#USMarketUpdate
Dow jumps 300 points for first close above 52,000, powered by new member Alphabet
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 52,000 for the first time on Monday after Alphabet made its debut in the index, rounding out a broader stock market rally.

The Dow advanced 306.63 points, or 0.59%, ending at 52,182.74. The S&P 500 gained 1.18% and closed at 7,440.43, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.07% to 25,820.14.

Alphabet was one of the notable gainers, climbing nearly 5% on its first day trading as a Dow member. Comcast shares, meanwhile, rallied 4.4% after the company said it would spin off its media and tech businesses into two publicly traded companies. The separation is expected to be completed in about a year.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) gained more than 3%, reversing an earlier decline in the session. Astera Labs, KLA and Applied Materials rose about 16%, roughly 12% and almost 11%, respectively, to lead the turnaround.

The moves come as Wall Street begins a shortened trading week, with the U.S. stock market set to be closed on Friday due to Independence Day.


https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/28/stock-futures-today-live-updates.html?__source=androidappshare

Cheaper AI is better: Soaring bills are reshaping how businesses choose models

Top executives such as Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Palo Alto Networks’ Nikesh Arora and Coinbase Global’s Brian Armstrong have said that smaller, cheaper models can handle a big share of corporate needs.

This view is the result of a reassessment within companies that until recently encouraged heavy use of AI tools, often treating rising consumption as a proxy for productivity, dubbed “tokenmaxxing”...

That is leaving companies with unpredictable and often higher bills as usage per task becomes harder to estimate.

Uber, for instance, burned through its entire 2026 AI budget in just four months after employees rushed to adopt AI coding tools, forcing management to cap usage, according to reports...
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/startups-tech/technology/cheaper-ai-better-soaring-bills-are-reshaping-how-businesses-choose-models?utm_source=web_share&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=article

About two weeks ago, something shifted. Sector rotation seems to be picking up pace, with healthcare gaining ground while AI names sold off. If the AI bubble does burst, where do you hide? Read more [Premium]: https://finbiteinsights.substack.com/p/if-not-ai-then-healthcare

'Magnificent 7' stocks are having a dreadful year
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/magnificent-7-stocks-are-having-a-dreadful-year-134333813.html

#USMarketUpdate
Stocks rise as US and Iran call a halt to attacks

Live updates

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/live/stock-market-today-monday-june-29-224230573.html

#USMarketUpdate
Wall Street ends higher as US, Iran attacks ease; major tech-related shares jump | Reuters

SUMMARY
Comcast shares gain after spinoff announcement
SpaceX shares rise on Nasdaq 100 inclusion
RBC raises 12-month target on S&P 500
Dow up 0.6%; S&P 500 up 1.2%; Nasdaq up 2.1%

June 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ​ended sharply higher on Monday, with the Dow hitting a record closing high, as weekend hostilities between ‌the United States and Iran eased and as major technology-related shares rose following recent selling.

Iranian and U.S. negotiating teams were due in Doha this week, but Iran said no meeting had been scheduled as weekend missile fire from both sides tested the interim ceasefire to end the four-month-old war...

Most S&P 500 companies are set to begin reporting second-quarter results after mid-July.

Communications services (.SPLRCL), opens new tab led gains among S&P 500 sectors. Shares of Comcast (CMCSA.O), opens new tab rose 4.5% after the media and cable provider said it plans to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies through ​a tax-free spinoff of NBCUniversal and Sky.

SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab jumped 7.2% after Nasdaq said the newly listed company will be added to the Nasdaq ​100 index on July 7. Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab closed up 4.8% as it kicked off its first day as a Dow component...

Quarter-end "window dressing," where investors buy certain stocks to make their portfolios look better, may also have helped the market, Cardillo said.

Concerns about AI spending had hit shares of artificial intelligence-related companies recently, including semiconductors and ​many of the Magnificent Seven group ​of megacap stocks. On ⁠Monday, the information technology index (.SPLRCT), opens new tab gained 1.7%...

Investors are ​also eager to see the next monthly U.S. jobs report, due on Thursday.

