due to AI-related selling pressure; Tokyo's Nikkei 225 dropped 1% while South Korea's Kospi fell 2%, weighed down by declines in SoftBank Group, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix. Separately, China's CXMT, a domestic memory chip manufacturer, clinched a $3 billion contract to supply memory products to Tencent — a deal that marks a significant expansion for CXMT as Tencent seeks to strengthen its hardware supply chain amid global chip shortages and geopolitical tensions.

Sources: Saxo Hong Kong, CNBC, ts2.tech — 23–29 June 2026

3. Semiconductors: Micron Posts Record Results; Nvidia Projects $1 Trillion AI Infrastructure Demand

The semiconductor sector delivered major earnings and strategic news in the past week. Micron Technology posted record-breaking fiscal third-quarter results and a strong fourth-quarter forecast, driving its market valuation past Meta and fuelling a rally across global semiconductor stocks. Samsung Electronics reached a $1 billion revenue milestone for its sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) and is reportedly planning a 90 trillion won ($647 billion) investment over the next decade. Nvidia expanded its supercomputing footprint with 35 new systems in Europe and projected $1 trillion in AI infrastructure demand by 2027. Despite the record numbers, elevated costs remain a market concern: SoftBank Group plunged, leading a broad selloff in Asian technology stocks amid mounting concerns over the rising cost of AI infrastructure, with each of the megacap stocks down at least 8% in June. Structurally, a June 2026 SIA-Deloitte report found that chips account for more than 95% of a leading AI server rack's content value, with government and industry set to invest over $4 trillion in new data center infrastructure through 2028, of which up to $2.8 trillion will be spent on semiconductors.

Sources: Distill Intelligence, CNBC, Semiconductor Industry Association / Deloitte — 24–26 June 2026

4. Fed Holds Rates; New Chair Warsh Signals Possible Hike, Removes Easing Bias

At its June 17 meeting — the first chaired by Kevin Warsh — the FOMC concluded with no change in interest rates and the removal of key language indicating a bias toward future cuts within a dramatically shorter policy statement, with the Committee voting unanimously to keep its benchmark rate in a range of 3.5%–3.75%. Officials raised their inflation outlook for 2026 to 3.6% headline and 3.3% core, up sharply from 2.7% for both measures projected in March. The updated dot plot shows a committee that expects to keep interest rates higher for longer than previously thought; the FOMC voted 12–0 to hold for the fourth consecutive meeting, while markets currently price in one 25-basis-point hike by October 2026. As of late June, the 10-year Treasury yield stood near 4.41%, with moderating inflation expectations — aided by progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz — providing some relief on rates.

Sources: Federal Reserve, CNBC, Advisor Perspectives, Edward Jones — 17–28 June 2026

5. Private Credit: Redemption Pressure Mounts; Arbitrage Trade Gains Attention

Private credit markets continue to navigate elevated redemption requests. An arbitrage opportunity has emerged: investors can cash out of one private credit fund at 100% of net asset value and reinvest in a comparable vehicle trading at a substantial discount — though in the $1.8 trillion direct lending market, such a trade can be harder to execute than it appears, especially for retail investors. Still, as an avalanche of redemption requests stretches into another quarter, some advisers are urging clients to make the move. The broader pressure is quantified: investors have already requested more than $10 billion worth of redemptions from private credit funds in the first quarter alone, a figure expected to rise. Goldman Sachs predicts private credit funds could see assets reduced by $45 billion to $70 billion in the next two years if retail investors continue to shy away from the asset class. Market participants remain divided on systemic risk: many observers believe recent stress events represent isolated, issuer-specific situations rather than indications of systemic stress.

Sources: Bloomberg, ACG Insights / Middle Market Growth, PineBridge Investments — 25 June 2026

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