Daily Summary: Time for a Correction (23.05.2026)

We conclude Tuesday with declines across nearly all major stock indices. This is primarily the fallout from the sell-off of semiconductor sector companies, initiated by SK Hynix during the early hours of Asian trading.

Stock Market

The Korean technological giant, shortly after becoming the country's most highly capitalised company, experienced a sharp correction exceeding 12%, which led to a temporary suspension of trading on the KOSPI. American giants followed suit, including Sandisk (-13%), Micron (-11.2%), ON Semiconductor (-10%), and Marvell (-9%).

Figure 1: Winners and Losers on the Nasdaq 100 (23.06.2026)

Source: Bloomberg, 23.06.2026

Consolidation following such a rapid upward movement earlier in the year does not seem unwarranted. The question remains regarding the further direction of movement, as increasing questions arise concerning companies' generated profits and profitability.

Figure 2: Dashboard for the Nasdaq 100 (23.06.2026)

Source: XTB Research, 23.06.2026

Figure 3: Sector Quotations for the Nasdaq 100 (23.06.2026)

Source: XTB Research, 23.06.2026

European stock markets are also in the red today, where companies from the technology sector were likewise the main losers.

• The German DAX weakened by 1% today,
• the French CAC40 by 0.7%,
• and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 by 1.3%.

The British FTSE 100 is down by only 0.1%, awaiting developments on the political front following the resignation of Keir Starmer on Monday.

Politics

Investors have little doubt that Andy Burnham, the former Mayor of Manchester, will become the country's new Prime Minister. The party appears to understand that it requires swift consolidation, and Burnham's highly convincing victory in Makerfield has demonstrated his ability to win back voters from both Reform UK and the Greens. Should no opposing candidate with sufficient internal party support come forward by 16 July, Burnham will be announced as the new Prime Minister as early as 18 July.

His interventionist approach to the economy may concern the markets, including suggestions that the UK should not be "at the mercy of bond markets." However, he has recently distanced himself from these comments. He has also appointed Andy Haldane, the former Chief Economist of the BoE, and Richard Hughes, the former Chair of the OBR, as key advisors. We view this as an attempt to reassure market concerns in the face of a still very tense situation in the bond market.

Figure 4: BoE Interest Rates and UK Bond Yields (1994 - 2026)

Source: XTB Research, 23.06.2026

Commodities

The lack of negative headlines from the Middle East is leading to further decreases in energy commodity prices.

Crude Oil:

• A barrel of Brent is priced at $77 today (a decrease of 1.2%).
• A barrel of WTI is priced at $73 (a decrease of 1.1%).

Figure 5: OIL [D1] (25.10.2024 - 23.06.2026)

Source: xStation, 23.06.2026

Natural Gas:

• NATGAS is down by 3.2% to $3.15.
• TTF remains largely unchanged, around $42.2.

Precious Metals:

• A troy ounce of gold is currently priced at approximately $4132 (-1.4%), and silver at $62 (-4.7%)

Macroeconomic Data

Market attention today was focused on the release of the June PMI data. What did we learn?

• The service sector in European countries remains weak, while manufacturing is faring slightly better (though even here, we can speak of modest growth at best).
• Data from the UK was particularly disappointing—both measures were significantly below consensus.

Currencies

In the foreign exchange market, the dollar's position remains unshaken, as it continues the appreciation initiated by the latest hawkish FOMC meeting. The EURUSD pair broke the 1.14 level today. All other currencies in the G10 group are weakening against the US dollar. This is particularly true for those with high beta, namely SEK, NOK, AUD, and NZD.

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Michał Jóźwiak, Financial Markets Analyst at XTB