By Anna Szymanski
July 13 (Reuters) – What matters in U.S. and global markets today
By Anna Szymanski, Editor-in-Charge, Reuters Open Interest
Crude oil prices rose on Monday morning after military action between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the weekend.
In equities, memory chip stocks extended recent losses in Asia trading, with South Korea’s chip-heavy KOSPI index slumping. Global stocks looked shaky early on Monday, ahead of a packed week which will bring second-quarter earnings and U.S. June inflation data.
I’ll get into that and more below.
But first, listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily podcast, where we discuss markets’ response to escalating tensions in the Middle East.
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CRUDE UP, CHIPS DOWN
U.S. forces conducted another wave of strikes on Iranian targets on Sunday, with Tehran then targeting U.S. facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan on Monday.
Brent crude jumped early on Monday to nearly $80 per barrel before paring some of those gains to trade around $78/bbl – a response that, like last week’s, seems fairly restrained, with prices still below levels seen before the shaky interim peace deal was signed in mid-June.
But chaos and uncertainty are hanging over Hormuz once again amid conflicting claims around the status of shipping. While Iran said it had closed the strait, U.S. President Donald Trump said it remained open.
Tanker traffic data so far appears to align with Tehran’s view. Transits fell dramatically last week as the initial U.S.-Iran tit-for-tat attacks unfolded, and they have remained low over the weekend. Only six vessels transited the waterway on Sunday, the lowest number in five weeks, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler.
Elsewhere, volatility in semiconductor stocks looked set to continue as South Korea’s chip-heavy KOSPI index closed down nearly 9% on Monday, dipping under 7,000 for the first time since early May. It also re-entered bear market territory, finding itself some 25% below its June 22 peak.
The KOSPI’s slide was partly driven by a more than 15% plunge in memory chipmaker SK Hynix, its biggest one-day decline on record, which follows a more than 12% jump in its U.S.-listed shares after their Nasdaq debut last Friday.
Global equities at large looked cautious and bond yields rose on Monday morning. Wall Street futures were in the red before the bell and European shares opened lower.
Investor focus will now shift to the second-quarter earnings season, which gets underway in earnest this week, notably with a bank earnings bonanza on Tuesday.
Tuesday will also bring U.S. consumer price inflation data for June, with the core measure, which strips out energy prices, likely to be watched closely for a read on underlying price pressures. The release follows a recent hawkish turn at the Federal Reserve, where new chair Kevin Warsh last month reaffirmed a commitment to price stability.
Chart of the day
Europe will face a jet fuel supply deficit of nearly 600,000 barrels per day in the third quarter, against surpluses of 116,000 bpd in the U.S. and 425,000 bpd in Asia-Pacific, according to data from consultancy Energy Aspects.
Inventories stood at 38 million barrels at the start of June, compared with 99 million in the United States, Energy Aspects said. That leaves Europe with less than 30 days of demand cover, Reuters calculations show – the tightest of the major jet fuel markets.
Today’s events to watch
• Fed’s Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller speak
• OPEC Monthly Oil Report
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
(By Anna Szymanski; Additional writing by Al Reed; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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