Mid-Morning Look

Friday, July 10, 2026

U.S. stocks are bouncing between gains and losses in early choppy trade, though the S&P and Nasdaq are on track for weekly advances as Tech, Energy and Communications the leaders this week. Early on, nine of eleven S&P sectors are higher, with early strength in communications, materials and consumer staples. Attention overnight was memory/chip stocks as SK Hynix (SKHY) 17.79M share ADR IPO priced at $149.00 as the South Korean chipmaker will join the Nasdaq in the largest-ever market debut by a foreign company, after raising $26.51 billion in yesterday’s offering. No major US economic data today (or really for week), but attention turns to inflation data next week with June CPI and PPI. Also, earnings season around the corner with lots of results in financials coming next week JPM, WFC, BAC, GS, C, BLK as well as other notables GE, JNJ, BNY, UNH and NFLX. The carry trade has been strong, but the Japanese yen bounced on Friday on news that Japan plans to encourage pension funds to increase their holdings of domestic financial assets, trying to support the battered currency than intervention. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the government was pursuing measures that would include encouraging the Government Pension Investment Fund, one of the largest pension funds in the world, to make “substantially greater investments in Japanese financial assets”. The dollar fell to an intraday low of 161.285 vs the yen post comments. Before Friday’s news, the yen had been languishing near 40-year low

• Gaming software: Jefferies Survey shows strongest mobile gaming momentum, with Vector Driving Share Gains. Jefferies said its 2026 mobile gaming AdTech survey was most positive on Unity (U), with the company gaining roughly 200 bps of advertiser spend share and ranking as the top platform for expected incremental budget growth. Also, Jefferies’ 2Q survey of 30 e-commerce advertisers was incrementally positive, with APP’s share of network spend rising to 11% from 10% in 4Q25 and nearly all respondents expecting further share gains through 2026.
• In Crypto: stablecoin provider CRCL shares jumped after the company received final regulatory approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank. The charter allows Circle to act as custodian for its own reserves and hold crypto assets on behalf of institutional clients. Bitcoin and Ethereum also rise as worries over the U.S.-Iran conflict ease, improving appetite for risk assets. Positive developments in crypto legislation are providing further support, as momentum is building behind U.S. market-structure legislation with reports indicating that the Clarity Act could reach the Senate later this month.

• CRCL +7%; after the company received final regulatory approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank. The charter allows Circle to act as custodian for its own reserves and hold crypto assets on behalf of institutional clients.
• META +6%; adding to yesterday strength after detailing a massive AI / DC capacity expansion plan to reach 7GW of compute by end ’26 and add another 7GW in ’27 to hit a whopping 14GW of total compute; also starting the ramp of their own custom ASIC chip from AVGO.
• SEI +3%; as will replace Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CPRX) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the opening of trading on Wednesday, July 15.
• WDFC +22%; on earnings and guidance as Q3 EPS $2.24 tops est. $1.56 with margins 56.6% and sales rose 24% y/y to $195.1M vs. est. $172.8M; guides FY sales $675M-$690M vs. est. $661.6M and sees year margins 54.5%-55.5%.

• FRMI -16%; after prices upsized offering of $375M in convertible senior notes.
• IONS -6%; follow through weakness after share price fell -24% on Thursday following a failed heart-drug study with partner AZN (company did reiterate its 2026 guidance).
• SPCX -2%; dropping back below its opening IPO price of $150 again.
• XBI -3%; as Biotech pulls back from record highs as Biotech takes a breather following massive run since mid-June – remains up 31% YTD (lots of early weakness MRNA, VKTX,