Korean stocks plunge 2.5% and the won falls to its lowest level against the dollar since March; Finance Minister expresses high vigilance over the foreign exchange market

PepsiCo lowered its full-year core EPS growth guidance to 1% to 2%, citing a slower-than-expected recovery in North America and rising costs eroding profit margins.

The UK has imposed sanctions on Russian oil companies and related tankers.

According to reports from Zhitong Finance APP, PepsiCo (PEP.US) has lowered its earnings expectations, as the recovery process in the North American market for this snack and beverage giant is taking longer than anticipated. The financial report shows revenue reached $25.27 billion, up 5.6% year-on-year and exceeding expectations by $310 million; adjusted earnings per share were $2.34, beating expectations by $0.04.

(1) On Thursday, US stock index futures generally declined, with S&P 500 futures down 0.54%, while Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones futures each dropped by nearly 0.92%. US Treasury yields surged again to multi-year highs, putting pressure on corporate credit conditions. (2) Reports emerged that the United States plans a new round of actions against Iran, which drove international energy prices sharply higher, threatening the recovery of Middle East maritime crude oil exports and further raising inflation risks. (3) Minutes from the Federal Reserve FOMC meeting revealed that most policymakers believe further rate hikes are necessary to contain inflation, and an expanding fiscal deficit contributed to the rise in US Treasury yields. (4) The AI hardware sector led the market down for the second consecutive trading day, as high borrowing costs suppressed capital expenditures in the AI field. Intel, Lam Research, Marvell, and Micron each fell by nearly 1.8%. (5) Broadcom completed a $57 billion debt issuance to support Anthropic’s business expansion, with its shares falling by 1.4% in premarket trading.