☕️ [Task Coins Giveaway] Daily Market Talk — Korea's $650B Chip Bet

Korea just went all-in on AI. Samsung and SK Hynix are unveiling a combined ~USD 650B, ten-year buildout in chips and AI, the largest corporate spend in the country's history. Singapore is riding the very same wave, with exports up a blistering 38% in May. Let's dig in 👇

📊 Quick Recap — What Moved & Why

🇺🇸 US — Tech Sells Off Even as AI Spend Explodes

🔑 Key Event: Friday capped a rough week. Dow -0.09% to 51,876, S&P 500 -0.05% to 7,354, Nasdaq -0.24% to 25,298, the Nasdaq's fifth straight losing session as investors rotated out of Big Tech on mounting AI datacenter cost worries. The irony is the AI spending itself keeps accelerating. May PCE came in softer than expected on the month, a small relief on inflation.

👀 Other to Watch

• Nvidia (NVDA) → data-center Ethernet switch revenue jumped 193% to ~USD 2.1B, vaulting it to #1 in the segment for the first time, past Broadcom and Cisco (IDC)
• Corning (GLW) → detailed its "Glass Bridge" co-packaged-optics tech, stirring the CPO and optical names
• SpaceX → set to join the Nasdaq-100 after the 6 Jul close (effective 7 Jul)

🇸🇬 Singapore — Exports on Fire

🔑 Key Event: Singapore is a direct beneficiary of the AI buildout. NODX surged 38.4% YoY in May, the fastest since 2003, led by a 94.8% jump in electronics (ICs +80.9%, disk media +227.8%, PCs +140.9%). Factory output rose 13% YoY, cooling from April's 16.5%. STI is trading near its 23 Jun record of 5,241.80.

👀 Other to Watch

• Keppel (BN4) → flagged a Jakarta land legal dispute escalating to Indonesia's Supreme Court, stemming from a 2.28 trillion rupiah claim against its unit
• DBS (D05) → listed USD 2bn covered bonds plus GBP 360m floating-rate notes on 29 Jun
• First REIT (AW9U) → launched a consent solicitation on its S$100m 3.25% bonds due 2027

🇭🇰 HK/China — Apple Supply Chain Bleeds, IPO Window Stays Open

🔑 Key Event:The Hang Seng fell 1.76% (HSCEI -1.94%) to close below 23,000 in the last session, with Apple's supply chain leading the slide after last week's price-hike news. Goertek and FIT Hon Teng fell about 8% on Friday, after Sunny Optical (2382) had already tumbled ~12% the prior session.

👀 Other to Watch

• Three new listings debuted on the HKEX today, keeping the IPO window busy
• Tuhu → confidentially filed an F-1 with the SEC for a US ADS listing
• Chip "July price-hike wave" (Murata MLCC +10-40%, Infineon, TI, MediaTek) takes effect 1 Jul

🌍 Other

• Korea's mega-bet → Samsung and SK Hynix are unveiling a combined ~1,000 trillion won (~USD 650B) ten-year investment in chips, AI, batteries and displays, the largest corporate spend in Korean history. It lands as the AI memory boom has the two giants running neck-and-neck for the title of Korea's most valuable company
• Oil and geopolitics → Brent slid to ~USD 72, its lowest since late February and down about 10% on the week, as Strait of Hormuz transit accelerated and Gulf producers (Saudi, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar) ramped supply on US-Iran peace progress. The ceasefire stayed bumpy, with brief weekend strikes before Qatar-mediated talks resumed
• Private credit stress → Blue Owl, Apollo and Ares slid further as redemption gating spread, after Morgan Stanley capped withdrawals on its USD 7B fund again

💬 The whole world is pouring record money into AI chips (Korea's $650B, Singapore's 38% export boom, Nvidia topping networking) even as Wall Street just sold tech off for five straight days and Apple's suppliers got crushed on cost worries, so is this a capex supercycle still in early innings or late-stage euphoria right before the bill comes due?

📅 Key Events This Week

• 🇨🇳 China June official manufacturing PMI · Tue 30 Jun
• 🇺🇸 Nike (NKE) earnings · Tue 30 Jun after close
• 🌏 Chip "July price-hike wave" effective (Murata, Infineon, TI, MediaTek) · Wed 1 Jul
• 🇪🇺 Fed Chair Warsh speaks at ECB forum · Wed 1 Jul, 21:30 SGT
• 🇭🇰 HK market closed (SAR Establishment Day) · Wed 1 Jul
• 🇺🇸 US June nonfarm payrolls (cons. +113k, unemployment 4.3%; pulled forward for July 4) · Thu 2 Jul
• 🇺🇸 US market closed (Independence Day observed) · Fri 3 Jul

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🚫 No duplicates · ⏰ Deadline: June 29, 11:59 PM SGT

Not investment advice, just market talk 🙏