U.S. PPI in June is lower than expected, U.S. stock futures rise, ASML earnings report boosts chip stocks: What to watch tonight
U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday, led by chip stocks. Europe's major indexes were mixed. (Source: Yingwei Finance) Data released before the market opened showed that the U.S. PPI in June increased by 5.5% year-on-year, and was expected to be 6.2%; it fell by 0.3% month-on-month, and was expected to be flat. The core PPI in the United States in June increased by 4.7% year-on-year, and was expected to increase by 5.2%; it increased by 0.2% month-on-month, and was expected to increase by 0.4%. Driven by the semiconductor sector, Nasdaq 100 index futures led the rise in U.S. stock futures, mainly due to the lithography machine giant ASML's outstanding quarterly report.
U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday, led by chip stocks. Europe's major indexes were mixed. (Source: Yingwei Finance) Data released before the market opened showed that the U.S. PPI in June increased by 5.5% year-on-year, and was expected to be 6.2%; it fell by 0.3% month-on-month, and was expected to be flat. The core PPI in the United States in June increased by 4.7% year-on-year, and was expected to increase by 5.2%; it increased by 0.2% month-on-month, and was expected to increase by 0.4%. Driven by the semiconductor sector, Nasdaq 100 index futures led the rise in U.S. stock futures, mainly due to the lithography machine giant ASML's outstanding quarterly report. ASML's new orders hit a record high and it raised its sales guidance for the second time this year, indicating that spending related to advanced chip manufacturing remains strong. As of press time, ASML's U.S. stocks have risen by more than 3% before the market opens, Intel has risen by more than 2%, and AMD, Arm and Qualcomm have all risen by more than 1%. International oil prices rose, with Brent crude futures rising above $85 a barrel, after the U.S. Central Command said the U.S. military would launch more attacks on Iran. U.S. inflation data released on Tuesday came in below market expectations, reinforcing investor expectations that the Federal Reserve will not need to raise interest rates significantly this year. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, the probability of a rate hike at the Fed's July meeting has dropped to 17% from 42% the day before. However, the market still expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates later this year, with traders currently predicting a 63% chance of a 25 or 50 basis point increase in interest rates after the September meeting. In terms of financial reporting season, BlackRock announced that its assets under management reached a record high in the second quarter; Morgan Stanley followed other large banks and announced strong quarterly results. [Morgan Stanley’s net revenue in the second quarter was US$21.35 billion] On July 15, Morgan Stanley announced its second quarter 2026 performance report. Net revenue in the second quarter was US$21.35 billion, including US$8.86 billion in wealth management net revenue, US$6.3 billion in equity sales and trading revenue, US$2.46 billion in fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities business sales and trading revenue, US$798 million in consulting revenue, US$851 million in equity underwriting revenue, US$788 million in fixed income underwriting revenue, and earnings per share of US$3.46. [ASML releases financial report for the second quarter of 2026: net sales reached 9.3 billion euros, raising full-year performance guidance] ASML (ASML) releases its second quarter financial report for 2026. Data show that the company achieved net sales of 9.3 billion euros in the quarter (8.8 billion euros in the previous quarter), a gross profit margin of 54.0%, net profit of 2.9 billion euros, and basic earnings per share (EPS) of 7.59 euros. Due to the solid performance in the second quarter, ASML raised its performance guidance for 2026, raising its full-year net sales forecast to between 43 billion and 45 billion euros, and raising its gross profit margin forecast to 54% to 56%. The company also expects net sales in the third quarter to be between 11 billion and 12 billion euros. In addition, ASML announced that it will pay an interim dividend of 1.88 euros per share for 2026. [BlackRock’s net profit in the second quarter was US$1.914 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20%] BlackRock announced that revenue in the second quarter of 2026 was US$7.084 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31%; net profit was US$1.914 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20%. In addition, BlackRock’s asset management scale reached US$15.34 trillion in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 22%. [BASF’s sales in the second quarter were 17.2 billion euros] BASF announced its second-quarter performance report. The report showed that BASF's second-quarter sales were 17.2 billion euros, with an estimate of 16.38 billion euros; adjusted profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was 2.4 billion euros, with an estimate of 2.11 billion euros. BASF expects full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to range from 6.9 billion euros to 7.7 billion euros, compared with its previous forecast of 6.2 billion euros to 7 billion euros. [Alibaba Qianwen will be integrated into Apple Smart as an AI capability] "Kechuangban Daily" exclusively learned that Alibaba Qianwen will be integrated into Apple smart phones as AI capabilities, bringing intelligent experiences to Chinese users of iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS. Users can directly experience Qianwen's text and image understanding, content generation and other capabilities on Apple devices without switching between applications.
