This content was published on
July 3, 2026 - 08:06
5 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rebounded after two days of tech-led losses in the US that were fueled by concerns that the artificial intelligence-driven rally had run ahead of itself. The dollar weakened and gold rose as traders trimmed bets on Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.7%, with chips and tech stocks among the winners. Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 Index rose 0.8% and contracts indicated gains also for European shares.South Korea’s Kospi index, the world’s best-performing major equity benchmark this year, climbed 5% after a volatile start that saw it drop to near a technical bear market. Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. climbed 8%, following a report that Anthropic PBC is in talks with the Korean company to manufacture a custom AI chip. SK Hynix Inc. jumped 10%, recovering from its biggest slump since November 2008.Treasury futures edged higher in Asia after weaker-than-expected US June employment data and lower oil prices challenged expectations for Fed rate hikes. There’s no cash trading in Treasuries worldwide on Friday due to a US holiday. The dollar weakened against most of its major peers.Friday’s equity gains offered some relief after a selloff in tech stocks, particularly chipmakers, fueled concerns that the AI-driven rally may have gone too far, too fast. Even so, confidence in the technology’s long-term potential remains strong, with investors focused on whether earnings growth can justify lofty valuations and the billions of dollars being invested in AI infrastructure.“We think the fundamentals are still very, very strong and the market is still underpricing them,” said Tim Moe, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief Asia Pacific regional equity strategist, on Bloomberg Television. “There still is a lot longer to go in the overall positive profit environment for memory stocks and the AI hardware supply chain space overall.”The rebound in Asia came after semiconductor stocks in the US started the third quarter with their biggest two-day selloff in nearly a month.The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which gained a record 88% last quarter, fell 5% on Thursday. That brought its two-session decline to 12%, the most since June 5.“The ride will be more turbulent from this point on,” said Fiona Yang, Asia Ex-Japan equities fund manager at Invesco. “The first half is more momentum driven. The AI tide pretty much lifted all boats. The second half for stock pickers like myself is really about who is going to maintain that level of profitability as capacity expands and maybe there will be demand volatility.”Elsewhere, gold rose for a third day as the weak US jobs numbers eased Fed rate-hike bets. The non-yielding metal, which is less attractive when rates are increased, gained 1% to about $4,170 an ounce. Silver, platinum and palladium also advanced.Brent crude steadied in thin trading as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz increased, adding to a gush of near-term supply while talks between the US and Iran continue. The commodity traded near $72 a barrel.Earlier, data showed the US labor market cooled in June, reinforcing expectations the Fed can afford to be patient on interest rates.Nonfarm payrolls increased 57,000 last month after downward revisions to the prior two months took some of the shine off recent blockbuster reports, Bureau of Labor Statistics data Thursday showed. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% as labor force participation plunged.Traders pared back expectations for additional Fed rate hikes, though they continued to price in at least one increase this year.“The jobs report proved to be a case of ‘bad news is good news,’” Kyle Rodda, senior analyst at Capital.com, wrote in a note.Corporate Highlights:Tesla Inc.’s vehicle sales beat Wall Street’s modest expectations by a wide margin. SoftBank Group Corp. and its telecom unit will start renting AI computing resources to US companies next fiscal year. Rivian Automotive Inc. raised its full-year sales outlook in a promising sign as the maker of electric vehicles begins deliveries of its lower-cost SUV seen as critical to the company’s future. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures rose 0.3% as of 6:56 a.m. London time Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.9% The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.7% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 1.9% Japan’s Topix rose 1% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.3% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.2% The Shanghai Composite rose 0.8% Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.4% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1450 The Japanese yen was little changed at 161.17 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7835 per dollar The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3366 CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 0.3% to $61,673.71 Ether rose 0.6% to $1,715.07 BondsAustralia’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.80% CommoditiesSpot gold rose 1.2% to $4,171.56 an ounce West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $69.19 a barrel This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.–With assistance from Elaine Lai, Yihui Xie and Bing Hong Lok.(Corrects first paragraph to amend spelling of gold.)©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
