US pre-market trading sees gains in the semiconductor and storage sectors, with Sandisk and Western Digital rising over 4%, while Lam Research (LRCX) surges more than 7% following its earnings release.

Jae-gyoo Bae, known as South Korea’s "ETF Father" and CEO of a local investment management firm, stated today that single-stock leveraged products tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix should be phased out gradually rather than delisted forcibly. For such products, investors’ best option is "not to invest". He warned that during periods of high market volatility, daily rebalancing and compound effects can rapidly erode product value. Investors often attempt to bottom-fish for rebounds after market dips, but this strategy is unlikely to deliver sustainable wealth growth. He also advised investors not to concentrate their bets on a single memory chip manufacturer, but to invest across the entire semiconductor industry chain. Bae noted, "The memory chip industry remains highly cyclical." Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology are continuing to expand investments, while regional competition is intensifying. The AI-driven semiconductor boom has pushed market performance beyond expectations, but he suggested investors focus on the industry’s long-term growth prospects rather than short-term price fluctuations.

U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ended July 25 came in at 197,000, against expectations of 200,000, with the prior week’s figure revised from 187,000 to 188,000.

The U.S. core PCE price index rose 3.3% year-over-year in June, in line with expectations of 3.30% and down from the prior reading of 3.40%.

A newly created wallet (bc1qwz) just withdrew 1,250 $BTC($80.94M) from #Binance.

According to HTX market data, Bitcoin has broken through the $65,000 threshold, posting a 0.94% gain in the past 24 hours.

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), Microsoft’s pre-market gain in US equities has widened to over 10%, trading at $430. Following Wednesday’s US after-hours trading, Microsoft released its fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter financial results, reporting revenue of $90 billion, an 18% year-over-year increase. The growth rate of Azure and other cloud services rose to 43% from 40% in the prior quarter. CEO Satya Nadella noted that Azure’s full fiscal year revenue exceeded $100 billion, growing by 41%—the first time the business has crossed the $100 billion threshold.