Sam Konrad’s stocks are having a fantastic year, thanks to AI-fueled rallies in Taiwan and South Korea, but his fund is so top heavy with winners, he now needs to ditch his best performers.
South Korea’s stock benchmark plunged over 8% on Monday, tripping circuit breakers, after robust U.S. jobs data lifted bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike and unleashed a selloff in the tech‑heavy market that had powered the broader AI rally.
The biggest oil supply shock in decades has entered its fourth month – with no resolution in sight as neither the U.S. nor Iran appears willing to budge – yet the market has settled into an eerie calm. This disconnect reflects an uncomfortable reality: the biggest drivers of today’s energy market are a host of unknowns.
The dollar was perched near a two-month high on Monday after a blowout U.S. jobs report sent traders ramping up bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike this year, while the yen teetered further into the intervention zone.
Gold prices extended losses on Monday on rising fears of a U.S. rate hike after a strong jobs report, while renewed hostilities in the Middle East pushed oil prices higher and fanned inflation concerns.
Asian stocks plunged on Monday as investors rushed out of the hottest AI-linked shares on fears the bull run has gone too far, too fast and as fresh hostilities in Iran pushed up oil prices.
U.S. crude futures were up $2.57 at $93.11 per barrel.
Israel said it struck military targets in western and central Iran on Monday, even after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from further attacks.
Britain’s jobs market cooled rapidly in May after employers put the brakes on permanent hiring after the Iran war heightened cost pressures and uncertainty about the economic outlook, an industry survey showed on Monday.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared victory on Monday in a parliamentary election after results from just over one-fifth of polling sites showed his party with around 54% of the vote.