June 3 local vote·equities at records Computex chip rally·Iran crisis

Main voting for the 9th nationwide local elections runs June 3 from 6am to 6pm after a record 23.51% early turnout. Jeonnam at 38.95% and Jeonbuk at 35.05% led early-voting rates.

The Kospi closed at a fresh record 8,801.49 on June 2. Samsung Electronics' market cap topped 2,000 trillion won as retail and institutional buying lifted the index despite foreign net selling.

The Knicks' first Finals in 27 years meet Wembanyama's Spurs in Game 1 on June 3 (KST morning) at Frost Bank Center, live on ABC. The Knicks ride an 11-game win streak.

Iran abruptly suspended talks with the US citing Israel's Lebanon offensive, but Trump claimed a deal is possible within a week. Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is the central sticking point.

BTS runs its Festa June 1-13 under a 13(B)TS theme. A group photo drops June 4, capped by sold-out Busan ARIRANG world-tour shows on June 12-13.

With the Hormuz blockade dragging on, AAA's national average gas price hit $4.29/gallon on June 2, up about 50% from $2.86 before the war. A move above $5 in June was also warned of.

Per Korea Real Estate Board data, Seoul apartment jeonse rose 0.28% in the second week of May, the biggest weekly gain since November 2015. Listings fell 32.8% from a year earlier.

Bank of Korea data put Q1 2026 household credit at 1,993.1 trillion won, a record. It sits just 7 trillion won from 2,000 trillion, an eighth straight quarterly increase.

Per BLS April CPI, US food-at-home prices rose 2.9% year over year. Tariff and supply pressures could push the annual rate to 4.5%, with tomatoes up 39.7% from a year ago.

Per Apartment List's May report, the US median rent rose to $1,379, a fourth straight monthly gain. Entry into the summer moving season is adding further upward pressure.

Bank Indonesia raised its policy rate by a surprise 50bp to 5.25% on May 20. Double the expected 25bp, it was a preemptive defense after the rupiah plunged to a record low amid Mideast turmoil.

The SARB raised its repo rate 25bp to 7.0% on May 28, its first hike since 2023, on a 4-of-6 vote. It lifted its 2026 inflation forecast to 4.4% on oil and drought risks.

The IMF board approved Argentina's third quarterly review on June 2, releasing $1 billion. Cumulative receipts under the $20B EFF rose to $15.8B, with a waiver for missed reserve targets.

The lira fell to a record 45.92 per dollar on June 2. The central bank held its 37% policy rate while April inflation hit a six-month high of 32.4%, sustaining downward pressure.

The RBI's policy panel meets June 3-5, with the decision due on the 5th. Despite the rupee down 5.66% year to date, most expect a third straight 5.25% hold, defending FX via intervention.

Korea's May CPI rose 3.1% year over year, the biggest gain since March 2024, Statistics Korea said June 2. A prolonged Mideast war drove petroleum products up 24.2%, lifting the overall index.

US April PCE inflation hit 3.8% year over year, a 23-month high. Core PCE rose 3.3%, underpinning the Fed's hold stance and squeezing consumer spending.

The US 30-year Treasury yield spiked to 5.183% on May 19, the highest since 2007. It held near 4.97-4.98% in early June, pressuring global bond markets.

New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh chairs his first FOMC on June 16-17. Markets price a 97% chance of holding rates at 3.50-3.75%, watching his statement language and any dissents.

Odds the Bank of Japan hikes at its June 15-16 meeting reach 77%. It held in April on a 6-3 split, but Mideast-driven inflation pressure is strengthening the case for early normalization.

The S&P 500 closed at 7,599.96 on June 1, touching 7,600 for the first time, and added 0.13% on June 2 for back-to-back records. Nvidia's new chip launch drove the tech rally.

The Kospi touched 8,900 intraday June 2 before closing at a record 8,801.49. Samsung's market cap topped 2,000 trillion won as Samsung and SK Hynix chip leaders led the advance.

The Hang Seng rose 640 points, or 2.52%, to 26,038 on June 2, a third straight gain. Tencent surged 10% on reports of a WeChat AI agent, sparking buying across China big tech.

The won/dollar rate rose 0.33% to 1,518.82 on June 2, nearing the 17-year high of 1,520 set May 22. Higher oil on the Iran talks halt added to won weakness.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 624 points, or 0.94%, to 66,954 on June 2. The yen stayed weak at 159.69/dollar as US record highs and chip demand hopes supported the index.

Arm jumped 18% in a day after Nvidia's RTX Spark superchip was unveiled on Arm architecture. Mizuho and Wells Fargo both raised their price targets.

HPE posted Q2 EPS of 79 cents versus the 53 cents expected, its biggest earnings beat since 2018, and jumped 30%. It also unveiled new server racks with Nvidia's Vera CPU.

