Market Brief — June 24, 2026

US equities ended mixed as DJIA rose 0.4% while SPX slipped 0.1% and ^IXIC fell 0.4%, with gains in industrials and consumer cyclicals offset by weaker technology and energy ETFs. In Europe, FRA40 added 0.5% and UKX gained 0.3% while DAX lost 0.6% as a stronger US Dollar Index (DXY) and falling oil prices pressured exporters and resources. Asian trading was muted, with 000001.SS unchanged (0.0%) as resumed tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz helped push Brent crude to settle at $73.74 and WTI to $70.34 after intraday drops of about 4%.

Sector performance was mixed, with XLI up 1.2%, XLY up 1.2% and XLU up 1.0% leading gains, while XLE fell 1.6%, VGT lost 0.8% and VNQ declined 0.9%. Among single-name movers, KBH jumped 16.65%, DFTX climbed 16.45%, FOUR gained 14.35%, MANE rose 13.21% and RUN advanced 12.57% on the upside, whereas RGC dropped 22.74%, CBRS fell 19.54%, NVTS slid 14.39%, CHRN lost 14.29% and NG retreated 14.13%.

The Federal Reserve left its target range at 3.50%-3.75% but signalled a more hawkish stance, while Bank of America revised its 2026 outlook to three 25 bp hikes in September, October and December, and Cleveland Fed nowcasts put June CPI at 3.96% year-over-year, core CPI at 2.85%, June PCE at 3.79% and core PCE at 3.30%. In Europe, the ECB's 25 bp move on 11 June lifted its deposit rate to 2.25%, the BoE highlighted May CPI at 2.8% and Middle East risks, and Germany's June Ifo Business Climate index came in at 85.6 versus 85.0 prior, 85.6 consensus and 85.5 forecast, indicating only slight improvement in business confidence. Dollar strength and softer activity data framed risk appetite as the US Dollar Index (DXY) climbed toward 101.40 while EUR/USD fell about 0.4% to around 1.1380, Brent crude traded near $73.76 and WTI around $70.58, gold fell over 2% with spot near $4,099.84 and COMEX around $4,065.70, and US May new home sales dropped 7.3% month-on-month to a 580,000 annual rate, 6.8% below a year earlier, with a 10.3-month supply, a $540,600 average price, a $424,900 median price and 30-year mortgage rates around 6.47%.

Oil markets weakened as resumed tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz eased supply fears, with ship-tracking showing two crude tankers carrying just under 2 million barrels sailing through, officials reporting roughly 20 million barrels exiting the strait in 24 hours and about 35 million barrels cleared since the Iran deal, Brent crude settling at $73.74 and WTI at $70.34 after intraday falls of about 4%, and tanker charter rates surging from roughly $106,000 to more than $190,000 per day while VLCC daily earnings approached $470,000. Hertz (HTZ) cut its Q2 2026 Adjusted Corporate EBITDA outlook to $50-$80 million, guided to net depreciation of about $300 per unit per month due to losses on May vehicle sales, and announced plans to raise roughly $300 million in exchangeable/PIK notes plus a $100 million common stock offering, and its shares tumbled on the weaker guidance and financing plan. Risk sentiment in defence and digital-asset names deteriorated as Germany's defence ministry terminated the F126 frigate programme and warned costs for six ships could have risen above €18 billion from about €10 billion while choosing instead to procure eight Meko A-200 frigates from Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, with reports citing Rheinmetall share declines of roughly 13%-19% and more than €11 billion in lost market value, and Bitcoin (BTC) broke below $60,000 toward $59,000 after spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a sixth consecutive weekly net outflow of $5.94 billion, around 7,600 BTC moved into Binance and roughly $800 million of long positions were liquidated, while CryptoQuant urged Strategy (MSTR) to pause purchases as it sits on a $10.6 billion unrealized loss, annual dividend obligations near $1.2 billion, cash reserves down about 38% year-to-date to $1.1 billion and STRC preferred shares around the mid-$80s, about 17.5% below $100 par. Lilly completed its acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals to expand treatments for sleep-wake disorders, while Hudbay closed its purchase of Arizona Sonoran to create what it described as the third largest copper district in North America. Announced deals included Westfield Specialty acquiring renewal rights for DOXA's Arris Property Underwriters program, EXL agreeing to acquire iMerit to deepen its enterprise AI and foundation model capabilities, and MoEngage planning to acquire Aampe to bring 1:1 agentic decisioning to B2C marketing teams. Other announcements saw True Green Capital Management buying 20.3 megawatts of operating solar assets, YA Group agreeing to acquire Carr Engineering, The Zero Proof set to acquire The New Bar in adult non-alcoholic beverages, ROC planning to acquire Zuccaro Technical Consulting to expand evidence and vision AI capabilities, and Riviera Partners acquiring Lateral Labs to build out AI and machine learning talent search capacity.