Today’s Market Recap: Nasdaq Sinks on AI Infrastructure and Memory Chip Doubts

U.S.-Iran negotiations ended in a stalemate as President Trump stated that Iran made concessions on nuclear inspections, while Iran claimed that $12 billion in frozen assets would be unfrozen. Trump asserted that because of Iran's concessions, he agreed to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and declared that Iran accepted the "highest level" of inspections. On the other hand, Iran stated that the $12 billion in frozen assets was about to enter the unfreezing implementation phase, to be disbursed in two installments of $60 billion each, but maintained that the usage rights of the assets belong to themselves. This reveals that clear differences still exist between both sides regarding the issues of inspections and the use of funds.

As the U.S. 60-day sanctions waiver took effect, Iran began vying for Asia's largest oil buyers, with reports indicating that 68 million barrels of crude oil are awaiting sale. Following the implementation of a comprehensive 60-day waiver on U.S. oil sanctions against Iran, the country is eager to clear approximately 68 million barrels of floating offshore storage within this limited window. It is actively contacting refineries in countries like India, Japan, and South Korea to expand its buyer base. However, due to ample short-term market supplies and the persistence of other European and U.S. sanctions, Asian buyers mostly maintain a wait-and-see attitude.

The flash U.S. PMI data for June beat expectations across the board, with the manufacturing PMI hitting a more than four-year high, though the employment index plummeted to a six-year low. The flash U.S. Composite PMI rose to a five-month high of 52.2, showing that business activity continues to expand. The manufacturing sector performed strongly, with its PMI climbing to 55.7 and new orders growing at their fastest pace in over four years, partly driven by precautionary inventory stockpiling. Meanwhile, the services PMI rose only modestly to 51.3, indicating a slow recovery. Enterprise purchasing inventory reached the second highest in history, but factory employment fell to its lowest level in six years. Although a cooling of tensions in the Middle East boosted confidence, supply chain delays and cost pressures still persist.

A single report triggered a plunge in memory chip stocks, as South Korean media reported that SK Hynix is slowing its HBM4 expansion due to a downward revision in Nvidia's Rubin production expectations. A report from a South Korean media outlet sparked a chain-reaction sell-off in global memory stocks, with Micron closing down 13%. According to the report, the production forecast for Nvidia's Rubin chips was lowered, prompting SK Hynix to slow down its HBM4 expansion and shift toward the general DRAM market — where profit margins have reportedly surpassed HBM by more than 15 percentage points. This shift has suddenly cast doubts on the demand outlook for AI infrastructure.

The countdown for the mass production of Tesla's Optimus 3 has begun, with reports claiming that suppliers have started stocking up. The mass production of Tesla's humanoid robot has entered the countdown phase — suppliers in Taiwan, China have begun supplying harmonic reducers and optical lenses for Optimus 3, while the Fremont production line, designed for an annual capacity of one million units, is advancing simultaneously. Elon Musk's "robot empire" is accelerating from a concept onto the assembly line, and the substantial inventory buildup across the supply chain provides the strongest external validation for this massive bet.

Masayoshi Son refuted Elon Musk, arguing that space data centers are "meaningless" and that the AI race will be decided on Earth. At the SoftBank shareholder meeting, Masayoshi Son bluntly stated that the concept of space data centers "makes little sense," arguing that challenges such as launch costs, in-orbit maintenance, and communication latency far outweigh any energy advantages, meaning the AI battle will still be determined by terrestrial computing power. He anchored SoftBank's strategy in Earth-based AI infrastructure, firmly believing that the next few years will be the decisive period and that leading players still possess immense growth potential.

The chart below lists the ten most actively traded stocks in the market last Friday. Bolstered by massive trading volume and exceptional liquidity, these assets have become key benchmarks for tracking global market dynamics.