Daily Open: NATO Summit Shifts, Semiconductor Stocks Rebound, Ukraine's Drone Impact

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Hello, this is Katie Foley writing to you from London. Welcome to today's edition of the Daily Open newsletter.

It has been a week of narrative whiplash.

In just 48 hours at the NATO summit, we saw the vibe shift from tense confrontation to a "love-in" between allies and the U.S. President.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, investors aggressively dumped semiconductor stocks after Samsung's results disappointed. Now it's Friday, and rival SK Hynix is poised to become Wall Street's latest AI chip darling.

What you need to know today

Despite recent airstrikes, the U.S. will engage in "technical talks" with Iran and remains committed to finding a solution to the conflict, MS Now reported Thursday, citing a U.S. official. It comes after President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, said that the ceasefire with Iran was "over."

As my colleague Steve Sedgwick noted on the ground, "I've never witnessed such dramatic reversals of fortune, affecting so many global players, compressed into just 48 hours." The summit wasn't simply another diplomatic gathering; it was a real-time demonstration of how quickly the geopolitical landscape can shift when Trump is at its center.

In markets, Asian stocks are echoing gains on Wall Street, with tech fueling the rise. But futures are pointing to a more muted start here in Europe .

SK Hynix, Fed taskforces

SK Hynix, the second-most valuable company in South Korea, behind only Samsung, is slated to begin trading on the Nasdaq today. The firm raised $26.5 billion in its U.S. offering, pricing its ADRs at $149. The listing will test whether the stock can shed its long-standing "Korea discount."

Stateside, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh announced some prominent outside names to lead five advisory task forces. On artificial intelligence, the members all appear to be believers in AI as a transformative technology.

Heading the other way, Anthropic has appointed Ben Bernanke, the former chair of the Federal Reserve, to its Long-Term Benefit Trust, the company's independent governance structure that advises the company and appoints its board members.

On the European corporate front, Volkswagen says it will cut its model lineup by as much as half in what would be its biggest restructuring yet. Competition from China, tariffs from the U.S., and regulation at home have seen profit margins halve at the automotive giant between 2021 to 2025.

— Katie Foley

And finally...

Ukraine's drone playbook is wreaking havoc in Russia — and upending where NATO wants to invest

Ukraine's drone attacks have been dominating headlines about its war with Russia — and upended NATO's investment thesis.

Having boosted drone production and capabilities in four years of war, Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and military assets, targeting high-profile oil refineries in major cities as part of a sustained push to cut off Russia's energy revenues.

Defense experts and strategists have described its drone campaign as pivotal in helping to stall Russia's military momentum, while also warning that Kyiv's deep-strike successes have drastically raised the risk of escalation.

— Sam Meredith and Elsa Ohlen