South Korean payment platform KG Inicis plans to launch stablecoin payment functionality on Solana.

Jeff Kim, Head of Research at Jefferies, said Samsung is likely to follow SK Hynix in listing on the U.S. market via American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which will boost the share price of the South Korean chipmaker whose valuation lags behind Micron. "Chip stocks are at a turning point. ADRs will serve as an important catalyst to drive their valuations," he added.

Arm’s stock price pulled back this week alongside the high-valuation AI sector, though some Wall Street analysts say the correction does not alter the company’s long-term standing in AI data centers. UBS sharply raised Arm’s price target from $260 to $470, retaining its Buy rating; TD Cowen lifted its target from $265 to $475, also keeping a Buy recommendation. Both firms share the view that as agentic AI evolves, CPUs could gain greater importance in data center architectures, rather than GPUs continuing to monopolize the investment narrative. TD Cowen believes that over the long term, CPUs could hold a more strategic position in certain AI workloads. UBS, meanwhile, emphasizes that the real debate in the market centers on the revenue potential of Arm’s self-developed or independent CPU business. The bank projects Arm’s CPU-related revenue could reach around $14 billion by 2030, though the company itself has stated this business will not have a material impact on its finances until fiscal 2028. Arm’s strengths lie in low latency and energy efficiency—metrics that major cloud providers are increasingly prioritizing as they expand AI infrastructure. Even with its stock pulling back from recent highs in the short term, analysts still view Arm as one of the key beneficiaries of the server CPU upgrade cycle.

According to monitoring by Yu Jing, a whale that earned $23.77 million from participating in the BAT ICO sold 15,000 ETH (valued at roughly $24.29 million) two hours ago. The whale has now fully liquidated all 27,586 ETH it received from selling 35 million BAT on-chain over the past day and a half, converting the proceeds into 44.836 million USDS at an average selling price of $1,625.

A senior Iraqi oil ministry official said that if OPEC quotas are not significantly increased, Iraq will be forced to consider all available options. Sources said Iraqi officials had considered withdrawing from OPEC, but the current plan is to remain a member and push for higher quotas. (Jinshi)

Kepler Cheuvreux has raised the target price for ASML’s European shares from €1,460 to €1,830.

U.S. large diversified financial services holding company Stifel has raised its year-end S&P 500 target and rolled out a stock allocation framework for a "high-growth, high-inflation" environment. The firm lifted its year-end S&P 500 target to 7,800 points, noting the U.S. economy is entering a "running hot" state—where economic growth is strengthening alongside mounting inflationary pressure. Stifel’s models show U.S. growth momentum is picking up while inflation momentum is clearly overheating, a trend that will reshape the market’s leading sector structure in the second half of the year. Instead of traditional consumer sectors, Stifel’s top picks are investment-led cyclical industries, including banks, transportation, materials, energy, semiconductors, software and equipment. The firm adds that fixed-asset investment in AI remains on the rise: large tech firms including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google are projected to combine for roughly $725 billion in total capital expenditures in 2026, some $100 billion higher than prior estimates. This means the AI investment chain is likely to continue outperforming the consumption chain squeezed by inflation. Stifel advises investors to reduce exposure to discretionary consumer, consumer staples, communication services and some financial services sectors, as these areas see weaker earnings revisions. Conversely, the firm favors cyclical value stocks and hedges with defensive value sectors such as insurance, autos, energy and banks.