07/10/2026
Wall Street climbed to record highs buoyed by optimism over corporate earnings prospects, yet Asian equities failed to follow suit. Oil prices advanced while US Treasury prices declined.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.4%, sitting roughly 2% below its peak. Japanese and South Korean stock markets retreated, while Taiwan’s equities edged higher. The MSCI All Country World Index, a key gauge for global stocks, is about 0.5% lower from its August peak.
Earlier, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 closed at all-time highs, with the US earnings season set to kick off next week. AI-related stocks led the rally, and NVIDIA’s market value neared $6 trillion. Sources familiar with the matter said tech stocks remain the market’s focal point: Elon Musk’s SpaceX is in talks with banks and investors to raise $40 billion in debt for purchasing chips from NVIDIA.
Brent crude rose 1% to slightly above $101 per barrel. Traders are weighing increased oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz against a rise in attacks on vessels linked to Iran. US Treasuries gave up Tuesday’s gains; the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbed 2 basis points to 5.31%.
Global equities have rallied to record highs as investors bet corporations can endure higher interest rates and elevated energy costs driven by expensive oil. With limited major economic data due in the near term, markets are turning their attention to the upcoming earnings season, to see whether tech giants’ hundreds of billions of dollars in AI investments have translated into stronger profits.
According to aggregated industry research data, analysts project S&P 500 earnings in the third quarter will rise approximately 25% year-over-year.
Elsewhere in fixed income, French bond futures underperformed German counterparts during Asian trading as investors assessed the outlook for France’s fiscal deficit.
Divergence across Asian markets has drawn notable attention. In the previous quarter, Taiwan’s Taiex Index outperformed South Korea’s KOSPI by around 23 percentage points — the widest gap so far this century.
Samsung Electronics, a bellwether for the chip sector, is scheduled to report its largest quarterly profit on record on Thursday. Even robust results, however, may not be enough to convince investors that demand for memory chips is sustainable and that elevated product prices can be locked in via long-term contracts.
Asian optical technology shares gained, boosted by Marvell Technology Inc.’s revenue forecast tied to AI data center demand.
Though US stocks have surged to all-time highs, lofty oil prices, multi-year high bond yields and volatility in money markets remain top concerns for macro traders.
