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July 10, 2026 - 05:08
6 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Stocks gained on the last trading day of the week as investors returned to semiconductor shares on renewed optimism over AI-driven demand, brushing aside the latest flare-up in Middle East tensions. The yen strengthened.MSCI’s equities gauge for Asia Pacific climbed 1.4%, helping pare losses for the week to less than 1%. The Kospi index — a bellwether for AI investments — jumped 4%, with SK Hynix Inc. among the winners after raising $26.5 billion through American depositary shares.Elsewhere, the yen strengthened and Japan’s longer-maturity sovereign bond yields fell after Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the government wants to encourage pension funds to increase investment in domestic financial assets. The yen gained 0.6% to trade around 161.40 per dollar. Bloomberg’s gauge of the US currency fell, heading for a second weekly decline.Treasuries rose for a second day with the benchmark 10-year yield falling one basis point to 4.54%. That came as crude oil steadied around $76.45 a barrel as traders judged the US-Iran conflict was unlikely to escalate into a broader disruption to energy supplies.With Middle East tensions appearing contained, investors returned to technology shares on renewed confidence that the AI investment boom remains intact. Amid ongoing debate about inflation, interest rates and geopolitics, the market’s direction over the next month may come down to earnings, according to Anthony Saglimbene, a strategist at Ameriprise.“Companies will need to do more than just beat estimates,” he said. “They will need to show that margins are holding at high levels, that guidance remains firm and probably even better than analysts currently project, and that tech-led profit growth still has enough breadth to support the market’s valuation.”Spending by chip companies is at the center of that debate. In the latest capital expenditure announcement, Micron Technology Inc. said it plans to increase spending on new plants in the US to $250 billion to help meet demand fueled by the artificial-intelligence boom.SK Hynix’s ADR sale is expected to help fund growing spending plans amid soaring demand for equipment used in AI computing. The company and Samsung Electronics Co. are poised to ramp up investment in South Korea as part of a government-led initiative worth $880 billion.SK Hynix’s ADRs are set to begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol SKHYV, which will change to SKHY when they begin regular trading July 13.Global equities have had a volatile week as chip stocks swung between gains and losses. Friday’s advance helped the MSCI All Country World Index erase a weekly loss and head for a modest gain of 0.1%.Earlier this week, investors unimpressed by Samsung’s 19-fold increase in profit drove technology stocks lower, deepening concerns that the AI-driven rally may have run ahead of itself.“The market could be liable to swing a bit over the next few weeks as the markets weigh-up the semiconductor story as well as macroeconomic crosswinds,” Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com, wrote in a note “The big test will be US tech earnings for the quarter towards the end of this month.”Technical talks between the US and Iran are continuing, according to a US official, following two days of clashes that threatened to shatter an already fragile ceasefire between the two nations.“The moderation in oil prices after their week-long surge has helped restore investor confidence,” said Rajeev De Mello, global macro portfolio manager at GAMA Asset Management. “Markets are taking some comfort from US comments that technical talks with Iran are continuing despite the recent strikes and Iran’s attacks across the Gulf.”Corporate Highlights:Meta Platforms Inc. unveiled a version of its most-advanced AI model that includes a new paid tier for developers, marking the first time it has charged businesses for access to its models and providing a new revenue stream. OpenAI’s Fidji Simo, who oversaw much of the AI startup’s core business, is stepping down from her full-time role following a three-month medical leave and will hand her responsibilities to three other top executives. S&P Global Ratings downgraded Oracle Corp. to the lowest investment-grade rating, moving the firm to the cusp of junk status amid growing spending on AI. Starbucks Corp. is developing in-house tools with the help of AI that could replace some software applications it now buys from companies such as Microsoft Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures were little changed as of 12:07 p.m. Tokyo time Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 2% Japan’s Topix rose 0.7% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.8% The Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.2% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3% The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1458 The Japanese yen rose 0.6% to 161.47 per dollar The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 6.7807 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 0.9% to $63,859.23 Ether rose 1.2% to $1,769.43 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.54% Japan’s 10-year yield declined 10 basis points to 2.775% Australia’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.84% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $72.20 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.2% to $4,133.04 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.–With assistance from Stephen Kirkland.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
