Tech stocks surge as Micron earnings ease AI fears, oil falls further

By Alun John and Ankur Banerjee

LONDON/SINGAPORE, June 25 (Reuters) - Stocks surged connected Thursday aft beardown net and forecasts from chipmakers Micron and Qualcomm helped reignite the AI rally, portion the dollar sat astir a one-year precocious against ‌peers contempt a autumn successful lipid and Treasury yields.

Tech-heavy Asian markets roseate sharply aft Micron said its customers had ‌committed $22 cardinal for its representation chips, portion Qualcomm anticipates $15 cardinal successful income from its information centre concern by 2029,

Micron shares roseate 17% successful premarket trading and Qualcomm 12%.

Japan's ​Nikkei jumped 4.6%, South Korea's KOSPI gained 5.4%, portion futures connected the U.S. tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which includes some Micron and Qualcomm, gained 2.1%.

Investor interest that valuations for AI-related companies person go stretched pursuing years of gains has weighed connected markets successful caller days, starring to volatile sessions — the Nasdaq 100 fell 3.3% connected Tuesday.

"Earnings trump everything," said analysts astatine Barclays successful a Thursday note. "Markets are not cheap. Investors ‌expect continued double-digit net maturation into 2027, and ⁠the borderline for disappointment has narrowed."

Europe has less tech stocks, and the wide STOXX 600 was up 0.7%, though the tech subindex gained 2.2%.

S&P 500 futures roseate 0.65%.

OIL BACK TO PRE-WAR LEVELS AS TANKERS ⁠EXIT HORMUZ

The different large communicative successful planetary markets was oil, and prices extended their diminution connected Thursday arsenic stranded tankers exited the Strait of Hormuz pursuing an archetypal accord to extremity the U.S.-Israeli warfare with Iran, easing proviso concerns. [O/R]

Brent crude futures dropped 0.7% to $73.2 a barrel, a autumn ​of 9% ​this week to erase each the gains from the war.

U.S. West Texas ​Intermediate fell 0.6% to $69.76 a barrel.

Easing lipid prices whitethorn ‌help trim immoderate ostentation pressure, which has sent authorities bonds rallying successful some the U.S. and Europe.

Germany's 10-year output was down 1 bp astatine 2.86% but has fallen 12 bps this week arsenic traders wonderment whether the European Central Bank volition rise rates again this year.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury output was level connected Thursday, astatine 4.40%, having dropped 7 bps the erstwhile day.

It dipped marginally aft U.S. information showed the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) terms scale roseate 0.4% successful May, compared with a 0.5% summation expected by economists polled ‌by Reuters.

However, with the yearly fig breaking supra 4% for the archetypal clip ​in 3 years, the information inactive supports bets connected a Federal Reserve complaint ​hike this year, which has caused U.S. yields to ​fall little than those elsewhere and boosted the dollar.