Morning Bid: Doubled by halftime

By Mike Dolan

June 30 (Reuters) -

What matters successful U.S. and planetary markets contiguous

By Mike Dolan, Editor-at-Large, Finance and Markets

It's halftime for 2026 markets arsenic the whistle blows connected a turbulent and volatile archetypal six months of the year.

Despite the energy-shocking four-month Iran warfare and ‌rancorous geopolitics implicit Venezuela, Greenland and NATO, it's been a roar twelvemonth for cardinal parts of the AI story, with spot stocks ‌more than doubling.

I'll get into that and much below.

But first, cheque retired my latest file connected the lingering risks astir the AI roar - adjacent arsenic bubble fears wane.

And drawback the latest occurrence ​of the Morning Bid podcast - a mid-year peculiar variation featuring Markets Columnist Jamie McGeever.

Subscribe to perceive Reuters journalists sermon the biggest quality successful markets and concern 7 days a week - and subscribe to Jamie's markets newsletter, Trading Day.

DOUBLED BY HALFTIME

Many idiosyncratic spot stocks trebled oregon quadrupled this twelvemonth connected pumped-up AI capex by the alleged hyperscalers. The 2nd 4th was the champion connected grounds for the U.S. SOX spot index, but June was the worst period successful a dour twelvemonth truthful ‌far for the Magnificent Seven - astir of whom are ⁠doing each the spending.

Oil prices person returned to pre-Iran warfare levels, meantime, with each eyes connected planned bid talks successful Doha connected Tuesday aft the weekend's subject flareups.

But Federal Reserve rate-hike bets are inactive successful the premix for the 2nd ⁠half regardless, arsenic caller macro releases amusement the U.S. system whitethorn beryllium moving hot.

More immediately, the 4th ended connected an upbeat enactment for the large chip-stock winners successful Asia, with Wall Street's attraction present turning to the June jobs study owed connected Thursday successful this holiday-shortened week.

Ahead of that, U.S. May occupation openings information is connected the ​schedule ​for Tuesday, arsenic are user assurance updates for June.

Another large improvement connected Monday was ​the constrictive U.S. Supreme Court ruling that President Trump cannot ‌fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook until the lawsuit against her is heard and proven. If she's recovered guilty, it's a antithetic matter.

Over successful FX markets, Japan's yen continued to weaken to 40-year lows, without involution from the authorities truthful far, contempt ongoing warnings. Speculative abbreviated positions successful the yen person risen to their highest successful astir 2 years, with investors progressively tense astir the imaginable of authoritative enactment to prop up the flagging currency.

In firm news, Comcast ended astir 5% higher connected Monday aft it announced it was splitting its media and amusement units from its communications business, spinning retired NBCUniversal and Sky into ‌a antithetic company.