OPENING CALL
Stock futures were climbing Thursday after Micron earnings eased fears over an AI bubble and as investors await PCE data.
Futures contracts tied to the Nasdaq 100 were rallying more than 2%, while oil prices fell back to prewar levels.
Brent crude oil was hovering around $73 a barrel as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is picking up and boosting hopes that supplies from the region will bounce back.
"Despite a slump in energy prices, concerns about persistently higher inflation
have seen a significant re-rating of monetary policy expectations," ANZ said.
Jefferies believes one of the main impacts from the U.S.-Iran deal is that central banks wouldn't need to hike rates . "We retain the view of no hikes from the Federal Reserve for this year and the next move from the Fed would be a cut and not a hike."
The Fed will get another data point on the inflation picture today, with May's PCE index. Weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders and the third estimate of first-quarter growth are also due.
Danske Bank expects the central bank to deliver two interest-rate increases--in December 2026 and March 2027--bringing the fed funds rate to 4.00%-4.25%
"We do, however, emphasize that there is a risk that rate hikes could come sooner, and that more than two could materialize," it said.
Kevin Warsh's first meeting as Fed chairman was a clear signal that the Fed is increasingly moving away from using forward guidance around coming monetary policy decisions . "All indications suggest a preference for greater discretion around future policy decisions," Danske Bank added.
Stocks to watch
Micron Technology said revenue quadrupled in the second quarter and that it expects the chip shortage to extend beyond 2027. Shares surged 17% premarket.
Sandisk, Western Digital, Qualcomm: Memory makers and other stocks tied to the AI buildout also rallied ahead of the bell. Sandisk was among the biggest gainers, rising more than 12%.
Wendy's: Shares of the fast-food chain jumped premarket, on pace to extend yesterday's 26% gain. The stock has benefited from a burst of attention from retail traders, who have rallied behind the stock on social media.
Watch For:
U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims; U.S. Durable Goods for May; U.S. 3rd Estimate GDP for 1Q; U.S. Personal Income and Outlays for May; FRB Chicago President Austan Goolsbee speaks at Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:
- The New Push to Ready Millions for AI Career Upheaval
- The Data-Center Boom Is Sparking a Third Wave of Inflation
- How a Crypto Exchange Became a Major Hub for Illicit Iranian Cash
MARKET WRAPS
Forex:
The dollar edged lower
after reaching a 13-month high Wednesday as investors await key inflation data that could provide clues on whether the Fed could raise interest rates this year as expected.
The euro traded flat. Artificial intelligence-related sentiment now appears to be the primary driver of the euro's trajectory against the dollar, ING said.
Sterling rose as risk sentiment improves, oil prices fall and U.K. political concerns ease.
Bonds:
Treasury yields edged higher
in early trade, slightly more so on the short end of the curve, signaling market expectations of Fed interest-rate hikes.
The 10-year Treasury yield is expected to rise
to 4.65% over the next year in Barclays's base-line scenario.
Energy:
In early European trading, Brent crude fell 1.1%, while WTI futures were down 0.9%.
Metals:
Gold prices held below $4,000 a troy ounce on rising bets of interest-rate hikes by the Fed this year.
Copper
Copper prices were flat in early trade as persistent supply-side tightness continued to offset concerns over weakening seasonal demand, Ruida Futures said.
Iron
Iron ore prices rose in early trading hours after a prolonged selloff, easing some market concerns over downside risks, Everbright Futures said.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Pizza Has Gone Cold. Domino's Is Still Worth a Look.
Americans aren't as hungry for pizza. Neither is Wall Street. But there could be value in the sector's leftovers.
Pizza chains once owned a reliable American ritual: a sit-down dinner under a red-roofed Pizza Hut or a predictable Domino's delivery on a lazy TV night. The growing American appetite for chain pizza made Domino's Pizza one of the best restaurant stocks to own for decades.
Anthropic Claims Alibaba Ran 'Brazen' Campaign to Access Its Claude AI Model
U.S. artificial-intelligence lab Anthropic has accused Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba of "illicitly" accessing its frontier model Claude to harvest its capabilities.
In a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic alleged that Alibaba and its AI unit conducted "the largest known distillation attack" on the company to date.
