Stocks steady as oil surge offsets ASML boost to tech shares

By Danilo Masoni and Tom Westbrook

MILAN/SINGAPORE, July 15 (Reuters) - World shares steadied on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from chipmaking equipment maker ASML and gains in Asian semiconductor stocks recharged the AI trade, offsetting a jump in oil prices on fresh hostilities involving Iran.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.05% by 0849 GMT after rallying the previous day when softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data cooled concerns about higher interest rates, pushing the dollar and yields lower.      Tech-heavy markets in the United States and Asia fared better. Nasdaq futures rose 0.5%, while South Korea's volatile KOSPI index jumped 6.2% and Japan's Nikkei gained 1.5%.      "The divergence between the U.S. and Europe seems to be driven mainly by technology stocks, which are outperforming again," said Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya. "ASML's results came in sweet."

The world's biggest supplier of chipmaking equipment raised its 2026 forecasts and announced plans to expand capacity, as demand linked to artificial intelligence helped the company beat quarterly earnings expectations.

Its shares rose as much as 8% in Amsterdam, helping other AI-related stocks after recent volatility driven by concerns over valuations and AI spending expectations had outpaced fundamentals.

The MSCI World Price Index rose less than 0.1%.

On Tuesday, the U.S. headline consumer price index fell 0.4% in June, its first decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, while core inflation for the month was flat.

Bond yields and the dollar fell after the data, leaving the euro above $1.14 on Wednesday. Two-year Treasury yields edged up 1 basis point to 4.2% on Wednesday but remained roughly 9 basis points below Tuesday's 17-month high.

"For market bulls this is even better than Goldilocks could have imagined," J.P. Morgan analysts said in a client note.

"This print should remove any fears over a July rate hike and may assuage fears on September, too. This sets up the market to move higher and to broaden as it does so."

Further gains were tempered after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh told Congress that one benign inflation reading was not enough to declare victory over inflation. 

Investors will closely watch his testimony later on Wednesday, along with U.S. producer price data and the Fed's Beige Book, for further clues on the policy outlook.

In Europe, Germany's 2-year bond yield rose 1 basis point to 2.756%, though it remained below Tuesday's 2-year high.

EARNINGS ON THE RADAR

Attention will also turn to earnings from Morgan Stanley, BlackRock and Johnson & Johnson before the morning bell, following a strong start to the reporting season from Wall Street banks that buoyed risk sentiment.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Bank of America all gained after better-than-expected results reinforced hopes that corporate earnings can continue to justify elevated equity valuations despite lingering economic uncertainty.

The Bank of Canada's policy decision is also due later on Wednesday. The Canadian dollar was broadly steady at $1.4051.   

Oil extended gains on Wednesday as President Donald Trump reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and Tehran launched strikes on U.S. infrastructure in the region. 

Brent futures climbed 0.7% to $85.31 a barrel.   

In China, annual economic growth slowed sharply to 4.3% in the second quarter, missing analysts' expectations as weak domestic demand outweighed stronger production and exports.

A rebound in Chinese retail sales in June, relatively strong nominal GDP and hopes that authorities will respond were the positives for investors.

"I don't think they will be worried enough to announce any big stimulus, but it is going to be targeted, since they are aware that growth is only for the tech areas whereas the broader economy is continuing to underperform," said UOB economist Woei Chen Ho.

China's yuan traded at 6.7715, just below a one-month high.  

Spot gold was down 0.7% at $4,023.7 per ounce, paring part of Tuesday's more than 2% surge as rising oil prices fuelled inflation concerns and uncertainty over the U.S. rate outlook.

(Reporting by Danilo Masoni in Milan and Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Sharon Singleton)