Skip NavigationMarketsBusinessInvestingTechPoliticsVideoWatchlistInvesting Club
PRO
LivestreamMenu
- Heavy selling across Asia’s biggest tech firms shows more jitters around the AI trade.
- Samsung and SK Hynix plunge double digits, triggering Kospi circuit breakers.
- Nvidia shares sink on OpenAI funding report, allowing Apple to regain the crown of the world’s most valuable company.
- Luxury giant LVMH sees second-quarter sales supported by watches and jewelry.
- France and Spain battle to contain historic wildfires.
- Oil prices continue to decline as de-escalation hopes are raised between the U.S. and Iran.
A Korea Exchange (KRX) employee monitors stock market data on trading screens inside the Korea Exchange (KRX) in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea, on July 15, 2026. Chris Jung | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd coming to you from London.
Another day, another circuit breaker triggered.
The Nasdaq-South Korea feedback loop continues to link the AI trade from one side of the globe to the other, and today it’s to the downside.
Read on!
What you need to know today
The velocity of the AI sell-off is increasing.
Tuesday’s trading in Asia saw Samsung and SK Hynix plunge, driving a 10% drop on South Korea’s Kospi. The index has now fallen around 45% from its June highs.
Circuit breakers were triggered once again, and contagion across the region saw steep declines for the Nikkei, led by the big tech names.
The catalyst? Hard to pinpoint.
During Monday’s session on Wall Street, Nvidia came under selling pressure after CNBC confirmed the group is in talks with OpenAI to provide a $250 billion backstop to fund its AI infrastructure plans.
The story sent Nvidia shares down over 5%, pushing its market cap just below $4.8 trillion. This allowed Apple to regain its crown as the world’s most valuable company at $4.95 trillion.
Banking on jewellery
French luxury giant LVMH has reported solid demand from U.S. consumers, even as sales and spending slowed in Europe and China. The owner of Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moët Chandon champagne saw sales rise 3% in the second quarter.
Watches and jewellery were the fastest-growing segment, with Bernstein’s luxury analyst Luca Solca saying “jewelry — in the eyes of middle-class consumers — looks better value,” on CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition.”
Bracing for the heatwave
France and Spain are bracing for another heatwave, which could exacerbate the wildfires still raging across parts of both countries.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called the battle against the blazes in his country the “toughest fight since the Second World War.”
Over the course of Monday, more regions across both France and Spain were evacuated, as firefighters fought to keep the fires away from major cities.
From Wednesday onwards, temperatures are expected to rise again in the worst-affected regions, complicating efforts to contain the blazes.
Crude comedown
Oil prices extended their losses on Tuesday, as the pause in fighting and continued negotiations between the U.S. and Iran raised hopes for further de-escalation.
The moves in crude are influencing expectations for Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh‘s next policy meeting, which starts today.
Kalshi traders are pointing to a 74% chance he says the word “oil” during his press conference on Wednesday, while there are over 50% odds that he will mention the word “shock.”
— Leonie Kidd
And Finally…
SpaceX has now lost the equivalent of a full Tesla in market capitalization
What’s one trillion between a trillionaire and his biggest fans?
SpaceX has now erased more than $1.2 trillion in market cap since its high price of $225.64 in June – almost exactly the value of Elon Musk’s other company, Tesla, whose shares just fell to near one-year lows. On Monday, SpaceX fell for the 13th session out of the last 16, shedding more than 1% to end at $113.50.
While some of the options flows are getting more balanced between bulls and bears, the biggest single SpaceX trades of the day on Monday were neutral to bullish. Small speculators continue to buy fat-chance calls that need the crashing stock to quickly turn around and double.
— Oliver Renick
Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.Read More
About The Author