Micron Shares Jump as Chip Shortage Projected to Last Beyond 2027
Micron Technology, which has seen its value triple this year, said revenue quadrupled in the second quarter and forecast that rapid growth will continue due to near-insatiable demand for its memory chips.
Shares surged by as much as 15% in after-hours trading after the company beat Wall Street expectations in virtually every financial metric watched closely by investors, including sales, earnings per share and adjusted gross margin. The company also raised its forecast.
Volkswagen to Sell Majority Stake in Everllence Engine Unit to Bain Capital For $8.4 Billion
Volkswagen agreed to sell a majority stake in marine engine subsidiary Everllence to Bain Capital for around $8.4 billion, as it moves to streamline its investment portfolio and boost its coffers.
The German automaker is working through a broad restructuring to cut costs and become more nimble as the auto industry responds to rising geopolitical tensions, intense competition and growing trade barriers.
Markets on Watch for Yen Intervention But That May Not Turn the Tide
Foreign exchange markets are on edge, watching for potential government intervention as the Japanese yen approaches its weakest levels against the dollar in almost two years. But intervention alone is unlikely to be enough to change the yen's fate.
The dollar was recently at 161.82 yen on Thursday, a mere whisker from its high of Yen161.92 on June 22. If it rises above that, the yen would be at its weakest since July 2024, and potentially trigger action from authorities.
ECB Will Need to Raise Interest Rates Again, Schnabel Says
The European Central Bank will need to keep increasing borrowing costs to control inflation that jumped on higher energy prices due to the war in the Middle East, executive board member Isabel Schnabel said.
"From today's perspective, we will need to raise interest rates further in order to bring inflation back to our 2% target over the medium term," she told German weekly Die Zeit in an interview published Thursday.
Hawkish Bank of Japan Member Sees Scope to Bring Policy Rate Closer to 2%
The Bank of Japan should raise interest rates steadily and consider speeding up the pace of tightening if inflation risks intensify, a hawkish policy board member said Thursday.
Speaking to business leaders in Japan's western prefecture of Hyogo, Naoki Tamura said underlying inflation had already reached the bank's 2% target.
Deadly Earthquakes Rock Venezuelan Capital
Two powerful earthquakes hit Venezuela on Wednesday, causing buildings to collapse in the capital Caracas, rattling other cities and leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured.
A 7.2-magnitude quake hit at 5 p.m. local time, quickly followed by a second, 7.5-magnitude quake. The epicenter for both was near the town of Yamure, about 200 miles west of Caracas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Trump Stuns Republicans With Whirlwind Day of Frustration and Finger-Pointing
WASHINGTON-At 2:38 a.m. on Wednesday, President Trump delivered a political attack line that most Republican politicians could rally behind.
"America the Beautiful will NEVER be a Communist Country," he wrote on social media, criticizing the progressive candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America who won primary elections for House seats in New York on Tuesday.
How a Crypto Exchange Became a Major Hub for Illicit Iranian Cash
Earlier this year, crypto sleuths found an alarming series of transactions tied to two digital wallets controlled by the Central Bank of Iran.
Tracing backward, investigators discovered the wallet's funds were linked to $1.5 billion that North Korean hackers stole from the crypto exchange Bybit. After reaching the Iranian wallets, the money flowed through a complex maze of transactions. One destination was a crypto exchange that has become key to Iran's ability to use cryptocurrency to evade far-reaching U.S. economic sanctions.
A Turkish Arms Sale Leads to a Face-Off Between Trump and Congress
The Trump administration is expected to override a decision by a Democratic lawmaker who is blocking a proposed $750 million sale of jet engines to Turkey over concerns about the country's ties to Russia.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D., N.Y.) had placed a hold on the sale to Turkey-a NATO ally that is hosting an alliance summit next month-because the country continues to hold a Russian S-400 air-defense system that it bought roughly a decade ago, along with other concerns about Turkey's role in the region.
Write to priscila.barrera@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
BlackBerry Limited 1Q
Medexus Pharma 4Q
Economic Indicators $(ET)$:
0830 Apr Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies
Stocks to Watch:
Clairvest Group 4Q EPS CAD 4.56; 4Q Net Income CAD 62.3M; 4Q Book Value CAD 1.29B; Reports 4Q EPS of CAD 4.56
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
June 25, 2026 05:57 ET (09:57 GMT)
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