Asia-Pacific markets fall heavily ahead of Australia rate decision

Morgan Stanley has named four cybersecurity stocks that are expected to benefit from the increasing use of artificial intelligence.

The bank expects these four tech giants to help reduce cybersecurity costs at businesses by leveraging AI and potentially benefit from the $100 billion in total expected savings.

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—Ganesh Rao

South Korea’s inflation rate slowed by a fifth consecutive month with an increase of 2.7% YoY in June, the lowest since October 2021.

This was slower than the 2.85% expected by economists polled by Reuters, as well as the 3.3% recorded in May.

South Korea’s central bank was one of the first major Asian banks to halt its tightening cycle, with its benchmark interest rate held at 3.5% since January.

A Reuters poll shows economists expect the Bank of Korea to start cutting rates in the final quarter of the year before making further cuts in mid-2024.

—Lim Hui Jie

If history is any guide, shares should continue to rise in July. The month has been the best of the year since 2009 for both the S&P 500 and nasdaq and the second best month for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The S&P has an average monthly gain for July of 3.29% since 2009, while the Nasdaq is up an average of 4.10%. The Dow’s average monthly gain of 2.76% for the month is only slightly lower than the 2.89% it gained in November, the blue chip index’s best month of the year since 2009.

None of the indices have had a decline for the month of July since 2014.

—Robert Hum, Michelle Fox

Tech stocks took center stage in the first half of 2023, rallying on the promise of artificial intelligence and a rotation back into the sector after a difficult 2022.

Movements drove heavy technology Nasdaq Composite 31.7% for his best start to the year since 1983while the Nasdaq 100 he made his biggest win on record in the first half.

Semiconductor stocks reigned among the biggest gainers on the Nasdaq 100. nvidia surged more than 189% to post the biggest first-half gain as Wall Street dubbed it a dominant AI chipmaker. advanced micro devices jumped around 76%, while Marvell Technology and broadcom increased more than 55% each.

Struggling big tech stocks rounded out the top ten results, with metaplatforms rising 138.5% to post the second biggest move in the index. tesla rebounded 112.5%, while Amazon won 55.2%.

Not all companies benefited from the broad market uptrend in the first half. China-based e-commerce stocks jd.com suffered the most extreme losses in the index, plunging 39%. solar actions phase energy it also underperformed, falling nearly 37%. Some other notable losers included pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks. Modern, Walgreens Boot Alliance and Amgenalong with a handful of basic consumer names.

—Samantha Subin

Investors have signaled a firmer hand for Wall Street heading into the second half of the year.

The CBOE volatility index (vix) has declined more than 36% since the start of the year, as investors apparently become more comfortable with the current trajectory after scoring a positive first half of the year.

The VIX is touted as a key indicator of market variability and investor fear. Investors had been eyeing a break in the VIX to potentially signal a breakout for the S&P 500 after falling to its lowest level since November 2021 in April.

Friday’s rebound to close out the first half saw 76 shares in the S&P 500 jump to new 52-week highs.

The broad market index jumped 1.2% on Friday. The technology sector was the best performer, with an increase of 1.8%, driven by Apple, fortinet, in semiconductors and Palo Alto Networks – all of which reached all-time highs that day.

With the 11 positive sectors, a variety of stocks in different corners of the market also jumped to new highs, including chipotle mexican grill, mcdonald’s, Eli Lilly and ribbons.

— Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes