Iron Ore Falls as China Steel Body Says Output Curbs Underway
Futures fell as much as 1.5%, paring gains from Wednesday when the People's Bank of China announced easing measures, including cutting the seven-day reverse repurchase rate. The turnaround came as the impact of tariffs and output cuts outweighed the government support measures.
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CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Where China's investors are being urged to hide out locally in the second half
While the China technology story hasn't changed enough to warrant major changes to portfolios, local stock investors are now being encouraged to take a more conservative turn as they gear up for the second half. "We caution against a potential volatility surge in the next month or two," a team led by Morgan Stanley's chief China equity strategist Laura Wang said in a report Thursday. The analysts noted that sentiment toward mainland Chinese stocks, known as "A Shares," dropped in the past week as Chinese policymakers have so far failed to bolster growth, nor are they expected to in a Politburo meeting later this month. In addition, the deadline for U.S. trade deals with most countries looms on July 9, with the 90-day tariff truce with China set to expire in mid-August. Mainland China stocks rose slightly last week, while more globally connected and tech-dominated Hong Kong stocks fell. Dividend plays While continuing to endorse some AI names, Morgan Stanley's Wang on Thursday also recommended "maintaining some exposure to dividend yield plays." One of Morgan Stanley's favored picks for the near term is Hong Kong-listed Chinese insurer PICC P & C , which analyst Rick Zhao highlighted in June as offering a dividend yield of 4.5% and the potential to benefit from growth in auto insurance. The Wall Street investment bank swapped PICC for Pop Mart , the maker of Labubu toys, on its China-Hong Kong Focus List in mid-June. Other local Chinese analysts are also highlighting high dividend plays in their outlooks for the second half of the year. "Amid uncertainties, our focus is diving into fund flow structure and market style," UBS Securities China equity strategist Lei Meng said in a report last Monday. He noted that medium- and longer-term investors favor high-dividend stocks and banks, which are also supported by increased state-backed stock buying. For the second half of the year, Meng expects inflows into tech-related sectors to slow after strong allocations in the first six months. Foreign and domestic investor sentiment toward tech stocks improved earlier this year on the back of renewed optimism toward Chinese artificial intelligence , while the outlook for China's broader economic growth was more muted. Varied performance The contrast played out in the performance of individual stocks and leading market indexes. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, dominated by tech stocks like Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings , gained about 20% in the first half of the year, while mainland China's Shanghai Composite — containing more state-owned financial and industrial companies — rose by less than 3%. Also driving interest in high-yielding Chinese stocks is mainland China investors looking for higher returns than generally available domestically, a team led by J.P. Morgan's Wendy Liu said in a late June report. Their preferred high-yielding stocks include PetroChina , with a 7.3% dividend yield, and CR Power, with a 6.1% yield. Both are listed in Hong Kong. Increased interest from mainland Chinese investors comes at the same time as they face more restrictions in reaching the U.S. and other markets. In contrast, global institutional investors still largely see U.S. stocks as the lowest risk, and can look to Europe, China or emerging markets when they need to diversify, said Liqian Ren, head of quantitative investment at WisdomTree. For "investors outside China, the unglamorous stocks [such as utilities], it's not going to be where they park their cash," she said. Ren also noted that several leading Chinese AI companies, such as ByteDance, are not publicly traded. —CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
How SoundHound AI Is Quietly Building a Global AI Empire
SoundHound AI offers integrated and proprietary AI solutions for more than 25 languages. It has huge global opportunities in the automotive and restaurant sectors. It is diversifying into other industries with different monetisation strategies. 10 stocks we like better than SoundHound AI › SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) might not enjoy the same hype as Nvidia or Palantir in the stock market, but this mid-cap voice AI company is quietly expanding its footprint across the globe. In doing so, it may be building something far bigger than most investors currently realize. While SoundHound AI is best known for powering restaurant drive-thrus and car infotainment systems, there's far more to its growth story. From Asia to Latin America, it's tapping into one of the most significant, overlooked opportunities in AI: the shift to voice as the primary human-machine interface. Among the most powerful yet underrated assets SoundHound AI has are its integrated and proprietary solutions for more than 25 languages. That's more than just a technical feat. In global markets, offering a voice AI interface that functions properly in native languages is a must-have. English-only won't cut it. As companies continue to integrate AI into new physical systems, from vehicles to smart appliances, the ability to manage local language and cultural nuances will become a significant competitive advantage. That's precisely why SoundHound has been winning new contracts and partnerships. In the first quarter of 2025, it partnered with Chinese tech giant Tencent to expand its footprint in the global auto market, building on its existing relationships in the industry with manufacturers such as Hyundai, Kia, Stellantis, and Samsung's Harman division. SoundHound AI also renewed contracts with two Japanese multinational companies that offer services across numerous industries, and it signed a deal to provide a major Latin American resort developer with an AI agent concierge. These partnerships point to something bigger: Demand for AI-powered voice interfaces isn't limited to the U.S. It's a global trend, and SoundHound AI is emerging as a leader in the space. SoundHound AI's most significant and obvious opportunity lies in the global automotive industry, and it's not hard to see why. In 2024, new light vehicle sales reached 88 million units globally, and this number is expected to increase to 95 million by 2028. Automakers are racing to make vehicles more connected, voice-enabled, and intelligent -- and SoundHound AI is right at the center of that transition. According to the company, its voice AI is in just 3% to 5% of the vehicles sold by its existing customers. In other words, the company has already landed some big clients -- it now needs to grow its relationships with each of them and to sign new deals with other OEMs globally. There are several reasons why SoundHound AI is in the driver's seat when it comes to growing its automotive business. Unlike rival applications like Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, SoundHound offers a fully embedded voice AI that runs directly on each vehicle's local hardware -- no cloud connection or external ecosystem is required. That matters a lot to automakers, as it allows them to maintain control over user data and retain their branding rather than handing over the user experience to Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet. This