US storage sector sees broad pre-market gains, SK Hynix ADR rises over 5%.

Intel (INTC.O) Chief Financial Officer stated that Intel plans to significantly increase its capital expenditure in 2027.

The AMD Advancing AI Conference was held in San Francisco from July 22 to 23. At the event, AMD CEO Lisa Su announced that Helios has entered full production and will begin shipping soon. OpenAI’s Head of Infrastructure stated that the company plans to deploy AMD Helios at scale, and OpenAI will collaborate with AMD to develop the MI500 series AI chips and their subsequent products. Additionally, Su said AMD is partnering with chip design firm Cerebras to deliver high-speed inference capabilities via Cerebras’ cloud services. The joint product of AMD and Cerebras will hit the market later this year. The AMD-Cerebras system will launch an AI inference solution combining AMD Helios GPU server racks and Cerebras’ wafer-scale chips. CNBC analysis points out that a year ago, Su projected the 2028 AI accelerator market would reach $500 billion. The latest forecast puts the market size at the end of this decade roughly equivalent to the current entire semiconductor market. Su noted that GPUs will account for the majority of this share.

US President Trump stated, "Until further notice, effective immediately, all and any damages caused to vessels, cargo, or any related items shall be compensated using Iranian funds currently held and controlled by the United States. Although such compensation amounts may be substantial, this remains a fair and reasonable approach."

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a notice on local time the 23rd, announcing that under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, it would impose additional tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on dozens of countries and regions under the pretext of so-called "forced labor" to replace the expiring global import tariffs. The new tariffs will take effect at 12:00 noon ET on the 24th (12:00 noon Beijing time on the same day). The USTR stated that as the 10% global tariff is set to expire, this round of tariffs will be levied on 60 economies, covering more than 99% of U.S. trade volume. Senior U.S. officials added that tariff measures for goods in transit will take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on July 28 (12:01 noon Beijing time on the same day). Imported goods including fuel, food, and fertilizers will be exempt from the new tariffs; products subject to specific industry-specific tariffs (such as automobiles, metals, and pharmaceuticals) are also excluded from the levy. Additionally, goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will also be granted exemptions. U.S. officials noted that the new tariffs will not be imposed in tandem with existing steel and aluminum import taxes, namely the "Section 232" tariffs implemented by the Trump administration last year on national security grounds.

Intel (INTC.O) released an unexpectedly strong revenue forecast, indicating that surging data center spending is helping the chipmaker achieve its long-awaited recovery. The company said it expects third-quarter sales to reach $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion. Even the lower end of this range easily exceeds analysts’ average forecast of $15.1 billion. This forecast highlights Intel’s growth momentum among data center customers, who are urgently needing chips to meet AI computing demands. Last quarter, sales in this segment surged 59%, more than twice Intel’s overall revenue growth. After the earnings release, Intel’s stock rose 13% in after-hours trading. Additionally, Intel’s second-quarter revenue of $16.13 billion also exceeded the market expectation of $14.43 billion.

According to a statement released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office on the 23rd, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Zaidi visited Iran that day and held talks with Iranian President Pezeshkian in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Al-Zaidi stated that Iraq and Iran's security are closely linked, and Iraq will never allow any actions threatening Iran to be launched from its territory. Pezeshkian noted that security and stability are of great significance to the development of bilateral relations.