This Week's Macro Highlights: Strong Non-Farm Payrolls Boost Rate Hike Expectations, US Tech Stocks Lose Over $1 Trillion in Market Cap in a Single Day

June 6. The U.S. May non-farm payrolls added 172,000 jobs, handily beating the market consensus of 85,000, triggering a full repricing of the Federal Reserve’s policy trajectory. The odds of a December rate hike now stand at 63%, with multiple Fed officials adopting hawkish stances. That pushed the U.S. Dollar Index back above the 100 threshold, gold sinking for a fourth straight week, and U.S. tech stocks tumbling sharply on Friday: the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index crashed 10% in a single day, wiping more than $1 trillion off its market cap. This week, Middle East tensions remain elevated. U.S.-Iran talks have stalled over asset unfreezing, with Iran warning it will expand its attack scope if the conflict escalates. A draft management framework for the Strait of Hormuz is now under review, while Lebanon’s crisis continues to flare. In capital markets, SpaceX plans to debut on the Nasdaq on June 12, with an initial offering price of $135 per share, targeting $75 billion in proceeds and a near-$1.8 trillion valuation. However, the S&P 500 has nixed a quick inclusion of the stock, mandating a minimum 12 months of trading history plus four consecutive quarters of GAAP net earnings. On the regulatory front, Futu, Tiger Brokers, and Long Bridge Securities have all announced that starting June 12, they will suspend new buy-in and fund transfer services for mainland Chinese clients, retaining only position management and sell functions to align with industry rectification compliance rules. The Bank of Japan has sent strong signals of a rate hike, with markets pricing in a policy rate lift to 1% at its June meeting—its highest level since 1995. Overnight index swap data shows the probability of a rate hike exceeds 80%. Per World Gold Council data, global central banks resumed net gold purchases in April. The People’s Bank of China increased its gold reserves by 8 tons that month, marking its 18th consecutive month of buying, while Poland’s central bank led all nations with a 14-ton gold purchase. In tech, Alphabet announced it will boost its financing from $800 billion to $847.5 billion to accelerate AI infrastructure buildout. Berkshire Hathaway took part in a $10 billion private placement for the deal. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang unveiled the RTX Spark superchip at COMPUTEX 2026, claiming the PC is "undergoing its first full redesign in 40 years"—betting heavily on Windows AI PCs and the AI agent era.