independent, customizable platform is a significant selling point in an era when brands want to control their in-car experience from end to end. Another obvious area for global growth is the restaurant industry. In the U.S., SoundHound is already working with prominent chains such as White Castle, Chipotle, Jersey Mike's, and others to deploy its voice AI to handle customer interactions across phone ordering, kiosks, and drive-thrus. But the bigger prize may be overseas. In the U.S., the company views its total addressable market in the space at around 800,000 restaurants, but globally, the number is far higher. Once it has fully proven the value of its product in the U.S., expansion into international franchises will be the logical next step. While automotive and restaurants are SoundHound's most established verticals today, the company's long-term opportunity goes far beyond these two industries. As voice interfaces become more capable, reliable, and natural, new use cases are emerging, opening the door to broader monetization. The company has already expanded into areas like: Customer service call centers, where AI agents (leveraging generative AI technologies) can automate routine phone interactions, bookings, and support. Smart home and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, where embedded voice interfaces allow manufacturers to create branded, offline-capable experiences. Hospitality and retail, where AI voice assistants help with check-ins, concierge services, or hands-free assistance in stores. Each of these verticals offers a distinct monetization model -- from usage-based software-as-a-service contracts to per-device royalties to potential revenue sharing in commerce and transactions. As more industries adopt voice AI, SoundHound's diversified revenue streams could help it scale efficiently. SoundHound AI may still be at a fairly early stage of its growth, but it's quietly assembling the building blocks of a global voice AI empire. If voice is indeed going to be the next major digital interface -- and there are plenty of signs that it will be -- SoundHound AI is a company that investors will want to keep a close eye on. Before you buy stock in SoundHound AI, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and SoundHound AI wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $976,677!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Lawrence Nga has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, and Tencent. The Motley Fool recommends Stellantis. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. How SoundHound AI Is Quietly Building a Global AI Empire was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Dan Ives Predicts a Strong Second Half for Tech. 2 Top AI Stocks to Buy Now.
The Wedbush analyst calls right now the "golden age" for tech stocks. These two players could keep winning well into the future, driven by strong demand for their AI products. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Technology stocks, last year's big drivers of stock market gains, looked as if they were running out of that positive momentum just a few months ago. President Donald Trump announced plans for import tariffs, and investors worried that the move would crush corporate earnings and the general economy. But recent trade talks and deals reached -- including a trade agreement with China -- have eased investors' fears, allowing tech stocks to resume their upward path. And this trend may be far from over, according to one of the most watched tech analysts. Dan Ives of Wedbush, in an interview with Bloomberg, predicted a strong second half for technology stocks, calling this the "golden age" for the industry. He spoke of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks as having much more room to run and even said we're at "10 p.m. in the AI party that goes to 4 a.m." The infrastructure buildout remains ongoing, and on top of this, new phases of AI growth are just beginning or yet to come, from the widespread use of AI agents for applying AI to real-world situations to the launch of humanoid robots. This is why today's AI market, valued at about $300 billion, is forecast to surpass $2 trillion within 10 years. Against this backdrop, here are two top AI stocks to buy now to potentially benefit from explosive growth as this story develops. Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has become an AI behemoth over the past few years, thanks to both its leading AI chips, known as graphics processing units (GPUs), and its full selection of AI tools and services. The company has played a key role in the earliest stages of AI, with GPUs powering the training and inference of models. This has helped Nvidia's earnings roar higher. On a quarterly basis, revenue and net income have increased by double or even triple digits. Now, Nvidia also has what it takes to accompany customers through the rest of the AI adventure. The tech giant has rolled out enterprise software, networking equipment, and AI systems tailored to specific industries. Nvidia is even getting involved in the hot growth area of quantum computing, as it recently announced the construction of a specific research center in Boston. All this bodes well for ongoing growth, and in addition to this, Nvidia is making an important move to ensure its leadership over time: The company has put the focus on innovation, committing to updating its GPUs annually. Since Nvidia already sells the highest-performance GPUs, it will be difficult for rivals to catch up. Today, Nvidia shares trade for 36 times forward earnings estimates, down from 50 times earlier in the year. This is a reasonable price now and may even be considered dirt cheap if we imagine where Nvidia may be a few years down the road. Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) soared 340% last year and climbed 80% in the first half of this year -- and it could still have further to go this year and over the long run. That's because the growth story of its commercial business may be in its early days, and the U.S. government's focus on efficiency could result in ongoing solid growth for Palantir's government business. Palantir sells software that helps customers aggregate their data and use it to make key decisions, gain efficiency, or advance their strategies. The company launched an AI-powered system, its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), two years ago, and since then, demand and revenue have roared higher. Quarter after quarter, Palantir has reported double-digit revenue growth for both its government and commercial businesses and has successfully balanced growth and profitability. AIP has particularly supercharged the commercial business, with customers growing from a handful just a few years ago into the hundreds today. And Palantir's bootcamp training sessions, which help customers see how AIP can work for them in a matter of hours, have translated into major deals for the company. Some investors have balked at the idea of buying Palantir at its current valuation, which exceeds 200 times earnings estimates. But as analyst Dan Ives has said, when looking at certain tech stocks, traditional valuation metrics often overlook the story several years down the road. Palantir's growth is going strong, and the company offers customers an easy and efficacious way to apply AI to their businesses -- and that means this AI giant could continue to roar higher in the second half and beyond. Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $976,677!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Dan Ives Predicts a Strong Second Half for Tech. 2 Top AI Stocks to Buy Now. was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
