Many individual chip stocks trebled or quadrupled this year on pumped-up AI capex by the so-called hyperscalers. The second quarter was the best on record for the U.S. SOX chip index, but June was the worst month in a dour year so far for the Magnificent Seven - most of whom are doing all the spending.
Oil prices have returned to pre-Iran war levels, meantime, with all eyes on planned peace talks in Doha on Tuesday after the weekend's military flareups.
But Federal Reserve rate-hike bets are still in the mix for the second half regardless, as recent macro releases show the U.S. economy may be running hot.
More immediately, the quarter ended on an upbeat note for the big chip-stock winners in Asia, with Wall Street's attention now turning to the June jobs report due on Thursday in this holiday-shortened week.
Ahead of that, U.S. May job openings data is on the schedule for Tuesday, as are consumer confidence updates for June.
Another big development on Monday was the narrow U.S. Supreme Court ruling that President Trump cannot fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook until the case against her is heard and proven. If she's found guilty, it's a different matter.
Over in FX markets, Japan's yen continued to weaken to 40-year lows, without intervention from the authorities so far, despite ongoing warnings. Speculative short positions in the yen have risen to their highest in about two years, with investors increasingly nervous about the prospect of official action to prop up the flagging currency.
In corporate news, Comcast ended almost 5% higher on Monday after it announced it was splitting its media and entertainment units from its communications business, spinning out NBCUniversal and Sky into a different company.
With that, onto today's column.
