Trading in Asia opened volatile after the Swiss foreign ministry said talks between the United States and Iran scheduled for today were canceled. During the night, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance postponed his departure for the signing ceremony, and the White House blamed “logistical difficulties.” Other reports suggested the cancellation may have stemmed from Iranian claims of violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon, while the IDF said it carried out overnight strikes in southern Lebanon.
In Asia, Tokyo was up about 0.3% and Seoul about 0.4% after earlier losses. Markets in China and Hong Kong were closed for a holiday. U.S. futures were down as much as 0.8%, though Wall Street itself is closed today for Juneteenth. On Thursday, U.S. stocks had ended the day and week higher, led by technology and chip shares, after Wednesday’s decline following a hawkish Federal Reserve decision that signaled rates could rise again before year-end.
Intel jumped sharply after Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Apple had agreed to work with Intel on designing and making chips in the United States. Trump wrote that “foolish presidents” had let Taiwan and others take America’s chip factories, and said Apple agreed to work with Intel to design and build its chips in America. Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster told CNBC the deal amounts to Intel moving “from second-tier to first-tier” among U.S. tech firms.
Chip stocks broadly advanced, including Nvidia, Marvell and AMD, and the SOXX ETF surged more than 6% to a record high. Memory names Micron, Western Digital and Sandisk also rose. By contrast, SpaceX fell more than 3% after its recent surge, as Bloomberg reported it is planning to raise another $20 billion in debt.
Energy stocks slipped on lower oil prices, while airlines and cruise operators benefited. The dollar index rose to 100.8 yesterday, its highest since May 2025, and moved above 101 this morning. Brent crude was around $80 a barrel and WTI around $78, gold fell more than 2% to about $4,140 an ounce, and bitcoin held near $62,000 after a drop of more than 4% as traders worried Strategy may need to sell more bitcoin to fund dividend payments. U.S. Treasury yields fell at the long end, with the 10-year at about 4.42% and the 30-year at 4.89%, while the 2-year rose to 4.17% as markets now price in more than an 80% chance of at least one Fed rate hike by year-end.