ServiceNow emerged as a top beneficiary after Jensen Huang said the agentic-AI era will require more software. The stock rose 8.6% on June 1.

IBM Cloud and Power Systems were named partners on Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform. Barclays raised its target 50%, saying IBM is running Nvidia's playbook in quantum.

SK Hynix, with over 50% HBM share, hit a record 2.407 million won on June 2. It is up about 250% year to date, topping a $1 trillion market cap.

At Computex, Nvidia unveiled the N1X chip with a 20-core Grace CPU, 6,144-CUDA Blackwell GPU and 128GB unified memory. It ships in fall 2026, challenging Apple's M5.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan previewed the up-to-52-core Nova Lake desktop CPU and a handheld-focused Arc G3 chip in his June 2 keynote, with a second-half launch flagged.

TSMC's N2 GAA output is seen topping 100,000 wafers a month by late 2026. Apple has secured over half of total volume, intensifying supply constraints for rivals.

Anthropic's Opus 4.8, launched May 28, took the top spot on the Artificial Analysis index at 61.4, beating GPT-5.5. Dynamic workflows and 4x-improved honesty drew attention.

WWDC26, running June 8-12, is expected to bring iOS 27, a much-stronger Siri and Google Gemini integration. Whether Apple Intelligence finally ships in earnest is in focus.

Anthropic filed a confidential registration with the SEC on June 1. Its late-May $65B Series H values it at $965B, with annualized revenue surging to a $47B run-rate.

SpaceX filed its S-1 on May 20 and confirmed a June 12 Nasdaq debut under ticker SPCX. The $75B offering would be the largest IPO ever, driven by Starlink revenue.

Devin maker Cognition raised over $1B on May 27, led by Lux and General Catalyst, at a $26B valuation. Annualized revenue jumped 13x in a year to $492M.

Bret Taylor's Sierra closed a $950M Series E on May 4, led by Tiger Global and Google GV, lifting its value to $15.8B. It hit $150M annualized revenue in just eight quarters.

Capital One completed its purchase of corporate finance platform Brex on April 7. The cash-and-stock deal, the largest bank-fintech M&A ever, keeps Brex's CEO in place.

BTC fell to $69,256 on June 2, its lowest since April 7. Iran's suspension of nuclear talks and Hormuz threats fueled risk-off sentiment.

Outflows that began May 15 stretched to 11 sessions, totaling $3.45B. IBIT alone shed about $970M, the longest streak since its January 2024 launch.

Total stablecoin market cap hit a record $323.3B in May. USDT held the top spot at 58.7% share, near $190B.

When MiCA's transition expires July 1, unlicensed crypto service providers must immediately halt operations across the EU's 27 states. About 18% of European platforms chose to exit.

Tokenized real-world assets on public blockchains topped $31.5B in early June. US Treasury tokens are the largest category at $12.8B, led by BlackRock's BUIDL fund.

In the RASolute 302 Phase 3, daraxonrasib delivered median overall survival of 13.2 months, nearly double chemotherapy's 6.7 months. It headlined the ASCO 2026 plenary with an NEJM publication.

Arvinas and Pfizer's vepdegestrant won FDA approval May 1 for ESR1-mutated ER-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, the first-ever PROTAC-class drug.

The WHO declared the DRC-Uganda Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak a public health emergency on May 17. As of June 2 there are 336 confirmed cases and 49 deaths, with no approved vaccine.

Novo Nordisk's oral semaglutide launched in the US after FDA approval. The OASIS 4 trial showed 16.6% weight loss, and a $149 monthly price sharply widens access.

KEYNOTE-522 final data at ASCO 2026 showed 85.1% 7-year overall survival in the pembrolizumab arm versus 77.2% for placebo, reaffirming the standard of care for early TNBC.

Kane Parsons' A24 horror Backrooms opened to $81M domestic and $118M worldwide, simultaneously setting A24's biggest opening and a record for an original horror film.

At the 79th Cannes Film Festival, Romanian master Cristian Mungiu's Fjord won the Palme d'Or. Director Park Chan-wook led the jury as its first Korean president.

Drake's new single debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, his 14th chart-topper, passing Michael Jackson for the most by a male solo act. A record 42 simultaneous entries also fell.

The 13th-anniversary BTS Festa runs June 4-13, with sold-out June 12-13 shows at Busan Asiad Stadium. Suga-produced single Come Over also drops June 12.

BLACKPINK's February mini-album DEADLINE sold 1.46M copies in a day, a new Hanteo girl-group first-day record. Lead single Jump topped the Billboard Global 200.

A GucciCore collection took over 50 Times Square billboards on May 16. Tom Brady and Cindy Crawford walked the runway, and BoF called it the most convincing show yet.

