US API petroleum product imports for week to June 12: -121,000 b/d, prior -51,000 b/d.

Kevin Warsh, a Fed governor from 2006–11 long seen as hawkish, has as a Fed chair nominee signaled support for lower borrowing costs and suggested AI-driven productivity gains and balance-sheet runoff could help restrain inflation. Darius Dale, founder and CEO of 42 Macro, said Warsh's true "reaction function" is unknown and how receptive FOMC colleagues will be to his views is an open question; Warsh told senators the Fed had "failed to deliver," has publicly criticized the institution, and his intellectual ties to Stanley Druckenmiller and the late Milton Friedman — whose views diverge sharply from current FOMC members — mean he may raise topics not heard at the Fed for decades, potentially complicating intra-FOMC coordination.

June 16 — Pacific Securities research: accelerated AI-driven capex by global tech giants will push industry investment into a near-$1tr era in 2026. The six largest tech firms are forecast to spend >$350bn in capex in 2025 and exceed $800bn in 2026, underpinning sustained HBM demand. HBM market is expected to post high double-digit growth in 2026; three major suppliers’ HBM capacity is fully sold out and SK Hynix holds roughly 60% share. Gartner price forecasts show 2026 DRAM +125% and NAND +234%, signalling prolonged supply tightness. Storage is shifting from a cyclical commodity to a strategic resource, with AI semiconductors accounting for about 30% of total revenue.