Boosted by this news, Alibaba's US stock price rose more than 4% before the market opened. Today, the Cyberspace Administration of China released registration information for 7 models that provide mobile phone-side generative artificial intelligence services, including Apple Smart, Huawei Xiaoyi model, OPPO AndesGPT model, etc. [Goldman Sachs launches three-part Eurobond issuance, having previously issued USD bonds to raise US$10 billion] Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reportedly launched a three-part eurobond sale on Wednesday. One day ago, the company released its performance report and completed a US$10 billion bond issuance in the United States. Goldman Sachs hopes to raise at least 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in the benchmark-sized deal, a person familiar with the matter said. The bond is divided into two parts: floating rate and fixed rate, both of which can be redeemed for the first time after three years; there is also a batch of longer-term fixed-rate bonds that can be redeemed after seven years. [Samsung Electronics plans to outsource Google TPU I/O chip back-end design work] According to reports, due to growing OEM demand, Samsung Electronics is considering outsourcing the back-end design work of Google’s TPU I/O chips. The company is considering cooperating with three local Korean semiconductor design service companies, AD Technology, Gaonchips, and Alphachips. [LG New Energy is reported to have supplied batteries to Google’s ultra-large photovoltaic energy storage project in the United States, with a scale of hundreds of billions of won] According to reports, LG New Energy will supply batteries to the ultra-large photovoltaic energy storage system (ESS) project in the United States in which Google participates. The supply scale is expected to reach hundreds of billions of won. Google announced on the 14th that it will participate in the construction of the largest solar energy project in the United States, with a total scale of 2.5GW. Events worthy of attention during the US stock market time period (Beijing time) 21:45 The Bank of Canada announces its interest rate decision and monetary policy report 22:00 Federal Reserve Chairman Warsh attends the hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs "The Federal Reserve's Semiannual Monetary Policy Report" 23:00 Bank of Canada Governor MacCallum and Senior Deputy Governor Rogers hold a monetary policy press conference 02:00 The Federal Reserve releases the Beige Book of Economic Conditions (
Boosted by this news, Alibaba's US stock price rose more than 4% before the market opened. Today, the Cyberspace Administration of China released registration information for 7 models that provide mobile phone-side generative artificial intelligence services, including Apple Smart, Huawei Xiaoyi model, OPPO AndesGPT model, etc. [Goldman Sachs launches three-part Eurobond issuance, having previously issued USD bonds to raise US$10 billion] Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reportedly launched a three-part eurobond sale on Wednesday. One day ago, the company released its performance report and completed a US$10 billion bond issuance in the United States. Goldman Sachs hopes to raise at least 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in the benchmark-sized deal, a person familiar with the matter said. The bond is divided into two parts: floating rate and fixed rate, both of which can be redeemed for the first time after three years; there is also a batch of longer-term fixed-rate bonds that can be redeemed after seven years. [Samsung Electronics plans to outsource Google TPU I/O chip back-end design work] According to reports, due to growing OEM demand, Samsung Electronics is considering outsourcing the back-end design work of Google’s TPU I/O chips. The company is considering cooperating with three local Korean semiconductor design service companies, AD Technology, Gaonchips, and Alphachips. [LG New Energy is reported to have supplied batteries to Google’s ultra-large photovoltaic energy storage project in the United States, with a scale of hundreds of billions of won] According to reports, LG New Energy will supply batteries to the ultra-large photovoltaic energy storage system (ESS) project in the United States in which Google participates. The supply scale is expected to reach hundreds of billions of won. Google announced on the 14th that it will participate in the construction of the largest solar energy project in the United States, with a total scale of 2.5GW. Events worthy of attention during the US stock market time period (Beijing time) 21:45 The Bank of Canada announces its interest rate decision and monetary policy report 22:00 Federal Reserve Chairman Warsh attends the hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs "The Federal Reserve's Semiannual Monetary Policy Report" 23:00 Bank of Canada Governor MacCallum and Senior Deputy Governor Rogers hold a monetary policy press conference 02:00 The Federal Reserve releases the Beige Book of Economic Conditions (