SK Hynix leads rout in memory stocks
Global markets opened the week under pressure as a sharp correction in chip shares collided with rising tensions in the Middle East. In South Korea, SK Hynix dropped 15.4%, its largest decline on record, while Samsung Electronics fell nearly 11%. The Kospi closed down 8.9% at 6,806.93, with the two heavyweight names helping push the market into its seventh trading curb of the year.
Losses spread across the region. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.9% to 67,242.73, and the Topix closed down 0.7% at 4,007.49. In Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 opened down 0.5%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.3%, and the UK’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 1.3%, while futures signaled European stocks would open about 1% lower.
U.S. premarket trading showed similar weakness in memory-related names. Micron Technology fell about 6%, Seagate Technology lost about 4%, Western Digital dropped about 6%, and SanDisk slid about 7%.
Earnings miss fears and ADR profit-taking hit sentiment
The immediate trigger came from Korea Investment & Securities, which forecast SK Hynix’s second-quarter operating profit at 8% below market expectations. The brokerage said the company’s larger revenue exposure to high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, than peers limited the upside in average selling prices.
Investors were also dealing with profit-taking after SK Hynix’s American depositary receipt debut. Its ADR rose 13% on the first trading day last Friday, and the report said the rally tied to the $26.5 billion listing had largely run its course. That left the stock exposed to profit-taking and arbitrage unwinds. The report also pointed to a broader problem in the sector: weak HBM pricing flexibility, capacity expansion, and slower demand are putting pressure on the valuation framework for memory-chip makers.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said the country will set up a “future response fund” to direct excess tax revenue into effective forward-looking investment projects. He said government support will be directed toward chips, AI data centers, and physical AI.
Fresh U.S. strikes on Iran lift oil and bond yields
According to China Central Television, U.S. Central Command said the U.S. began a new round of strikes on Iran at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on July 12. It said the purpose was to “continue to degrade its ability to attack vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz freely.” Explosions were reported early on July 13 local time in Bandar Abbas, the Sirik area, and other locations in Iran.
Uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil higher. Brent crude rose more than 3% to $78.50 a barrel, while WTI crude futures gained 4.2% to $74.40, one of the biggest single-day jumps in recent sessions. The market had already logged its largest weekly rise since mid-May the week before.
As energy prices climbed, traders raised bets on tighter U.S. monetary policy. Interest-rate swaps are now pricing in nearly 40 basis points of cumulative Federal Reserve tightening by December, up from about 15 basis points in early June. Treasuries sold off across the curve. The 2-year yield rose 3 basis points to 4.23%, the highest since February 2025, and the 10-year yield added 3 basis points to 4.59%. Government bond yields in Australia and Japan also moved higher.
Bloomberg strategist Mark Cranfield said Treasuries could face more downside if oil stays strong, with the oil-bond-dollar linkage likely to remain in play in the near term.
Gold, silver and bitcoin retreat as dollar gains
Precious metals moved the other way. Spot gold fell 1.1% to $4,073 an ounce, while another market reading in the report showed gold down 1.3% at about $4,065. Silver fell 1.8% to $58.82 an ounce, and another intraday figure showed a drop of nearly 3% to about $58.20. Platinum and palladium also weakened.
The report said gold has fallen more than one-fifth since the Iran war broke out in late February this year, ending a three-year bull run. A wave of profit-taking at one stage pushed prices below $4,000 an ounce for the first time since last November.
The dollar strengthened across G10 currencies. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%. The euro slipped 0.2% to $1.1397, and the yen fell 0.2% to 162.00 per dollar.
Crypto markets also turned lower. Bitcoin fell more than 2% at one point to around $62,700, then recovered part of the loss and traded near $64,175, pulling the broader digital-asset market down with it.
Inflation data, earnings and central bank signals up next
Markets now face a crowded week. U.S. inflation data is due soon, and investors are watching whether higher energy prices will add more pressure to CPI.
Earnings season is also about to begin. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are scheduled to report on Tuesday, offering an early test of whether corporate earnings can support the rally that had been driven by optimism around artificial intelligence.
On the policy front, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is set to appear before Congress for the first time since taking office, and markets will watch for his latest comments on rates. In Asia, investors are also looking to China’s second-quarter growth data and the Bank of Korea’s rate decision.
Shoji Hirakawa, chief global strategist at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Lab, said that if attacks between the U.S. and Iran escalate again, they could become a negative catalyst for markets. He added that during periods of higher geopolitical risk, investors tend to favor sectors with stronger earnings power, meaning semiconductor shares could show relative resilience.