MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks fell as traders fled the tech sector due to fears about the sustainability of the artificial-intelligence boom.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields fell as traders rotated into safe havens.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar hit a 52-week high against rivals due to increased expectations for 2026 rate hikes.
COMMODITIES: Oil futures fell slightly after the U.S. lifted sanctions on Iranian oil in a gesture interpreted as a positive signal on peace negotiations.
HEADLINES
Walmart, in Biggest Deal in Two Years, Buys Advertising Tech Firm
Walmart is paying $1.4 billion to purchase a French advertising-technology firm, according to people familiar with the matter, investing heavily to continue its efforts to compete with Amazon for new advertising revenue streams.
On Tuesday Walmart announced it would buy Vibe.co, a company that enables advertising through connected televisions, particularly focused on small and medium-size advertisers that often have smaller budgets and less access to large ad-buying teams. Two years ago Walmart purchased connected-TV maker Vizio, in large part to expand the number of platforms where it could sell advertising.
Vibe.co's technology will enable that growth, the company said in a release Tuesday. Walmart aims to help more advertisers launch connected-TV campaigns and better measure their business impact, the company said in a statement. The announcement didn't include the terms of the deal.
U.S. Business Activity Continued to Expand in June
U.S. business activity in the private sector continued to expand in June as brighter news out of the Middle East helped restore some confidence among U.S. businesses, a monthly survey said Tuesday.
The S&P Global Flash U.S. Composite PMI - based on its surveys of services and manufacturing firms - rose to 52.2 from 51.5 in May. A reading above 50 indicates activity continued to grow.
Manufacturing output grew at the fastest rate since July 2021 in response to the largest rise in new orders for just over four years. Meanwhile, the reading for services PMI reached a four-month high.
Nike Names Pfizer's Denton as Next CFO
Nike appointed David Denton as its next chief financial officer, bringing in the Pfizer executive to oversee finances for the beleaguered sneakers and apparel company.
Denton's appointment is effective Aug. 17, the company said Tuesday. He is expected to succeed Matthew Friend, who will stay on through Sept. 4 to support the transition.
"Dave is a proven public-company CFO who knows how to help great consumer brands operate with discipline and invest to win," Chief Executive Elliott Hill said.
FedEx Revenue Rises on Growth in Package Yields, Volume
FedEx logged higher revenue in its latest quarter on higher shipping rates and volumes.
The shipping company on Tuesday posted a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $1.6 billion, or $6.60 a share, compared with $1.65 billion, or $6.88 a share, a year earlier. Profit in the recent quarter was dented by costs related to the company's freight spinoff, business optimization and shift to reporting on a calendar-year basis.
Adjusted earnings per share were $6.31, compared with estimates of $5.96 a share, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Oracle Sheds 21,000 Jobs as It Sharpens Focus on AI
Oracle cut around 21,000 jobs last year as the tech company continued to develop its artificial-intelligence business and made heavy investment in data centers.
The cuts are part of a wider trend among tech firms as they spend hundreds of billions of dollars building out AI infrastructure. Meta and Amazon have also cut thousands of jobs in recent months as tech giants try to reimagine their workforces and become more nimble to compete with AI-native startups.
Austin, Texas-based Oracle's head count shrank by roughly 13% in its previous fiscal year, according to its latest annual report. As of end-May, the company had approximately 141,000 full-time employees, compared with 162,000 at the end of the last fiscal year.
Carnival Says Iran War Disrupted Bookings, Issues Soft Outlook
Carnival said extreme geopolitical volatility has disrupted bookings, and the company issued a soft outlook for the current quarter as higher fuel costs continue to weigh on profit.
The cruise line said Tuesday that booking trends during the recent quarter were most disrupted across Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean region.
Chief Executive Josh Weinstein said that strong demand and spending trends across Carnival's overall portfolio helped to offset the disruption.
U.S. Bets Billions of Dollars in Low-Cost Loans Can Revive Nuclear Power
The Trump administration is so eager to see a nuclear power renaissance that it is starting to fund billions of dollars for reactor orders.
In a new deal expected to be announced Tuesday, low-interest loans amounting to $17.5 billion from the Energy Department will be available for utilities to finance equipment orders for the Westinghouse AP1000, the company's flagship nuclear reactor, a version of which China is building at industrial scale.
The loans are intended to speed up construction of 10 reactors in the U.S. Five loans will be available for projects with two reactors each, the Energy Department said.
