EUR/CHF tops 0.9278 as oil surge points to hawkish ECB hold

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[1] EUR/CHF Rally Points to Hawkish ECB Hold as Oil Reignites Inflation Risks (https://www.actionforex.com/action-insight/ma ...)[2] Gold (XAUUSD) Price Forecast: Will Warsh and NFP Trigger Gold’s Next Major Move? (https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/go ...)[3] ECB to pause rate hikes but signal that more may be needed (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/ecb-to- ...)[4] The ECB is expected to hold rates. But analysts say hawkish hints could be coming — and a hike isn’t impossible (https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/the-e ...)[5] July ECB Cheat Sheet: No Lull In Sight (https://seekingalpha.com/article/4924029-july ...)

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Jul 23 2026, 06:31

TECfusions to go public in $4 billion SPAC merger with Apex Treasury

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Jul 23 2026, 06:23

Australian jobs surge 76,300 in June, cementing bets on RBA rate rise

Australian employment surged by 76,300 in June, more than five times the 15,300 consensus estimate, as the participation rate hit a one-year high and the jobless rate held steady at 4.4 percent, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. "The RBA's key concern will be that this tightness feeds into wage growth and, more broadly, into inflation in an economy where price pressures are already uncomfortably high — especially with crude oil up 26 percent this month," said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG. Net employment rose by the most since April last year, lifting the annual pace of job gains to 1.7 percent from 1 percent. The participation rate climbed to 67 percent from 66.7 percent, driven by older Australians, with the 55-64 age group posting the largest annual increase — up 0.8 percentage points to 70.6 percent. Hours worked edged up 0.2 percent after sliding in May, though underemployment rose to 6.5 percent, the highest since August 2024, signaling slack beneath the headline strength. The Reserve Bank of Australia has raised interest rates three times this year to 4.35 percent, fully reversing the easing delivered in 2025, as it fights to return inflation to its 2-3 percent target. Consumer inflation accelerated to an annual rate of 4 percent in May, with underlying inflation at 3.6 percent. The RBA's May outlook projected underlying inflation would remain above 3 percent until mid-2027, as fuel-related cost increases pass through to consumer prices. Brent crude futures have surged above $95 a barrel, up 26 percent this month alone, as the Middle East conflict threatens supply through the Strait of Hormuz. **Rate Path Tightens** Markets now price a 33 percent probability of a rate rise at the RBA's August 11 meeting, up from near zero before the data, with a move by year-end fully priced at 97 percent, compared with 78 percent previously. The Australian dollar rose 0.3 percent to $0.7020, while three-year government bond futures fell 5 ticks to 95.4, the lowest since early June. "Australia's labour market is determined not to give the RBA the breathing room it needs," said Cameron McCormack, a senior portfolio manager at VanEck. "With the economy close to full employment, the RBA has greater freedom to focus squarely on inflation without a cooling in the labour market." The June quarter inflation figures, due next Wednesday, will provide the RBA board with its final major data point before the August decision. The combination of a resilient labor market and rising energy costs leaves the central bank with little room to hold steady if inflation prints hot. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Jul 23 2026, 06:19

Besi orders surge 128.8% as AI chip-packaging demand accelerates

**Besi's quarterly orders more than doubled as AI demand for advanced chip-packaging technology accelerates across the semiconductor supply chain.** BE Semiconductor Industries posted a 128.8% surge in second-quarter orders to 292.9 million euros, driven by demand for AI, hybrid bonding and data centre applications that shows no sign of slowing. "We see order momentum continuing in the third quarter due to ongoing demand strength for current and future AI applications as well as improvement in Besi's traditional mainstream end-user markets," Chief Executive Richard W. Blickman said in a statement. Orders jumped from 128 million euros a year earlier. Besi expects third-quarter revenue to increase 10% to 15% from the 249.9 million euros reported in the April-to-June period, signaling sustained demand for its hybrid bonding solutions — a chip-packaging technology that directly bonds two chips together, enabling faster data transfer and better power efficiency than traditional methods. The results add to mounting evidence that AI infrastructure spending is accelerating across the semiconductor equipment chain. ASML Holding raised its full-year sales outlook after reporting $10.8 billion in quarterly revenue, up 25% from a year earlier, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. boosted its 2026 revenue growth forecast to roughly 40% and raised its capital expenditure budget to as much as $64 billion. Besi's first-mover advantage in hybrid bonding positions it to capture a growing share of the advanced packaging market as chipmakers shift toward heterogeneous architectures. Gate-all-around transistor designs require roughly 30% more process steps than previous generations, driving demand for the precision assembly tools where Besi competes. The company's technology is used to stack high-bandwidth memory directly onto logic chips — a critical requirement for AI accelerators from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. The Dutch company operates at the intersection of two powerful trends: the shift from monolithic chip designs to chiplets, and the rising complexity of AI workloads that demand more memory bandwidth per processor. Ichor Holdings, a supplier of fluid delivery subsystems to equipment makers including Lam Research and Applied Materials, has also flagged improving demand as wafer fabrication equipment spending picks up. Besi's hybrid bonding tools are manufactured at its facilities in the Netherlands and Malaysia, with assembly and test operations distributed across Asia. ## AI Demand Reshapes the Packaging Landscape The semiconductor packaging market is projected to grow faster than the broader chip industry as advanced techniques like hybrid bonding become standard for AI processors. Besi's order book, which more than doubled year over year, suggests the company is capturing disproportionate share of this expansion. At current exchange rates, the 292.9 million euros in quarterly orders translates to roughly $334.8 million, giving Besi a revenue run rate that could approach $1.4 billion annually if order momentum persists. The company's gross margins benefit from increasing proprietary content in the systems it builds — a strategy that mirrors Ichor's push to raise its branded component share to 35% by the end of 2026 from 15% in 2024. Besi's results reinforce the thesis that AI infrastructure spending is broadening beyond GPU procurement into the equipment and materials needed to manufacture and package advanced chips. ASML trades at roughly 35 times forward earnings, reflecting the market's willingness to pay a premium for semiconductor equipment companies with AI exposure. Besi, with its dominant position in a niche but fast-growing segment of the packaging market, offers a more targeted bet on the same trend — provided it can scale production to meet the demand its order book now signals. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.