Chip stocks wobble on Hot CPI, Australian Budget looms large for ASX

The rally finally hit a wall on Tuesday as a hotter-than-expected CPI print and a 3% plunge in chipmakers dragged the S&P 500 from its record, while oil surged past $102 on the continued Iran impasse. Headline CPI hit 3.8% year-on-year — the fastest since May 2023 — with core at 2.8%, both above estimates, boosting bets on a Fed rate hike in 2027. The SOX semiconductor index suffered its biggest intraday drop in over a year (−6.8%) before recovering to close −3%. Trump departed for Beijing saying trade, not Iran, would be the priority with Xi. Anthropic is raising $30 billion at a $900 billion+ valuation. The Australian budget confirmed trust tax at 30% from July 2028 and more protective CGT grandfathering than feared.