With Gucci sales down for an 11th straight quarter, Kering decided to shut about 100 more stores in 2026. Q1 Gucci revenue fell 8% year over year to 1.34 billion euros.

Blazy's debut Cruise collection opened April 28 at the Biarritz casino on a salon-under-the-sea theme, reinterpreting the 1926 little black dress.

On May 13 at LACMA's Geffen Galleries, Anderson showed a 75-look collection blending Hitchcock-film aesthetics and California poppies, his first Dior Cruise show.

The Frick Collection hosted its first-ever fashion show May 20. Nicolas Ghesquiere unveiled a pop-art collection with Keith Haring-painted patchwork leather jackets.

Main voting for the 9th nationwide local elections is held June 3. Amid a record 23.51% early turnout, the Seoul mayor race had DP's Chong Won-o and PPP's Oh Se-hoon in a dead heat.

A constitutional referendum pushed by the DP and five other parties collapsed as the PPP boycotted the plenary. The June 3 vote now reads as a mid-term verdict on the one-year-old Lee government.

Trump said he expects a deal with Iran within a week. A draft MOU includes a 60-day truce extension, unimpeded Hormuz transit and Iranian mine-clearing within 30 days, but nuclear issues remain unresolved.

Israeli forces seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon on May 31. A day later a Hezbollah drone attack killed one Israeli soldier and wounded three, escalating the fighting.

In Colombia's May 31 first round, right-wing Espriella took 43.7% and leftist Cepeda 40.9%, advancing to a June 21 runoff that will decide the Petro government's path and US ties.

Since the US-Iran war, Hormuz traffic has collapsed to about 5% of normal. Warnings flag a non-linear price spike if OECD crude inventories hit critical lows by late June.

As of June 2, Brent was $94.58 and WTI $91.97, down 0.2-0.4% on the day. A Hormuz risk premium keeps prices over 60% above the start of the year.

After a May 3 deal to add 188,000 bpd, with Saudi Arabia and Russia each taking 62,000, OPEC+ reviews conditions June 7. The Hormuz blockade limits the real effect of any increase.

AAA's national average gas price was $4.336/gallon on June 2. Crude gains from the Hormuz crisis passed through to consumers, straining household budgets in the spring driving season.

The IEA raised its data-center power estimate to 1,100TWh, on par with Japan's total consumption. Power for AI-specific data centers is seen up 50% versus 2025.

Tech-industry layoffs surpassed 142,000 in the first half of 2026. Cuts at profitable firms to fund AI-infrastructure investment were cited as the main driver.

Meta notified about 8,000 staff, roughly 10% of headcount, on May 20. Zuckerberg said success is not a given in the AI era and will reshape around AI-focused teams.

TurboTax and QuickBooks parent Intuit cut 3,000 jobs, 17% of its workforce, on May 20. It said it will concentrate resources on AI partnerships with Anthropic and OpenAI.

Harvard's graduate-student union ended a 40-day strike on June 1 without a contract. Members voted 81% to return, with talks resuming June 9.

Samsung Electronics' 62,616 chip-division union members ratified a wage deal 73.7% in favor on May 27. The core term pays 10.5% of chip-division operating profit as a special bonus.

Waymo deployed its Zeekr-based 6th-gen Ojai robotaxi in LA, SF and Phoenix on May 28, expanding coverage to 1,400 square miles across 11 cities.

BYD's May overseas sales surged 80.4% year over year, topping 160,000 for the first time. January-May overseas sales reached 616,263 units.

Pony AI's Q1 revenue rose 145% to $34.3M, with robotaxi revenue surging 395% to $8.6M. It raised its year-end fleet target to 3,500 vehicles.

Joby Aviation cleared stage 4 of 5 FAA type certification and flew JFK to Manhattan in 7 minutes in late April, targeting commercial service by end-2026.

Tesla added unsupervised robotaxis in Houston and Dallas in April, but its total fleet stayed at 39 vehicles. Plans for five more cities slipped to the second half.

Claims of tampered seals and blocked CCTV resurfaced on YouTube and social media after early voting. The NEC rebutted that triple security and observer signatures block any such tampering.

Moss Tan, who has pushed fraud conspiracies, entered Korea on May 28 and visited early-voting sites, reigniting the claims. Police sought a travel ban on charges of spreading false information.

A red-dot map on X and TikTok was mistaken for a global case tally. A Euronews fact-check found it merely aggregates news articles, not confirmed cases.

AI fakes showing Iranian missiles hitting Tel Aviv or a burning US carrier drew tens of millions of views. CNN confirmed via expert analysis they were AI-generated falsehoods.

Allegations spread of a deepfake video smearing candidate Kim Kyoung-soo ahead of the June 3 election. The Gyeongnam election commission referred nine people for election-law violations.