Futures Slide After Another Korea Rout, TSMA Results Revive AI Fears

Futures are lower, erasing much of yesterday's gain with both Nasdaq and Rusell lagging SPX, following a continued rollercoaster in Korea where stocks tumbled after the BOK hired rates for the first time in 3 years. As of 8:15am ET, S&P futures dropped 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 contracts dropped 0.8%. In premarket trading, semis are weaker again while Mag7 is stronger (AMZN, GOOG, META, and MSFT all up are least 1.2%) with the market having "a defensive tilt as the AI theme is poised to move lower" per JPM. A strong earnings beat and raised sales outlook from TSMC failed to trigger fresh gains for the sector that has fueled most of this year’s stock market gains. Europe’s Stoxx 600 was down 0.6%. WTI trading in a tighter range into Trump’s speech, AI / Semis are driving mkts with TSM ADRs indicated -3.5% their print may not be enough to buoy the group. Korea moves to tighten rules around levered ETFs, so more near-term downside may ensue. US to set 25% tariff for Brazil on July 22, ex-beef / coffee / ethanol products. Pre-mkt, bond yields are +2bp with USD flat. Commodities are lower across all 3 complexes though base metals are bid. Today’s macro data focus is on Retail Sales where a stronger print may pull some inflows into consumer-related segments, which still have light positioning. 

In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are mixed (Alphabet +1.3%, Microsoft +1.3%, Amazon +0.7%, Meta +0.3%, Apple +0.4%, Tesla -0.2%, Nvidia -1.5%)