Strong gains in oil after resumption of fighting, SK Hynix plunges 10.5%, Seoul falls 7%

Following the renewal of mutual attacks in Iran, Brent crude is up 4% to $87.5 per barrel, and WTI is up 4% to $82.5 per barrel. SK Hynix's operating profit jumped 557%, but missed market forecasts, leading competitor Samsung to react with a sharp drop of 6.5%.

Ford raises forecast - and climbs in after-hours trading

Ford climbed 5.4% in after-hours trading following its report and forecast upgrade. The company recorded revenues of $44.89 billion in the second quarter, while analysts expected $45.86 billion.

Despite missing revenue expectations, the company recorded an adjusted quarterly profit of 42 cents per share, compared to analyst expectations of 35 cents per share.

Ford upgraded its annual forecast for adjusted operating profit to $10-11 billion, compared to $8.5-10.5 billion in the previous forecast. The free cash flow forecast was raised to $6-7 billion, compared to $5-6 billion.

The forecast raise included an expected $500 million improvement in the profits of the Ford Blue division to a range of $5-5.5 billion. The profit forecast for the commercial fleet division was improved to $7.0-7.5 billion, compared to $6.5-7.5 billion.

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Strong gains in oil, mixed trend in Asia

Asian stock markets show a mixed trend amid a strong rise in oil prices following the renewal of mutual attacks in Iran, and against the backdrop of waiting for the Fed's decision and upcoming reports from Microsoft and Meta.

The KOSPI index falls 7% after a disappointing report from SK Hynix, Nikkei drops 1%, Shanghai weakens 0.6%, and Hang Seng rises 1.5%.

"Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched a number of ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempt to carry out a surprise attack on American forces stationed in the Middle East," stated a post published by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on the X network.

It was also noted that "American and Saudi forces also attacked several logistics sites and weapons storage facilities of terrorist organizations in eastern Iraq, in response to more than 30 drone attacks carried out in the last three days by terrorist organizations identified with Iran."

SK Hynix falls 10.5% after disappointing reports, and parent company SK Holdings reacts with a fall of 8.7%. The Korean chip giant reported phenomenal growth of 257% in revenues in the second quarter to 79.32 trillion won ($54.44 billion). Despite the jump, revenue did not meet market forecasts of 84 trillion won. For the first time in company history, total revenue for the first half crossed 100 trillion won.

SK Hynix also missed forecasts on quarterly operating profit, which jumped 557% to 60.54 trillion won ($44 billion), while the market expected 64 trillion won. Compared to the previous quarter (Q1 2026), revenue grew by 51% and operating profit grew by 61%.

In Tokyo, gaming giant Konami jumps 10% at the top of the Nikkei index. Sharp gains were also seen in automotive stocks following Ford's positive report: Toyota rises 5.4%, Nissan strengthens 3.9%, and Honda rises 3.3%. Conversely, Japanese chip companies saw sharp declines following yesterday's retreat on Wall Street and Hynix's report: Dainippon Screen plunges 17.5%, and Tokyo Electron loses 7.5%. SoftBank drops 6%, following an 8.1% fall in its subsidiary ARM on Nasdaq.

In Hong Kong, Chinese chip stock SMIC loses 5%. Leading the index is Xiaomi, which jumps 10.7%, while competitor BYD rises 4.7%.