Last week’s turbulent market environment was accentuated by the largest ever initial public offering. Despite geopolitical headwinds, rising inflation, conflict uncertainty, and concerns about disruptions brought on by artificial intelligence, investors appear to remain optimistic about the future.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (Ticker: SPCX) successfully raised $75 billion from the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history, debuting at an initial market capitalization of over $1.7 trillion. Shares traded as high as $176.52 before settling at $160.95—almost 20% higher than the IPO price of $135.
This IPO generated massive investor interest for a few key reasons. First, the company undoubtedly provides cutting-edge services, including rocket launches, satellite internet, social media, and artificial intelligence. Second, the market has rarely seen a company this massive go public with such a small portion of its total shares available for public trading.
This limited float, combined with the fact that this mega-cap company is being included in market-cap-weighted indices, may trigger a significant amount of forced buying from institutional funds. It will be interesting to see how these liquidity dynamics are navigated, particularly with two more massive tech IPOs in the pipeline: Anthropic and OpenAI.
Unfortunately, inflation is running hot once again. Last week, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew by 4.2% over the last 12 months, marking the largest increase since 2023. The single largest contributor to this spike was an almost 25% surge in the cost of energy.
The textbook response to a hot data print like this would be an interest rate hike. However, with a new Federal Reserve chairman at the helm and clear, localized energy disruptions, will rates actually be increased? Markets are laser-focused on this week’s rate announcement from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) did raise interest rates last week in response to the economic fallout of the conflict in the Middle East. On a brighter note, news broke on Sunday that a deal between the U.S. and Iran has been struck, ensuring the Strait of Hormuz opens for business. Hopefully, this news translates to lower prices at the pump soon.
Inflation and SpaceX weren’t the only major narratives driving markets last week. Semiconductor shares recovered after four of the world’s largest data center operators raised their 2026 capital expenditure (CapEx) budgets to a collective $750 billion, with expectations to top $1 trillion in spending by 2027. Bitcoin continued its recent slide, falling to $63,543. For context, it traded as high as $126,198.07 during the second half of 2025.
For the week ending on June 12, the Standard & Poor’s 500 finished at 7,431, the Nasdaq Composite Index at 25,889, and the Dow Jones Industrials at 51,202. The yield on the ten-year Treasury Note closed at 4.48%. U.S. (WTI) crude cost $87.81 per barrel, International (Brent) crude cost $87.33 per barrel, New York gold cost $4,186 per ounce, and one Euro was worth $1.16.
Joseph T DePatie CFA, CFP®
Financial Advisor
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