MARKET WRAPS
Stocks:
European shares largely edged higher Friday, with most sectors in the green, though AI-related stocks fell.
Oil prices fell but were on track for a weekly gain of around 5% as a flare-up in fighting between the U.S. and Iran has curtailed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, threatening regional supply once again.
"With oil prices softening following the midweek spike, traders appear to view the latest tensions as a challenge to the ceasefire
rather than a complete breakdown, as Trump's comments earlier in the week briefly led markets to fear," Saxo Bank said.
A U.S. official said technical talks with Iran are continuing despite recent strikes between the two sides, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"Our view remains that we should get a deal near term, but we see it as a fudge rather than an agreement which can ensure long-lasting peace," Jefferies said.
Investors are now awaiting the U.S. trading debut of South Korean semiconductor manufacturer SK Hynix , which will list on the Nasdaq, with shares reportedly priced at $149 each.
"That is exactly the kind of story equity investors want to own into earnings season," Tickmill Group said. "Not abstract AI enthusiasm, but capital raising, capacity expansion, data center demand, and hardware bottlenecks."
U.S. Markets:
Stock futures were mostly lower Friday after Thursday's surge in semiconductor stocks.
Investors will be watching out for Delta Air Lines' second-quarter earnings, which are scheduled to come out before the opening bell.
Forex:
The euro rose. Recent military strikes between the U.S. and Iran have boosted expectations for another interest-rate rise by the European Central Bank but the euro has limited scope to benefit, ING said.
The dollar fell as concerns about a return to full-blown conflict in the Iran war faded, sending oil prices lower and driving investors away from safe-haven assets.
Sterling rose to a new one-year high against the euro and remained stronger versus the dollar after reaching a near four-week high earlier in Asian trade.
Bonds:
Eurozone government bond yields declined in early trading , benefiting from a rally in Japanese government bonds as well as lower oil prices as concerns about Middle East tensions ease slightly.
Bunds have shifted from being relatively rich just over a week ago to relatively cheap now, Citi said.
Treasury yields were stable, as investors came to terms with a renewed bout of tensions between the U.S. and Iran after President Trump's announcement earlier this week that the ceasefire between the two countries was over.
Treasury yields and market pricing the probability of Fed tightening remain elevated
relative to pre-Iran War levels, even though crude oil prices have unwound most of the initial increases after the war began, Eurizon SLJ Capital said.
The rupture of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire and rising oil prices have helped push the 10-year Treasury yield back above 4.50%, but it is still likely to continue searching for direction, SEB said.
Energy:
In early European trading, crude futures were down slightly. Brent crude fell 0.2%, while WTI was down 0.1%.
Metals:
Spot gold was down. Gold's outlook remained positive, said GivTrade. Gold is trading under a "complex mix of safe-haven demand and interest-rate pressure."
Pepperstone said gold will likely be weighed by geopolitical tensions and elevated interest rates in the near term.
Copper
Copper prices edged higher in early trading as easing geopolitical tensions supported sentiment, but expectations for rate increases by the Fed were limiting gains, Baocheng Futures said.
Iron
Iron ore rose in early trade amid concerns over potential supply disruptions from Australia, ANZ Research said.
EMEA HEADLINES
Volkswagen's Vast Jobs Factory Is Under Threat Like Never Before
For decades, Volkswagen's prowess in selling German-engineered cars around the world helped support a growing army of some of the auto industry's best-paid workers back home.
Now, that once-unshakeable business model-and the vast workforce it sustained-is under threat like never before.
easyJet Agrees in Principle to $7.6 Billion Takeover Deal From Apollo
EasyJet said it agreed in principle to a rival 5.7 billion pounds ($7.64 billion) takeover deal with asset-management firm Apollo and was withdrawing its recommendation for the Castlelake deal.
In a joint statement, the companies said that the proposal offers 7.15 pounds per easyJet share, representing a 81% premium to the airline's closing price on May 28.
Xavier Niel to Become Vodafone's Largest Shareholder With $5.9 Billion Stake Buy
French businessman Xavier Niel plans to buy a 16.2% stake in Vodafone Group from Emirates Telecommunications for about 4.4 billion pounds, or $5.90 billion, to become the largest shareholder in the U.K. telecoms company.