Advancing issues outnumbered ​decliners by a ⁠1.54-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange. There were 272 new highs and 114 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 3,017 stocks rose and 1,919 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.57-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs ⁠and no ​new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded no new highs and no ​new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 20.15 billion shares, compared with the 23.50 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days


https://www.reuters.com/business/nasdaq-futures-lead-wall-st-higher-middle-east-tensions-ease-2026-06-29/

Wall Street ends higher as US, Iran attacks ease; major tech-related shares jump
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/us-stocks-end-higher-as-us-iran-attacks-ease-major-tech-related-shares-jump

While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 30, 2026
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/while-you-were-sleeping-5-stories-you-might-have-missed-june-30-2026

Yen hits 40-year low in historic slide rattling Japan
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/yen-hits-40-year-low-in-historic-slide-rattling-japan

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What this summer's heat is revealing about data centers

This summer has already produced three answers to questions the data center industry would have preferred to leave theoretical.

https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/summer-heat-live-stress-test-175137905.html

Japan’s yen has hit a 40-year low. Here’s what you need to know

As at 12.49 pm on Tuesday, the US dollar was trading at 162.1885 yen. Against the Singapore dollar, the yen also continued its long decline, weakening to 125.3054 per Singdollar

Why is the yen falling?
The yen has been falling more dramatically since 2022 amid inflation fears and low interest rates by the Bank of Japan (BOJ).

This year, the currency’s downtrend has been exacerbated by the war in Iran, which drove oil prices and inflation sharply higher, hitting energy importers such as Japan hardest...

The latest drop occurred despite BOJ raising its policy rate to 1 per cent – the highest level in three decades – on Jun 16 to arrest the currency’s fall.

Some analysts argue that the move was too “passive” to stem the yen’s slide, as the rate increase did little to narrow the interest rate gap with the US...

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capital-markets-currencies/japans-yen-has-hit-40-year-low-heres-what-you-need-know

Japan’s Nikkei clocks best quarter on record on tech rebound
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capital-markets-currencies/japans-nikkei-clocks-best-quarter-record-tech-rebound

#HKMarketUpdate
<Full-day Takeaway>HSI Closes at 22,881, Down 145 pts; HSTI Closes at 4,472, Up 79 pts; NONGFU SPRING Down over 8%; ASMPT, HUA HONG GRACE Hit New Highs; Market Turnover Rises
2026/06/30 16:12 GMT+08

https://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/aafn-con/NOW.1531298/top-news/AAFN

Growing oil glut spurs Asian refiners to offer cargoes to the US

Oil output from Persian Gulf nations is ramping up so quickly as the Strait of Hormuz reopens that Asian refiners, already adequately supplied, are pushing some crude to destinations as far afield as California.

While Asia is typically the biggest taker of Middle Eastern crudes, refiners have been inundated as the interim US-Iran peace deal allows the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and others to restore production, while top importer China has remained on the sidelines. As a result, some processors are now offering cargoes west, according to traders familiar with the matter.

UAE grades are being marketed to places as distant as the US West Coast, said the traders, asking not to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media. That part of the US hasn’t imported crude from the gulf state since late last year, according to Kpler. Elsewhere, similar grades are being offered in Hawaii, they said, potentially the first Middle Eastern oil to head there since 2018 if a deal goes through...

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/energy-commodities/growing-oil-glut-spurs-asian-refiners-offer-cargoes-us

#HKMarketUpdate
<H Shrs> HSI Closes Down 145 Pts, Slips Below 23,000 Mark; 1H25 Cumulative Decline Expands 10.7%
2026/06/30 16:26 GMT+08

Hong Kong stocks concluded the first half of the year today (30 Jun). The HSI opened down 18 pts and remained under pressure, once falling 341 pts to a trough of 22,685. The index closed at 22,881, down 145 pts or 0.63%, with full-day turnover at HKD308.05 billion. The HSCEI closed at 7,558, down 47 pts or 0.62%. The HSTECH advanced, closing at 4,472, up 79 pts or 1.8%.

For 1H25, the HSI accumulated a decline of 2,749.52 pts or 10.73%. The HSCEI fell 1,355.38 pts or 15.21% cumulatively. The HSTECH dropped 1,043.75 pts or 18.92% during the period.

https://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/aafn-con/NOW.1531316/top-news/AAFN

Europe’s Stoxx 600 on track for biggest quarterly gain in over five years on AI boost
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capital-markets-currencies/europes-stoxx-600-track-biggest-quarterly-gain-over-five-years-ai-boost

About 1 in 7 Singapore families has income of at least S$30k a month; share almost doubled in 5 years
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/singapore/about-1-7-singapore-families-has-income-least-s30k-month-share-almost-doubled-5-years