S&P500 hits another all-time high... Agricultural and Fisheries Disaster Act likely to be processed today [Morning Briefing]

◆S&P500 Hits Another Record High

Overnight, the New York stock market remained cautious while watching earnings releases. Early this morning at the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% and the S&P500 gained 0.06%. The S&P500 broke its all-time record high for the eleventh time this year. However, the NASDAQ Composite Index fell 0.39%. News that SoftBank Group Corp. and OpenAI are facing initial difficulties in jointly pursuing an artificial intelligence project led to weakness in semiconductor stocks. Broadcom Inc. shares dropped 3.34%, and NVIDIA Corporation also fell 2.54%.

◆Trump: "19% Mutual Tariff Imposed on Philippines"

Donald Trump, President of the United States, announced early this morning that a trade agreement with the Philippines had been reached and that a mutual tariff rate of 19% would be imposed on the Philippines going forward. President Trump also added that the Philippines would open its market to U.S. products duty-free. The 19% mutual tariff to be imposed on the Philippines by the United States starting August 1 is a 1% point reduction from the 20% mentioned in the letter President Trump sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the 9th.

◆Gapyeong, Sancheong, Seosan, Yesan, Damyang, Hapcheon Declared Special Disaster Zones

President Lee Jae-myung declared six regions that suffered damage from heavy rainfall as special disaster areas: Gapyeong in Gyeonggi, Seosan and Yesan in Chungnam, Damyang in Jeonnam, and Sancheong and Hapcheon in Gyeongnam. Local governments declared as special disaster zones will receive additional national support for part of their local expense when restoring damages, easing their financial burden. Affected residents will receive the same disaster relief payment regardless of the disaster zone declaration and will benefit from additional indirect supports such as tax payment deferment and public utility bill reductions.

◆National Assembly Plenary Session Today... Agricultural and Fisheries Disaster Act May Be Handled

The National Assembly will open a plenary session today to process non-contentious bills and the motion to appoint Supreme Court Justice nominee Kim Sang-hwan. The revised Agricultural and Fisheries Disaster Countermeasures Act and Protection Act, which were previously vetoed by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, are also expected to be submitted. The amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act changing the legal status of AI digital textbooks from 'textbooks' to 'educational materials' is also considered for today's plenary session. The appointment motion for nominee Kim is also expected to be processed today.

◆Scattered Showers Amidst High Temperatures Up to 36°C

Another sweltering day is expected today, Wednesday. The daytime high is forecast to range between 30 and 36°C. With heat wave warnings in effect for most regions, the maximum perceived temperature will reach around 33°C, making it extremely hot, and tropical nights with temperatures not dropping below 25°C will occur in some areas, so be mindful of your health. There will be occasional clouds nationwide, but Jeju will be clear. In the mountainous and northern inland areas of Gangwon, as well as Chungbuk and northeastern inland and mountainous areas of Gyeongbuk, there may be 5–30mm of showers in the afternoon.

Dong Jeong-dong, Hankyung.com reporter dong2@hankyung.com