MONEY MASTER

Asian equities fell for a  second straight session  on Thursday as the global tech rout gathered pace, driven by  concerns over stretched valuations, massive AI spending, and the risk of AI disrupting traditional software models . What’s Driving the Move The  MSCI Asia-Pacific Index  fell  0.7% , extending losses South Korea’s  Kospi Index  dropped  2% , leading regional declines amid heavy AI exposure Weak post-earnings reactions in  Alphabet Inc ,  Qualcomm Inc , and  Arm Holdings  weighed on sentiment The  Nasdaq 100  suffered its  worst two-day fall since October , breaking below its 100-day moving average — a technical red flag for some traders Big Picture: Rotation Out of Tech Investors are increasingly  rotating away from technology , especially: Software stocks , pressured by fears AI will  compress pricing and erode moats Chipmakers , where selling has been even more aggressive A Bloomberg...

 Amazon has officially stepped deeper into the  AI arms race , launching  Trainium 3 , a new chip built to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the GPU market. The latest hardware — available through Amazon Web Services — promises  4x faster model training  than its predecessor while using the  same energy footprint . Each cluster of Amazon’s new “UltraServers” can run up to  144 Trainium 3 chips , enabling large-scale LLM training at hyperscaler level. The move positions Amazon directly against  Google and Nvidia , both of which dominate today’s AI infrastructure landscape. Google’s lead in the AI model race has reportedly pushed  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman  into a “code red” mode. Crypto Miners Become AI’s New Powerhouses The AI boom has created a problem even Big Tech struggles with:  massive energy and space requirements . Enter crypto miners — companies already running large-scale, power-heavy data centers. After the  2024 Bitcoin h...

Asian markets are set to rally Thursday, following a tech-driven boost on Wall Street that sent the  S&P 500 up 0.6%  and the  Nasdaq 100 up 0.7% , with  Nvidia hitting a record-breaking US$4 trillion valuation . Despite fresh tariff threats from President Trump—including a steep  50% tariff on Brazilian imports —investors appeared to  look past trade war fears  and instead focused on resilient corporate earnings and the AI boom.  Bitcoin also surged past US$112,000 , signaling continued risk appetite. Highlights: Futures in  Japan and Australia  are rising;  Hong Kong  remains flat. Treasury yields  fell after a strong US$39 billion 10-year bond auction. Fed minutes  showed division over inflation risk from tariffs. CNN’s Fear & Greed Index  is now signaling  extreme greed . Gold up 0.4% , oil and the dollar stayed flat. What to watch next: South Korea rate decision China’s money supply data (due by...

  What Happened: After a two-month rally, major indexes hit record highs in June:  S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite  posted new closing records. Tailwinds: Historical data suggests July is often strong for stocks. Potential continued rally if recent patterns hold:  6%-10% additional gains  possible after recovering losses, historically. Risks to Watch: Trump’s  One Big Beautiful Bill Act  could shake markets: tax policy shifts and debt ceiling effects on liquidity. Tariff pause ends July 9:  Trade policy uncertainty could pressure sectors sensitive to global supply chains. Earnings season:  Starts mid-July; watch the  Magnificent Seven tech stocks . High valuations + disappointing results could trigger correction.

The  February Consumer Price Index (CPI)  data released this Wednesday showed inflation cooling more than expected, offering a brief respite for markets that have been rattled by  trade tensions  and  valuation concerns . Here's an overview of how the data affected the market: Key CPI Data Highlights: Headline CPI  increased by  0.2% month-over-month , below the  0.3%  economists anticipated. Core CPI  (excluding food and energy) rose  0.3% , also missing forecasts. On an  annual basis , headline inflation eased to  2.8%  from  3.0%  in January, indicating that price pressures might be stabilizing. Market Response: The  Nasdaq Composite  jumped  over 1% , while the  S&P 500  added  0.8%  in early trading. The  Dow Jones Industrial Average , however, closed  down 0.2% , weighed down by  trade-exposed industrials . 10-year Treasury yields  fell by...