Stay informed with the latest international market developments from overnight trading sessions.
Wall Street's three major indices closed higher in the early hours of Thursday, with the Nasdaq surging 2.59%, the S&P 500 gaining 1.79%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.71%. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 set new record highs. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped over 6%, leading a broad rally in optical communication and memory chip stocks. Coherent and Marvell Technology each climbed more than 12%, while Intel and SanDisk advanced over 10%. Corning added more than 9%, Lumentum and SK Hynix rose over 8%, and Micron Technology and AMD gained more than 7%. Among mega-cap tech firms, Nvidia rose over 2%, while Google, Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft each posted gains of over 1%. Amazon bucked the trend, falling more than 2%. Following its earnings report, SpaceX shares tumbled more than 8% in after-hours trading.
In commodities, international oil prices experienced a sharp decline. WTI crude oil futures for the front-month contract settled 6.47% lower at $75.14 per barrel, while Brent crude futures fell 6% to close at $78.74 per barrel.
Progress in Iran-US Talks Drives Oil Price Rout
According to reports from state media, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei stated on Wednesday that Iran continues negotiations with Oman regarding the Strait of Hormuz, noting "positive progress" on both technical and political fronts. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated in an interview that Washington and Tehran could reach an agreement by Thursday or Friday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping. "We are negotiating with the Iranian side, and it is very likely we will reach an agreement today or tomorrow to open the strait and normalize this conflict situation," Bessent said. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that talks with Iran to reopen the strait "have made progress," though a final deal has not yet been finalized, expressing hope that an agreement "can be reached soon." Qatar's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari stated that parties involved are continuing efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, emphasizing the importance of returning to diplomatic channels even without a finalized agreement.
In a separate development, Yemen's Houthi group issued a statement on social media Wednesday claiming to have "hit a target at Najran Airport in southern Saudi Arabia." This claim has not yet been verified by Saudi authorities.
Kyiv Hit by Ballistic Missile Attack
Ukraine's capital Kyiv experienced a series of explosions early Thursday morning after air raid sirens were activated. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that the city and surrounding region were under a ballistic missile attack, with local air defense systems activated for interception. "Missiles continue to fly towards Kyiv," Klitschko warned. He added that a non-residential building area in the Obolon district was struck, with emergency services dispatched to the scene. The Kyiv Military Administration confirmed that the attack caused fires at two warehouse facilities in the Obolon and Sviatoshyn districts, and an office building in the city was also hit by a missile.
A-Share Market Poised to Return to 'Slow Bull' Trajectory
China's A-share market closed in positive territory across its three major indices on Wednesday, with total transaction volume reaching 2.2289 trillion yuan. Trading volume surged by over 200 billion yuan in the afternoon session. Sector-wise, component stocks, CPO (Co-packaged optics), electronic chemicals, CRO (Contract Research Organization), and PCB (Printed Circuit Board) sectors showed strong performance, while banking, liquor, and airport shipping sectors declined. The CSI A500 Index rose 1.8%, the CSI 300 Index gained 1.3%, and the ChiNext Index surged 5.6%.
Analysts at Huishang Futures noted that the strength in the technology sector is supported by clear industrial logic. Nvidia's recent announcement that its Spectrum-X CPO switches have been shipped to partners marks a transition for CPO technology from the laboratory stage to large-scale implementation, shifting the investment logic for the optical module sector from "speculation on expectations" to "verification of industrial reality." With U.S. tech stocks rallying broadly overnight, global technology sectors may see further recovery.
The analysts attributed the previous sharp correction in tech stocks to frequent external disruptions. The Federal Reserve's July meeting signaled a hawkish stance, leaving the possibility of further rate hikes. Meanwhile, uncertainties persist in the Middle East, with potential disruptions to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz threatening to raise global energy prices and trigger imported inflation, limiting central banks' room for rate cuts.
Analysts at Haitong Futures suggested that the core reason for the recent pullback was not the invalidation of AI industry logic, but rather concerns over the sustainability of AI capital expenditure amid unclear macro liquidity outlooks and the approaching mid-year reporting window. They noted that high-profit growth in the upstream AI supply chain is already a reality, and external liquidity shocks mostly represent "overselling." From a liquidity perspective, market pressure is gradually easing, providing a micro-foundation for the tech sector to stabilize.
Data shows that from July 13 to 31, cumulative net purchases of broad-based ETFs reached 301.3 billion yuan, with total scale exceeding the 280 billion yuan recorded during the "September 24" market surge. Margin trading balance has fallen to 2.6 trillion yuan, with margin trading volume as a percentage of total A-share turnover dropping to 8.5%, the lowest since April 2025, indicating that leveraged fund panic selling has been largely exhausted. Additionally, weekly average net减持 by industrial capital narrowed sharply from 9.58 billion yuan in the second quarter to 1.86 billion yuan over the past three weeks, while share buyback activity by listed companies has significantly increased.
Looking ahead, analysts believe that from a medium-term perspective, the market remains highly sensitive to tech-related information, with room for valuation repairs in the sector. However, short-term external uncertainties remain strong, warranting caution regarding market volatility risks from potential Fed policy changes and escalating geopolitical conflicts. The analysts also noted that the four major global cloud providers are expected to increase their combined capital expenditure for fiscal year 2026 by $35 billion to $745 billion. As cloud providers raise their capex guidance, valuations for AI-related assets are gradually recovering. They judge that the probability of a market rebound in August is higher than in September, given that the Fed's September meeting could trigger fresh market volatility. The policy stance favoring a "slow bull" market for A-shares remains unchanged, and after the short-term adjustment, the market is likely to return to a "slow bull" rhythm.
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