SK Hynix Inc. 12-layer HBM3E memory chips, front, and LPDDR5X CAMM2 memory module are shown at the company’s office in Seongnam, South Korea, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
Seong Joon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd writing to you from London. Welcome to today’s edition of the Daily Open newspaper.
The $1 trillion club just got bigger, as the AI-fueled rally propels more companies into the big market space.
The benchmarking race continues at full speed, and is keeping the world’s leading technical indicators at record levels.
One of the first days there developments in Iran have not dominated international markets, but they are not far from investors’ thoughts as the fragile deal continues to be tested.
What you need to know today
You share SK Hynix jumped on Wednesday, taking the South Korean chipmaker’s market capitalization above $1 trillion for the first time. The move follows a rally in the stock, which is up nearly 250% since the start of the year. The gains were driven by increased demand for AI chips, which drove South Korea’s KOPSI to record highs.
And it’s not the only one that joined the $1 trillion club in the last 24 hours. US technology group Micron is also riding the AI wave. On Tuesday, UBS tripled its price on the stock, sending shares 19% higher on the day. You can find Jim Cramer’s take on the top nine US-based trillion-dollar companies here.
Staying with technology, industrial profits in China rose 24.7% in April, marking the fastest growth since November 2023. Computer and electronic equipment manufacturing saw profits nearly double from last year.
European companies are committed to supplying goods to China, according to a survey released by the European Union Chamber of Commerce, which said that one-third of respondents are moving to the country.
Meanwhile, top ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau told CNBC that the central bank will “do what it takes” to keep inflation on target.
“If I speak on behalf of the ECB, this means that it does what is necessary to return inflation to 2% in the medium term. The markets can be convinced of that,” he told CNBC.
In corporate news, shares of Italian luxury car giant Ferrari closed in the red after investors took a dim view of the group’s much-anticipated launch of electric cars. The Luce has met with widespread dismay over its looks and skepticism over its $640,000 price tag.
BP also ended in the red on Tuesday after the board removed chairman Albert Manifold over “serious” ethical concerns. He told the Financial Times that he “will not allow false narratives to go unchallenged.”
Across the broader equity markets, Japan and South Korea hit new records as markets weighed the progress of US-Iran ceasefire talks against new tensions in the region. US stock futures were little changed after the S&P 500 closed at another record on Tuesday. In Europe, stocks are headed for a mixed opening.
— Leonie Kidd
