On Friday, June 19, Japanese and South Korean equity markets reached record highs following the lifting of a U.S. blockade on Iran and the subsequent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures fell 1% to $79.03 per barrel, marking a 9.5% weekly decline as an interim peace deal took effect. According to Madison Cartwright, a senior geoeconomics analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, while the resumption of oil flows eased inflation fears, future governance of the strait by Iran and Oman could introduce "maritime service" fees. Simultaneously, the U.S. dollar hit a 13-month high after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh signaled a hawkish stance on Wednesday, June 17. Morgan Stanley strategist Molly Nickolin noted that the resulting yield curve flattening reflects increased confidence in the Fed's inflation-fighting credibility.

Kotak Institutional Equities has initiated coverage on Vedanta Aluminium with a target price of 600 rupees, citing its positioning as a pure-play aluminium producer. The brokerage expects the company to benefit from a structural supply shortfall in the industry, elevated aluminium prices and potential cost reductions. Other brokerages including CLSA and Jefferies have also raised ratings and target prices on metal-linked names such as Reliance Industries (RIL) and Shyam Metalics. The note did not reference other traditional assets such as gold or Coinbase.

Shares of Newmont, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources moved lower in step with a decline in gold prices. The drop was attributed solely to the softer bullion price, reflecting the typical sensitivity of gold miners to commodity moves. No additional catalysts were cited, such as production changes, cost updates or M&A developments.

Australian equities fell for a second straight session, with the ASX 200 down 1% on the day as miners led declines. BHP weighed on the sector after its Jansen potash project in Canada flagged a A$2 billion cost blowout, stoking investor concerns about capex risk across resource names. Gold slipped below US$4,190 an ounce, pressured by a firmer US dollar and hawkish remarks from newly appointed Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh. Oil prices held up on geopolitical support, but the energy sector still dropped 1.2%. The Australian dollar last traded at US$0.7005. Mining profits have also continued to deteriorate, falling sharply for a second year, down 19.1% year-on-year in FY2024/25.

Tether disclosed that it still beneficially owns 19.7% of Bitdeer Technologies Group following a partial share sale and an affiliate transfer, according to a filing on the SEC's EDGAR system by Tether Global Investments Fund. The disclosure shows Tether holds about 37.7 million Bitdeer shares. Recent media reports pointed to a sale of 627,021 shares and implied a larger ownership cut, but the SEC filing is the definitive source for both the exact share count and the ownership percentage. Bitdeer has drawn investor attention not only as a Bitcoin miner but also for potential expansion into AI and high-performance computing infrastructure. That mix helps explain the market focus on Tether's position: it offers exposure to Bitcoin's mining hardware-and-power stack and any upside if miners repurpose large-scale data center capacity for AI workloads. While stablecoins remain Tether's core business, it has been deploying reserves more broadly into Bitcoin, mining, energy and related infrastructure. A meaningful equity stake in a miner like Bitdeer fits that strategy, offering direct participation in mining economics such as power contracts, rigs and data centers, rather than simply holding BTC. Investors typically treat miner equities differently from Bitcoin itself. Mining stocks can be driven by BTC price and hashprice, energy costs, leverage, hardware efficiency and broader capital-markets sentiment. A miner pursuing AI adds another layer of valuation complexity. The filing reflects Tether's holdings after the reported transactions. Any third-party estimates of sale proceeds or profits should be viewed as estimates unless explicitly detailed in the filing. The update reads more like portfolio rebalancing than a full exit, with Tether retaining a major strategic stake. The disclosure also underscores a wider industry shift: crypto-native balance sheets are becoming more sophisticated. Stablecoin issuers, exchanges and funds are increasingly investing in infrastructure—miners, energy projects and AI-adjacent data centers—instead of only holding tokens. Equity stakes give cash-rich crypto firms a more direct role in shaping the mining ecosystem. Takeaway: despite trimming its position, Tether remains materially exposed to Bitdeer, reflecting a continued bet on Bitcoin infrastructure and potential optionality tied to AI or high-performance computing use cases. Disclosure: filing available on SEC EDGAR. Article by the News Desk; edited by Samuel Rae.

PetroChina said it expects China's oil consumption to fall in 2026, citing structural shifts including a faster energy transition, rising electric-vehicle adoption and improving industrial energy efficiency. As the world's second-largest oil consumer, any change in China's demand trajectory could reshape expectations for the global crude supply-demand balance and add downside pressure to international oil prices.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI ended June 18 at an all-time high of 9,063.84, marking the index's first-ever close above 9,000. The KOSPI rose 2.25% on the session, with gains heavily concentrated in two names. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix—together representing more than 50% of the index by market capitalization—both hit record highs and drove most of the advance, while the broader market weakened. SK Hynix extended its rally after confirming it had shipped samples of its seventh-generation high-bandwidth memory chip, HBM4E, to major AI customers. The company is widely seen as the leading supplier of the specialized DRAM used in Nvidia GPU packages and large-scale AI workloads. Samsung Electronics also jumped, lifting related stocks whose valuations are closely tied to their stakes in the chipmakers. Samsung Life Insurance and SK Square posted similar gains on that basis. Away from the chip-linked cluster, declines dominated. Of 917 stocks traded on the Korea Exchange, 791 fell. Hyundai Motor slid 2.75%, Kia Corp dropped 4.51%, and LG Energy Solution lost 3.85%. Foreign investors provided a major tailwind, buying a net 1.3 trillion won (about $851 million) worth of shares as flows concentrated on companies with the clearest AI earnings narrative. After the close, Daishin Securities raised its 2026 KOSPI target to 11,500 from 8,800. Analyst Lee Kyungmin said upside momentum should persist as long as forward earnings estimates for chipmakers keep rising, describing the environment as a classic "performance and policy" market. South Korea's financial regulator separately warned investors about single-stock leveraged products tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, signaling that retail leverage has risen sharply alongside the index. The KOSPI cleared 9,000 just 16 trading days after first breaking above 8,000. Investors are now watching whether the next leg higher broadens beyond a handful of heavyweight chip names.

Oil prices inched higher after U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance publicly warned Israel against breaching a temporary ceasefire reached with Iran, with particular focus on its military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The remarks reignited concerns about a fresh escalation in the Middle East, shifting attention to the security of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a corridor that carries about 20% of global oil flows. A U.S.-Iran memorandum has pledged to keep the strait toll-free for 60 days and gradually restore capacity, but the arrangement has yet to be implemented and major issues, including nuclear-related disputes, remain unresolved. With crude prices already near year-to-date lows, renewed geopolitical risk has quickly lifted the near-term supply risk premium.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has postponed a planned trip to Switzerland as he prepares to lead a new round of discussions with Iran on its nuclear program, the White House said, citing "negotiating logistics challenges." Pro-Iran media previously reported that Iran's delegation also delayed its departure, pointing to Israel's military operations in Lebanon. The shift underscores how regional tensions continue to complicate the pace of U.S.-Iran engagement. The report points to no fresh military moves, sanctions steps, or breakthrough developments that would signal a material escalation, and it does not indicate a direct transmission channel to prices for traditional assets such as crude oil, gold, or equity indices.