Vega, an acquisition vehicle owned by the Niel family group, said the investment would be a long-term, strategic minority shareholding and that it didn't plan to make an offer for the entire share capital of Vodafone.
Apollo to Buy $3.4 Billion Stake in Bayer Contraceptives Business
Asset-management firm Apollo agreed to buy a minority stake in Bayer's long-acting reversible contraceptives business for 3 billion euros, or $3.43 billion, the companies said.
German pharmaceutical company Bayer said it secured 3 billion euros in equity capital, as part of an agreement with Apollo for its managed funds and affiliates to obtain a minority stake in a new entity. The newly established entity will hold Bayer's long-acting reversible contraceptives business.
GLOBAL NEWS
Oil Demand Recovery Is Under Way But U.S.-Iran Escalation Clouds Outlook, IEA Says
Global oil demand is recovering after months of disruptions in the Middle East, but a flare-up in fighting between the U.S. and Iran has cast uncertainty over the outlook just as markets were bracing for a new wave of supply next year, the International Energy Agency said.
While consumption is projected to decline by 1 million barrels a day this year, the pace of contraction is easing sharply. Demand fell by 4.8 million barrels a day in the second quarter and is forecast to decline by 1.7 million barrels a day in the third quarter before returning to growth in the final three months of the year, with consumption rising by 1.2 million barrels a day.
The Chip Trade Is Helping Wall Street Shake Off Latest Iran Strikes
Wall Street's latest war jitters didn't last long.
Oil prices dropped and the S&P 500 closed near a record on Thursday after President Trump signaled that Iran was open to ending the tit-for-tat fighting that erupted between the two countries this week. Shares of smaller companies and financial firms jumped, as did several of the market's most crowded artificial-intelligence plays.
Japan Wants GPIF to Boost Domestic Investments
Signals that the Japanese government wants more investments at home, including from its massive pension fund, lifted local government bonds and the yen.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said that the government is considering ways to encourage investors to buy more domestic securities.
Iran Hatched Fresh Plot to Kill Trump, Israel Told U.S.
Israel shared new intelligence with the U.S. that it said indicated a fresh Iranian plan to kill President Trump, people familiar with the matter said, a finding that would mark an escalation in the war between Washington and Iran.
Iran for years has vowed openly to retaliate against Trump for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, who was a top general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in the president's first term.
Trump Wanted 20,000 Peacekeeping Troops in Gaza. He Is Starting With 10 to 20.
KIRYAT GAT, Israel-President Trump's peace plan for Gaza envisioned a 20,000-strong force of international peacekeepers to secure the war-torn Palestinian enclave and prevent the re-emergence of Hamas as a military power.
Now, with the wider Middle East stuck between war and peace, the promised International Stabilization Force for Gaza is struggling to deploy even an initial group of about 10 to 20 troops, according to a U.S. military official and other people familiar with the plans.
Ukraine's Drones Are Now Reaching Siberia and Imperiling Russian Energy Assets
Several Ukrainian drones circled over Russia's largest refinery on Monday and then, one after another, slammed into its crude distillation unit, engulfing the facility in fireballs and clouds of smoke. There was no air defense to speak of because Russian authorities had assumed that the refinery, in the Siberian city of Omsk, was too far from Ukraine to be imperiled.
The hit, which triggered Wednesday's ban on diesel exports and intensified Russia's monthlong fuel crisis, marked a major expansion in the range of Ukraine's deep strikes. Until now, they have been confined to European Russia, within some 1,000 miles of Kyiv-controlled territory. But Omsk lies nearly 1,500 miles away in a straight line, and the drones flying there had to take a longer, more circuitous route to avoid air defenses.
A Big Winner From the Iran War: Africa's Richest Man
There is a surprise winner from the Iran war: Africa's richest man.
Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote went "through hell" building a $20 billion oil refinery that was plagued by a decade of delays and cost overruns that doubled the tab for the project.
Write to priscila.barrera@wsj.com
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July 10, 2026 04:59 ET (08:59 GMT)
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