Top U.S. Stories

  • Iran held a days-long state funeral in Tehran for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed along with four family members in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike on February 28. His son Mojtaba was named the new supreme leader in March but has not appeared in public since, reportedly still recovering from injuries (CBS News, NPR).
  • President Trump held phone calls with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7-8, and is expected to meet Zelensky and Syria’s Ahmad al-Sharaa in person there (France24, Washington Post).
  • Washington, D.C. canceled its Independence Day parade after the National Weather Service issued an Extreme Heat Warning with heat index values of 110-115°F; evening events including President Trump’s speech went ahead as scheduled (Bloomberg, NBC News).
  • A shooting during a Fourth of July “teen takeover” in Pensacola, Florida, left a 19-year-old man dead and six others injured; police are still searching for the shooter or shooters (CNN).
  • France beat Paraguay 1-0 on a Kylian Mbappé penalty to reach the World Cup 2026 quarterfinals, where they will face Morocco on Thursday in Foxborough, Massachusetts (ESPN).
  • In Japan, PM Sanae Takaichi said she would attend intensive Diet sessions and party-leader debates if requested, as ruling and opposition parties spar over cost-of-living measures under her government’s “responsible proactive fiscal policy” (Jiji).

Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record 52,900.07 on July 2 (+1.14%), while the Nasdaq lagged as semiconductor names gave back some of their more-than-80% gain from the first half of 2026 (Yahoo Finance). The S&P 500 stood at 7,483.24 and the Nasdaq Composite at 25,832.67. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh urged markets to focus on incoming data rather than Fed guidance, after June nonfarm payrolls rose just 57,000, well below the 113,000 expected (CNBC). WTI crude traded around $68.8 a barrel on July 3, well off the brief spike above $100 seen when the Iran conflict erupted in February, as Hormuz Strait shipping and Saudi exports continue to normalize ahead of a mid-August deadline for the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. The dollar bought 161.15 yen per the ECB reference rate dated July 3 (frankfurter API). Japan’s Nikkei 225 rebounded 1,010.92 points (+1.47%) to close at 69,744.07 on July 3 on receding U.S. rate-hike expectations (Nikkei).

Stocks in Focus

  • Kioxia Holdings (285A): Japan’s memory-chip maker posted record annual revenue of ¥2.34 trillion and operating profit of ¥870.3 billion for fiscal year ended March 2026, driven by an AI-fueled surge in NAND flash demand and pricing. Shares swung sharply, jumping 9.23% to ¥83,300 on July 3 even as some analysts flag risk from the industry’s boom-bust cycle (Bloomberg).
  • Tesla: Shares fell 7% despite Q2 deliveries of 480,126 vehicles, far above the roughly 406,600 Wall Street expected, with investors focused on weak capital returns rather than the delivery beat (Yahoo Finance).
  • Semiconductor stocks: Broad profit-taking hit chip names after their more-than-80% first-half rally, compounded by a cautious AI-chip outlook and smartphone demand concerns from earlier in June (Yahoo Finance).

This is not investment advice; nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

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