BlockBeats reported on July 16 that several key premarket developments were in focus ahead of the U.S. trading session.
U.S. jobless claims came in below expectations
Initial jobless claims in the United States totaled 208,000 for the week ended July 11, below the 217,000 estimate. The previous reading was revised to 216,000 from 215,000.
After the claims data was released, market pricing showed an 87.7% chance that the Federal Reserve will keep rates unchanged in July and a 12.3% chance of a 25-basis-point rate increase.
TSMC posted record quarterly profit, but shares still fell in premarket trading
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported second-quarter 2026 net profit of TWD 706.6 billion, up 77% from a year earlier. The result marked a record high and came in above market expectations.
Despite the earnings beat, TSMC’s U.S.-listed shares were down 4.5% in premarket trading. The market reaction was linked to concerns over a sharp increase in future capital spending. The company said capital expenditure over the next three years will be significantly higher than in the previous three-year period.
Index futures and memory stocks moved lower
Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.08%, S&P 500 futures lost 0.43%, and Dow Jones futures were down 0.02%.
Memory names were among the weakest groups before the open. Western Digital dropped 7.83%, while SK Hynix ADRs fell 7.61%.
Morgan Stanley expects DRAM contract price growth to peak in Q4 2026
Morgan Stanley said DRAM contract price growth is expected to peak in the fourth quarter of 2026. After that, year-over-year growth could decline sharply. The bank said a repeat of the earlier pattern in which prices rose fourfold in a year would be difficult.
It also said valuations of memory companies, measured by expected price-to-book ratios over the next 12 months, may need to be reassessed.
Larry Fink comments on bitcoin and crypto
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said he is no longer concerned that bitcoin and the broader crypto market carry excessive leverage. He also said he is “very bullish” on the market outlook for the next 12 months.
Forced liquidations and tighter rules in South Korea
In South Korea, 320,000 leveraged retail accounts were forcibly liquidated over the past month. Of those, 62% belonged to people in their 20s and 30s. Total losses were about KRW 2.15 trillion.
South Korea has also tightened regulation by suspending new single-stock leveraged ETFs and raising minimum margin requirements for chip-related leveraged ETFs. The minimum margin was increased from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million. Only cash is recognized as collateral. For leveraged trading in a single stock, each purchase is limited to 20 shares, compared with 1 share previously.
Other premarket headlines
ChangXin Technology said, based on data provided by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, that the number of valid online subscription accounts in its offering was 9,428,778, with valid subscription volume totaling 816,920,125,000 shares. After the greenshoe-style reallocation mechanism was triggered, the final online allotment rate was about 0.47%.
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed a resolution by unanimous consent declaring that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should not receive a presidential pardon or sentence commutation “under any circumstances.”
Another report said Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthi forces to be prepared to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if the United States attacks Iranian power infrastructure. The idea has reportedly been discussed within Iran’s leadership, and the information has been passed to Iran’s Houthi allies. The move would pose a new major threat to global energy supply.