Week Ahead | Waller’s Congressional Debut Coincides with June CPI! Q2 Earnings Season Kicks Off for Wall Street’s Big Five; Taiwan Semiconductor and ASML Holding Test AI Demand; U.S.-Iran 'Fight-and-Talk' Dynamics Stir Oil Prices

Next week, Hong Kong and U.S. equities will face a confluence of macroeconomic data releases, earnings reports, and key technology events. Waller will testify before Congress for the first time as Federal Reserve Chair, coinciding with the release of U.S. CPI and PPI data, potentially prompting a repricing of interest rate expectations. Meanwhile, ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations amid military tensions continue to influence oil prices. Earnings season intensifies with results from Wall Street’s five major banks, while Taiwan Semiconductor and ASML will serve as barometers of AI demand. Jensen Huang is set to appear in Tokyo, and rumors suggest the imminent launch of Gemini 3.5 Pro. In Hong Kong markets, attention turns to China’s economic data releases, the expiration of share lock-ups for GigaDevice, and technology-driven catalysts from the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

Futu NewsJul 12 15:46

Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as U.S. forces stated they were launching strikes against Iran and explosions were heard in multiple Iranian locations.

On July 12, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, prohibiting all vessel traffic until the United States ceases its intervention. The U.S. military declared it would strike Iran in response to attacks on civilian vessels in the strait. Explosions were subsequently reported in southern Iran, including in Bushehr, Asaluyeh, Qeshm Island, and Chabahar Port. The IRGC warned that if the U.S. uses this as a pretext for new attacks, Iran will respond forcefully and target additional U.S. bases in the Middle East.

wallstreetcnJul 12 09:05

Futu Morning Brief | U.S. Commerce Secretary urges SK Hynix and Samsung to expand U.S. memory chip capacity; Zuckerberg denies Meta has excess computing power, citing commercial potential in cloud business; GigaDevice and Han's CNC issue profit warnings;

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated, prompting Trump to switch Air Force One mid-trip during his travel to and from the NATO summit, after Israel informed the U.S. of 'a new Iranian plot to assassinate Trump'; Trump resumed strikes against Iran, raising concerns among Republicans about negative impacts on the midterm elections.

Futu NewsJul 10 08:10

Goldman Sachs makes a strong call: Go long on China's AI value chain

As investors pull capital out of South Korea’s two leading memory chip giants—the top performers globally this year—and seek alternative assets with more attractive valuations, the Chinese market is clearly standing out…

cls.cnJul 9 11:31

Futu Morning Brief | Trump issues de-escalatory remarks following 'threat to strike'; a minority of Fed officials support a June rate hike; Apple and Broadcom reach a chip procurement agreement exceeding USD 30 billion; six new listings debut today, inclu

Trump stated that Iran had urgently called, expressing a strong desire to reach an agreement; Federal Reserve Chairperson Wach will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on July 15.

Futu NewsJul 9 08:11

Comprehensive Analysis of Hong Kong Equity Market Liquidity in H1 2026: Record-High Turnover, Imbalanced Allocation, and Diverted Financing Exerting Multiple Pressures

In the first half of 2026, markets led by South Korea’s stock market surged under the impetus of the AI-driven theme. The KOSPI index rose by over 100%, propelled by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix—South Korea’s two leading memory chipmakers—while Taiwan’s weighted index climbed nearly 60%, and both the Nikkei 225 and China’s ChiNext Index posted gains exceeding 30%. In contrast, Hong Kong’s equity market underperformed significantly amid structural imbalances in its benchmark indices and liquidity mismatches, lagging notably behind other major global equity markets. During the first half of 2026, the Hang Seng Index (800000.HK) declined by more than 10%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index (80

Live ReportJul 8 10:29