News

⑴ UK natural gas prices have fallen to around 97 pence per therm, approaching their lowest level in over two months, as signs of normalization in shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz emerged following progress in peace talks between the US and Iran. Earlier this week, three stranded very large crude carriers successfully passed through the waterway, and in recent weeks, several empty Qatari LNG vessels have entered the Gulf region for reloads—indicating that natural gas transport could resume. ⑵ In addition, Qatar's Prime Minister stated that, except for damaged facilities, LNG production is expected to return to normal within weeks. The prospect of resuming LNG flows in the Gulf region has alleviated supply shortage concerns and may help Europe replenish inventories ahead of next winter. ⑶ These developments offset the support from strong power sector demand amid hot European weather and low wind speeds.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya from Swissquote Bank stated in an email: "The sun is shining again, and Micron Technology's performance announcement after the US stock market close was outstanding." The senior analyst added that the better-than-expected results boosted overall market sentiment in the artificial intelligence and technology sectors. Among the best-performing Nikkei constituents, Advantest soared by 15%, Kioxia rose by 12%, and Tokyo Electron increased by 11%. The US dollar was quoted at 161.83 yen, compared to 161.81 yen in late New York trading on Wednesday.

BlockBeats news, on June 25, the large diversified financial services holding company Stifel in the United States raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 and provided a stock allocation framework centered on a "high growth, high inflation" environment. The company raised its year-end S&P 500 target to 7,800 points, believing that the US economy is entering a "running hot" state, meaning that while economic growth is strengthening, inflationary pressures are also increasing. Stifel's model shows that US growth momentum is strengthening, while inflation momentum is also significantly overheating, which will alter the leading market structure in the second half of the year. Stifel is most optimistic not about traditional consumer sectors, but about investment-oriented cyclical industries, including banking, transportation, materials, energy, semiconductors, software, and equipment. The bank believes that AI fixed asset investment is still expanding, and the combined capital expenditures of major tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google are expected to reach about $725 billion in 2026, about $100 billion higher than previously expected. This means that the AI investment chain may continue to outperform the consumption chain squeezed by inflation. Stifel advises investors to reduce reliance on consumer discretionary, consumer staples, communication services, and some financial services, as these areas have weaker profit revisions. Instead, the bank prefers cyclical value stocks and hedges with defensive value sectors such as insurance, automotive, energy, and banking.