JPM | APAC THEMATICS - Tech: Semis price action remains challenging / Positioning: Light overall / Oil: Brent -10% on Iran & Oman talks / Fed: No hike / BoJ: Risk Ueda underwhelms / China: Politburo call 9am Tues.

Research evidence excerpt

JPM | APAC THEMATICS - Tech: Semis price action remains challenging / Positioning: Light overall / Oil: Brent -10% on Iran & Oman talks / Fed: No hike / BoJ: Risk Ueda underwhelms / China: Politburo call 9am Tues.

Specialist Sales

APAC Specialist Sales J P M O R G A N

26 July 2026

JPM | APAC THEMATICS - Tech: Semis price action remains

challenging / Positioning: Light overall / Oil: Brent -10% on Iran &

Oman talks / Fed: No hike / BoJ: Risk Ueda underwhelms / China:

Politburo call 9am Tues.

Matthew See

+852 2800 8889

matthew.see@jpmorgan.com

APAC Thematics focuses on key macro views, market debates, and favoured investment themes.

THE BIG PICTURE: The price action in Semis remains challenging. The SOX closed -4% Friday and is now -19% from

the highs. Intel was the latest victim of “good earnings, bad reaction”… the stock closing -8% on Fri having initially rallied

+5% pre-market post strong results & guidance that Harlan said “cleared expectations by wide margins”. Today, markets

have another real “test” with Nvidia’ s $250bn guarantee headline (to OpenAI) - to see if this can help lift semi stocks. If

not, you have to wonder - what can...

HF positioning remains heavy in tech (even if light elsewhere). JPM’s broad tactical positioning reading is light across

regions... US at 19%ile, Europe 18%ile, & China 33%ile. And the 4-week change in our US TPM at -1.7z is now below the -

1.5z level that creates an attractive positioning setup. But for AI supply chain tech specifically, positioning in Semis &

Hardware remains elevated.

One positive… oil prices -10% from the highs. Brent is back at $90/bbl after 2 days without tit-for-tat strikes. Officials from

Iran & Oman have started talks on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and the US is “giving the talks some space”. The