Top U.S. Stories

  • The Trump administration issued subpoenas to New York Times journalists as part of a grand jury leak investigation tied to a report on the new Air Force One aircraft. Why it matters: the move revives a long-running fight over press freedom and how far federal investigators can go in pursuing sources. (Fox News)
  • President Trump said 1,000 missiles would be aimed at Iran if he were targeted for assassination, reviving tension around the U.S.-Iran standoff and the Strait of Hormuz. Why it matters: renewed rhetoric like this has already been a driver behind this week’s oil-price volatility. (CBS News)
  • The largest housing affordability bill in decades became law without Trump’s signature. Why it matters: it’s a rare bipartisan win on housing costs, one of the most persistent pocketbook issues for American households. (NPR)
  • Rep. Ro Khanna said he was detained by armed Israeli settlers while visiting the West Bank. (Fox News)
  • The Gordie Howe International Bridge linking Ontario and Michigan is confirmed to open July 27. (CBC)
  • More than 1 million people were evacuated in China as Typhoon Bavi made landfall. (Al Jazeera)

Markets

U.S. equities closed out the week near record territory: the S&P 500 rose 0.42% to 7,575.39, up 10.7% year-to-date, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.29% to 26,281.61 and the Dow gained 149.60 points (0.29%) to 52,637.01, led by bank stocks. Chip stocks were the standout theme, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index reportedly up more than 3% on the week. WTI crude settled at $71.41 a barrel, down 0.9% on the day but still up roughly 4% for the week on U.S.-Iran tensions. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.20% to 68,557.73 on AI and chip-stock buying, and the dollar bought roughly ¥161.87 (ECB reference rate, July 10), with the yen briefly firming after Japan’s finance minister floated new incentives for domestic investment by pension funds.

Stocks in Focus

  • AI and semiconductor names (Advantest, Tokyo Electron, SoftBank Group in Japan; Micron and peers in the U.S.) rallied as investors positioned ahead of ASML’s July 15 and TSMC’s July 16 earnings.
  • U.S. bank stocks led Friday’s Dow gains.
  • Japanese financial and domestic-asset-linked stocks drew attention after Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama’s comments on encouraging GPIF and household investment into domestic assets.
  • Energy stocks stayed volatile as U.S.-Iran tensions kept oil prices swinging through the week.

Compass Insight

Today’s market story is a chain reaction of expectations. Chip and AI stocks are rallying not just on AI’s own growth story, but as a bet ahead of next week’s marquee earnings from ASML and TSMC — a bet that could reverse quickly if results disappoint. In Japan, the combination of a weak yen near ¥161-162 and a Bank of Japan policy rate now at 1.0% (its highest since 1995) remains the key variable for households: it raises import and energy costs even as it supports exporter profits and wage growth. Short-term, watch the ASML/TSMC earnings and any further escalation in U.S.-Iran rhetoric for oil-price swings. Medium-term, the pace of further BOJ rate moves and whether Japan’s public pension fund actually shifts more assets domestically — a move market participants remain skeptical about given GPIF’s legal constraints — will likely shape the yen and Japanese equities going forward.

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Auto-generated and AI-written. Not investment advice.