Accounting Firm Eide Bailly to Sell Stake to Private Equity in $1.8 Billion Deal
Accounting firm Eide Bailly agreed to sell a stake to Reverence Capital Partners, a move to implement artificial intelligence at a faster pace for itself and its clients.
Reverence and co-investors will collectively take a majority stake in the Minneapolis-based firm, in a deal valuing it at about $1.8 billion, people familiar with the matter said.
Eide Bailly and Reverence said they expect the deal to close in the third quarter.
TALKING POINT The June Tech Wreck Arrives-and the Stock Market Is Shaking In Its Boots
Stocks could be facing the end-of-quarter reckoning many investors feared when Elon Musk's SpaceX unveiled plans for its multibillion-dollar initial public offering and Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh took over the central bank's policy reigns earlier this month.
The early signs of a late June "tech wreck" started to formulate Monday, with Google parent Alphabet shedding more than $225 billion in market value, its biggest slump in more than a year, and SpaceX extending its three-day decline to more than $600 billion. Shares in SpaceX were falling 4.3% in premarket trading Tuesday, putting them below $150 a share.
Those losses were paired with a notable move higher in Treasury bond yields, tied in part to last week's debut press conference from the new Fed chairman, who laid out plans to scrap forward guidance on interest rates, overhaul the Fed's communications policy, and switch the central bank's inflation focus to a version calculated by the Dallas Fed.
"Yields are becoming a headwind as markets price in more Fed hikes between now and the end of the year," said Fundstrat's Tom Lee.
Overnight, South Korea's Kospi index, dominated by two of the world's biggest chip makers, tumbled the most in more than three months, with circuit breakers halting trading late in the session.
SK Hynix, which overtook Samsung as the market's biggest stock this week, tumbled 12.5%, while Samsung fell 13.2%. Japan's Nikkei 225 also shed more than 3.5%, with tech leading the declines, as the yen neared its weakest level in four decades.
The collective action has the Nasdaq Composite facing a big slump of around 700 points, or 2.3%, on Tuesday with the S&P 500 poised to shed around 85 points and fall to the lowest levels since June 10.
--Martin Baccardax, Barron's
Expected Major Events for Wednesday
08:00/GER: Jun ifo Business Climate Index
11:00/US: 06/19 MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey
12:30/US: 1Q International Transactions
12:30/US: Annual U.S. International Investment Position
14:00/US: May New Residential Sales
14:30/US: 06/19 EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report
23:01/UK: BRC Consumer Sentiment Monitor
23:01/UK: May UK monthly automotive manufacturing figures
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Wednesday
AGF Management Ltd - Class B (AGF.B.T) is expected to report $0.54 for 2Q.
Burcon NutraScience Corp (BU.T) is expected to report for 4Q.
Crown Crafts Inc $(CRWS)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Culp Inc $(CULP)$ is expected to report $0.23 for 4Q.
Daktronics Inc (DAKT) is expected to report $0.20 for 4Q.
Evertz Technologies (ET.T,EVTZF) is expected to report $0.18 for 4Q.
HB Fuller Co $(FUL)$ is expected to report $1.14 for 2Q.
Jefferies Financial Group Inc $(JEF)$ is expected to report $1.16 for 2Q.
LiveOne Inc (LVO) is expected to report for 4Q.
Methode Electronics Inc (MEI) is expected to report $-0.20 for 4Q.
Micron Technology Inc $(MU)$ is expected to report $20.24 for 3Q.
MillerKnoll Inc (MLKN) is expected to report $0.45 for 4Q.
NovaGold Resources Inc (NG,NG.T) is expected to report $-0.02 for 2Q.
Paychex Inc $(PAYX)$ is expected to report $1.22 for 4Q.
Raymond James Financial Inc $(RJF)$ is expected to report.
Richtech Robotics Inc (RR) is expected to report $-0.06 for 2Q.
Roadzen Inc $(RDZN)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Strata Skin Sciences Inc (SSKN) is expected to report for 1Q.
VivoSim Labs Inc $(VIVS)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Worthington Steel Inc (WS) is expected to report for 4Q.
Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
We offer an enhanced version of this briefing that is optimized for viewing on mobile devices and sent directly to your email inbox. If you would like to sign up, please go to https://newsplus.wsj.com/subscriptions.
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 23, 2026 16:44 ET (20:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments