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August 6, 2026 - 06:05
6 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Global stocks slipped from record highs amid weakness in chipmakers. Gold advanced to the strongest level since June.The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day gain to fall 0.2% as semiconductor shares in Asia and the US retreated, underscoring investor caution toward the sector. A key gauge of Asian shares dropped 1.2%. Sentiment steadied, however, with futures for the S&P 500 Index and European equities edging higher.Memory maker Sandisk Corp. slid 8% in post-market trading, while rival Western Digital Corp. plunged 12% after both companies reported earnings. The semiconductor sector was the focus in Asia as Kospi Index — a bellwether for the artificial intelligence trade — fell 4.4% with SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. leading losses. Kioxia Corp. tumbled 9% in Tokyo.“Investors are increasingly asking what incremental catalysts are needed to remain in the Asia memory trade,” said Gary Tan, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments.Investors will get a fresh read of the AI trade when Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. reports earnings later Thursday. Attention is also on the $101 billion of SpaceX shares becoming available for trading.Elsewhere, gold rose 0.4% on expectations that a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and lower oil prices would ease pressure on the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates, which typically lessens the appeal of non-yielding bullion. Brent traded under $80 a barrel after Iran said it had reached an agreement with Oman on a proposed shipping route through the strait, a potential step toward reopening the waterway.The pause in the tech-led rally came as investors reassessed valuations after AI-related shares rebounded from last month’s selloff, which hit several hedge funds. Traders are also focused on developments in the Middle East for clues on the direction of oil prices, with knock-on effects for inflation and rate policies of central banks.What Bloomberg Strategists Say…“Investors are likely to view the losses in Korea and Japan with only modest concern. The recovery in US futures suggests Wall Street may be on firmer footing when cash trading begins later Thursday.”— Mark Cranfield, MLIV Strategist. For full analysis, click here.Chipmakers have had a volatile month as even robust earnings from companies failed to impress investors, sending shares plunging. Dip buyers then emerged to offer a reprieve.The MSCI World Semiconductor Index had tumbled more than 20% from its peak in June, driven by worries around the sustainability of the AI spending boom and progress in China’s advanced chipmaking. The gauge has rebounded around 15% since then.In other corners of the market, a Bloomberg gauge of the dollar held its losses from the previous session. Treasuries steadied with the yield on the benchmark 10-year holding at 4.61%.During the US session, the S&P 500 Index retreated from its record high close on Tuesday as investors rotated out of technology sector.“If that rotation has legs, Asia’s semiconductor-concentrated indexes – Korea above all, where two memory names are over half the index – are the most exposed benchmarks in the world to a leadership change,” said Stephen Wu, Managing Partner of Carthage Capital, an options trading hedge fund.Elsewhere, global bond and currency investors are debating if it’s time to dust off last year’s “Sell America” trade after a flurry of economic-policy decisions out of Washington over the past two weeks.Meanwhile, just days after his hedge fund was on the brink of collapse, Leopold Aschenbrenner made a return to the investing scene.Last week, Situational Awareness nearly buckled under a barrage of margin calls from lenders across Wall Street and ultimately reached a deal with Ken Griffin’s Citadel to offload the bulk of its public stock portfolio.The hedge-fund ‘bailout’ provided some short-term support to technology stocks, but it did little to resolve the underlying questions such as how much capital will ultimately be deployed and how serious the competitive challenge from Chinese AI companies will become, said Rajeev de Mello, global macro portfolio manager at Gama Asset Management.“Until there is greater clarity on those issues, the sector is likely to remain volatile,” he said.Corporate Highlights:Alphabet Inc.’s Google is losing some of its most prominent artificial-intelligence veterans in a seismic overhaul that is casting doubt over leadership of a critical area of growth right as competition intensifies. DBS Group Holdings Ltd. reported second-quarter profit that beat expectations, powered by a surge in wealth-led fee income, and raised its 2026 guidance. Qantas Airways Ltd. international pilots voted in favor of potential strikes as part of years-long negotiations over pay and conditions. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 1:03 p.m. Tokyo time Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 1.3% Japan’s Topix fell 0.2% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.7% The Shanghai Composite was little changed Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.2% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was unchanged The euro was little changed at $1.1549 The Japanese yen was little changed at 157.72 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7491 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin fell 0.5% to $64,458.52 Ether fell 1.1% to $1,895.15 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.61% Japan’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.775% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.92% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $74.88 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.4% to $4,263.56 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.–With assistance from Momoka Yokoyama, Alice French, Winnie Hsu, Faseeh Mangi and Kurt Schussler.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
