Morning Bid: Samsung Electronics' wage drama not over yet

A look at the day ahead ‌in European and global ​markets ​from Gregor Stuart Hunter

The fight over pay is not done at Samsung Electronics. A planned strike which was due to start today was averted by a deal between the company ‌and its union at the 11th hour last night - only for a group of ⁠disgruntled shareholders to threaten to scupper the whole thing.

Details of the deal have drawn attention, including bonuses for some staff of around $416,000, ‌mostly paid in stock.

Investors are looking ‌past the drama, though, bidding up Samsung's shares by more than 7% - and lifting South Korean shares more than 7.5%. SK Hynix, the rival memory chipmaker whose bonus package triggered the pay dispute at ​Samsung, is up more than 11%.

Markets are in a buoyant mood after three supertankers carrying 6 million barrels of oil crossed the Strait of Hormuz, even as signs emerged that Iran is consolidating ⁠its control of the waterway.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rallied 3% after Nvidia's better-than-expected revenue forecast on Wednesday lifted shares in ​chipmakers.

But the world's most valuable company sank 1.3% in after-hours trading as traders were left wanting more, weighing on S&P 500 e-mini futures, which were last flat.

Elsewhere, ​Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 3.6% after S&P Global's flash manufacturing ‌PMI showed expansion in May, albeit at a slower pace than a month earlier. Exports also jumped an annual 14.8% in April, confounding fears of stagflation in the ⁠global economy and firming up expectations that the Bank of Japan will hike rates next month.

With AI-related trades looking healthy and the excitement of SpaceX's blockbuster IPO to digest, markets are looking through new geopolitical worries.

For one, U.S. President Donald ⁠Trump said he would speak to his Taiwanese counterpart Lai Ching-te, a move that is sure to infuriate China, which ​regards the island as its own.

The self-governing island's foreign ministry said on Thursday that Lai would be happy to speak with the U.S. - which would mark the first direct talks since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in ‌1979. China's foreign ministry is yet to respond.

In early European trades, pan-region futures were up 0.1%, FTSE futures were down 0.1%, and German DAX futures were flat.

Key ‌developments that could influence markets on Thursday:

Company announcements:

Auto Trader, Easyjet, QinetiQ, Sage Group, BT and Walmart

Economic events:

France: HCOB manufacturing and ⁠services flash PMI for May

Germany: HCOB manufacturing ‌and services flash PMI for May

UK: ​Flash manufacturing and services PMI for May, CBI Trends Orders for May

Debt auctions:

France: 3-year, 4-year, 6-year, 8-year, 10-year and 21-year government debt

Germany: 10-year government debt

UK: 10-year government debt

(Editing by ‌Jacqueline Wong)

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