Morning Highlights: Brent Prices Fall, easyJet Agrees to Takeover, and Nvidia Delay

The price of Brent crude fell below $72 per barrel amid the resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and OPEC+’s decision to increase production. British low-cost carrier easyJet has agreed in principle to a takeover that will result in its delisting. According to SemiAnalysis, the launch of Nvidia’s new flagship server architecture has been postponed to 2028 due to manufacturing challenges. Read about these and other topics in our roundup of key events as of the morning of July 6.

British low-cost carrier easyJet announced that it has reached an agreement in principle on an improved takeover offer from U.S. investment firm Castlelake, valuing the airline at up to £5.5 billion ($7.34 billion), according to Reuters. The new offer is priced at £6.90 per share, which is 73% higher than the stock’s price on May 29, when Castlelake first disclosed its interest in the deal.

easyJet’s board of directors stated that it is prepared to recommend the offer to shareholders if Castlelake submits a formal bid by August 3. The potential deal, which would take the airline private, is being discussed amid pressure on the industry due to rising fuel prices and geopolitical tensions.

The price of Brent crude oil is down slightly in Monday morning trading amid a gradual resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the decision by OPEC+ countries to increase production by another 188,000 barrels per day next month, Reuters reports.

As of 07:15 CET, Brent was trading below $72 per barrel, down 0.2%.

Wall Street banks, for their part, predict that oil prices could fall even further in the second half of the year. Citigroup, in particular, expects the price of Brent to return to the $60 level by the end of the year.

The launch of Nvidia’s next-generation flagship server architecture—Kyber, designed for Rubin Ultra chips—has been delayed by more than a year and is now not expected until at least 2028, according to CNBC, citing data from the research firm SemiAnalysis.

Researchers cite difficulties with the production of a key multilayer printed circuit board (PCB midplane) as the reason. In addition, the release of Nvidia’s next-generation NVL576 server systems—which combine eight racks with AI accelerators—may be delayed or limited to a small production run.

According to SemiAnalysis, the delay could complicate Nvidia’s plans to scale its AI infrastructure and open up additional opportunities for competitors, including AMD and Google. That said, the current Rubin systems have already entered production and will begin shipping this fall to eight cloud partners, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.

Lockheed Martin is leading negotiations to acquire Ultra Maritime, a manufacturer of maritime defense systems, according to CNBC. The deal to acquire the company, which specializes in anti-submarine defense technologies, is estimated to be worth approximately $3.5 billion.

According to sources, Guggenheim and JPMorgan are acting as advisors to the seller. Ultra Maritime is owned by the investment fund Advent International and manufactures radars, electronic warfare systems, and anti-torpedo defenses.

— Japan's broad-based Topix index rose 0.6%, while the Nikkei 225 fell 0.3%.

— Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.9%, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index rose 0.1%.

— In South Korea, the KOSPI index fell 0.7%, and the KOSDAQ index fell 2.8%.

— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.2%.

— S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, Nasdaq Composite futures rose 0.8%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were virtually unchanged.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor