☕️ [Task Coins Giveaway] Daily Market Talk — Iran Shuts Hormuz as a Huge Week Begins

Big week, loud open. Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz closed "until further notice," sending oil up and gold down to start the week. Meanwhile US CPI and the big banks both report Tuesday, and SK Hynix just pulled off the largest-ever foreign IPO on the Nasdaq. Let's dig in 👇

📊 Quick Recap — What Moved & Why

🇺🇸 US — SK Hynix Lands, Now Comes the Data Gauntlet

🔑 Key Event: Stocks closed last week firm. 📈 Dow +0.29% to 52,637, S&P 500 +0.42% to 7,575, Nasdaq +0.29% to 26,282, both the S&P and Nasdaq notching weekly wins. The star was SK Hynix (SKHYV), which priced its ADRs at $149, opened at $170 (+14%) and closed up about 13%, raising $26.5B, the largest-ever US listing by a foreign company. This week is all about the calendar: June CPI and five big banks report Tuesday.

👀 Other to Watch

• AI memory supply → Jensen Huang stayed bullish on demand, Samsung pulled its Yongin fab forward to 2029, and SK Hynix says memory stays undersupplied through 2030. Optical names are adding capacity as fiber demand jumps.
• Bank earnings on deck → JPMorgan, Goldman, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citi all report Tuesday pre-market, the unofficial start of Q2 season.
• Warsh testifies → the Fed chair faces two days of Congressional hearings (Tue/Wed), his tone matters with CPI and PPI landing the same week.

🇭🇰 HK/China — Firm Open, but Inflation Data Sends Mixed Signals

🔑 Key Event: HK opened firm (HSI up ~0.6% early), after closing Friday at 24,175 (+0.6%) for its best week in over eight months. But June data was mixed: CPI rose just 1% (missing the 1.1% estimate), while PPI jumped 4.1%, its fastest in nearly four years. Soft consumer demand, but factory-gate prices firming on energy.

👀 Other to Watch

• MiniMax → the LLM firm raised about 16B via a placement and convertibles after its lockup expired, but the stock kept sliding.
• TSMC → reports Q2 earnings Thursday, the key read on AI chip demand and the health of the whole semiconductor supply chain.

🇸🇬 Singapore — STI at Records, All Eyes on Bank Earnings

🔑 Key Event: STI closed Friday at a record 5,469.29 (+0.65%), led again by the banks. With DBS, OCBC and UOB all at all-time highs, the debate is whether they are now priced for perfection heading into results season.

👀 Other to Watch

• S-REITs → CGS International, UOB Kay Hian and DBS all see a Fed pause helping S-REITs (0.9x book, 6.2% forward yield); much of the hawkish Fed is already priced in.
• Construction costs → forecast to quadruple to 4% inflation in 2026 (from 1%), as AI data-center projects tighten contractor capacity.
• MAS → proposed a framework to authorise new retail funds in as little as three weeks; feedback open to Aug 10.
• VICOM (WJP) → opened a new electronics-testing facility in Penang, expanding beyond vehicle inspection.

@LazyCat : "Many folks are starting to get concerned with the new ATH of the Singapore 3 big banks. Wealth management may offset a sputtering of net interest income, but we have to ask if the price has already priced them to perfection."

@Victor y : "Keppel remains firmly in a bullish longer-term uptrend, closing the week at +5.42% after weeks of steady accumulation. One of the strongest performers on the SGX, supported by data centres, energy transition and asset management."

🌍 Other

• 🛢️ Oil & Hormuz → Iran said the strait is closed "until further notice," which US Central Command denied while continuing strikes to keep it open. Brent closed Friday near $76 (up ~5% on the week) and opened this week higher on the escalation; about a quarter of seaborne oil normally flows through.
• 🥇 Gold → closed Friday around $4,112, then slipped toward $4,060 early this week as the Hormuz escalation stokes inflation and rate-hike bets, keeping real yields elevated, gold's 2026 headwind.

@Fattycat: "Gold is locked in a tight battle to steady itself after falling 20% from its January peak. Critical support sits at $3,945, which has held strong. Fading safe-haven demand and a hawkish Fed keep bears in control for now."

📅 Key Events Tonight / This Week

• 🇺🇸 June CPI + JPMorgan, Goldman, BofA, Wells Fargo, Citi earnings · Tue Jul 14
• 🇺🇸 Fed Chair Warsh Congressional testimony · Tue-Wed Jul 14-15
• 🇺🇸 June PPI · Wed Jul 15
• 🇨🇳 TSMC Q2 earnings · Thu Jul 16
• 🇸🇬 Longbridge AI conference + Jensen Huang in Tokyo · Wed Jul 15

💬 US CPI and the five biggest banks all report Tuesday, right as Iran shuts Hormuz and oil climbs. Which one actually moves your portfolio this week: the inflation print, bank results, or the oil shock?

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🚫 No duplicates · ⏰ Deadline: July 13, 2026, 11:59 PM SGT

Not investment advice, just market talk 🙏