Asian Markets Surge as SpaceX Prepares Landmark Nasdaq Debut
Asian and European markets rose sharply on Wednesday morning as investors reacted to reports of an emerging memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran. Tokyo jumped about 2.9%, Hong Kong gained 1.6%, Shanghai added 1.2%, and Seoul surged 4.5%. U.S. futures were steady ahead of SpaceX’s giant public listing, which is set to begin trading on Nasdaq at an implied valuation of $1.8 trillion.
Commodity markets moved in opposite directions. Oil fell more than 2%, with Brent around $88 a barrel and U.S. crude at roughly $86. Gold advanced about 2% to around $4,200 an ounce.
Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday after President Donald Trump said attacks on Iran would stop. The Nasdaq rose 2.4%, the S&P 500 gained 1.2%, and the Dow Jones added 1.6%. Chip stocks led the move, with AMD and Intel climbing and the SOXX ETF up about 5%. Intel rallied after Bank of America upgraded it from underperform to buy. Oracle dropped 9% after saying it plans to raise another $20 billion through equity and debt to fund its artificial intelligence expansion.
SpaceX’s offering was described as the largest initial public offering ever. The company sold 555.6 million shares at $135 each, raising $75 billion and surpassing Saudi Aramco’s 2019 record of $29.4 billion. That pricing implies a market value of $1.77 trillion, and a fully diluted value of about $1.8 trillion once employee options and restricted stock units are counted. The listing also moves Elon Musk closer to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. Among Israeli stocks in New York, Nova, Tower Semiconductor and Camtek rose with the chip sector, Elbit advanced after announcing a strategic partnership with Diehl Defence and Anduril Industries, and Navan jumped after quarterly results and a higher full-year forecast of $907 million to $913 million in revenue, up 30% from the prior outlook.
On the macro front, U.S. consumer inflation for the year came in at 4.2%, matching expectations but marking the first reading above 4% in three years, mainly because of energy prices. U.S. Treasury yields rose to 4.53% on the 10-year and 4.26% on the 5-year. Producer prices also increased 1.1% in May, above economists’ forecasts, while core PPI rose 0.4%, slightly below expectations.
