Australian June CPI rose 3.8% year on year, compared with expectations for a 4.0% increase. That softer-than-expected reading matters for a market that has been parsing how far central banks can still tighten, because it immediately shifted attention away from an August rate hike.

South Korea has just experienced something worse than the dot-com bust.

Oil jumped after a report said Iran launched ballistic missiles toward a US base in Jordan.

US weekly private oil inventories rose by 3.3 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 1.4 million barrel decline.

Markets:

• South Korean Kospi down 8.1%
• CHF leads, USD lags
• Nikkei 225 down 4%
• S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
• WTI crude up $3.10 to $82.36
• US 10-year yields up 1.2 bps to 4.62%

It was another volatile session in South Korea. The Kospi opened higher, then quickly reversed and is now down more than 8% after SK Hynix shares dropped following earnings. The company’s commentary was not poor, and it said demand could extend through 2027, but revenue missed expectations. In the current market environment, only a perfect result is good enough. A bounce seemed possible after the finance minister said the government was looking for ways to stabilize equities, but that did not materialize, and the index remained near session lows as this report was written.

The main geopolitical headline was a report that Iran fired five ballistic missiles at a US base in Jordan. The missiles were shot down, and the US described the incident as a surprise attack. There is also discussion that it followed US attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but in any case, it has raised tensions again and pushed oil prices higher, reversing most of Tuesday’s decline. For energy markets, the immediate reaction also came despite the day’s US inventory data showing a build rather than a draw, underscoring how quickly geopolitical headlines can dominate near-term price action.

In foreign exchange, the Australian dollar is under pressure after the softer CPI reading. The data effectively removed the implied odds of an August rate hike, while the CHF led and the USD lagged in broader trading.

The main focus in the day ahead is the Federal Reserve decision, which remains highly uncertain. Shortly after that, Meta and Microsoft are due to report earnings, and if either company steps back from the AI capital spending race, memory stocks could come under renewed pressure. That keeps the next round of central-bank and megacap results squarely in focus for risk sentiment across the region.