Intel, Coupang, EasyJet, Fresnillo and Peel Hunt

Tech company Intel (INTC) was in focus on Monday morning after an analyst said that his research pointed to increased chances of a chip partnership between the company and iPhone-maker Apple (AAPL).

In a post on social media platform X on Friday, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said: “There have long been market rumors that Intel could become an advanced-node foundry supplier to Apple, but visibility around this had remained low.

“My latest industry surveys, however, indicate that visibility on Intel becoming an advanced-node supplier to Apple has recently improved significantly.”

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Kuo said that he expected Intel to begin shipping Apple’s lowest-end M processor “as early as 2027”. According to Kuo, Apple’s lowest-end M processor is currently mainly used in the MacBook Air and iPad Pro.

Intel shares surged 10% on the news on Friday, with the stock up 102% year-to-date.

Spokespeople for Intel and Apple had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK’s request for comment at the time of writing.

New York-listed shares in South Korea’s biggest online retailer, Coupang (CPNG), were down more than 8% in pre-market trading on Monday after the company apologised for a large data breach.

“We sincerely apologise once again for causing our customers inconvenience,” said Coupang CEO Park ‌Dae-jun, according to a Reuters report.

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Coupang, which is often described as the Amazon (AMZN) of South Korea, said on its website on Friday that it had become aware on 18 November of unauthorised access to personal information related to approximately 4,500 customer accounts, according to a Google translation.

The retailer said that investigation revealed that 33.7 million account details were compromised in the breach, which it said was believed to have begun in June.

“Upon becoming aware of this incident, Coupang immediately reported it to the relevant authorities, including the National Police Agency, the Personal Information Protection Commission, and the Korea Internet & Security Agency,” Coupang said.

In the UK, airline EasyJet (EZJ.L) said it completed a software update on its A320 family of aircraft, after the developer of these planes, Airbus (AIR.PA), ordered immediate modifications on the jets.

EasyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis said in a statement on Monday: “Safety is, and always will be, our absolute priority. I’m incredibly proud of our engineering teams, who worked around the clock over the weekend to implement the necessary software updates.”

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“This work was completed without any disruption to our flying programme, and I would like to thank all of our engineering and operational colleagues for their continued dedication,” he said.

The airline said that its financial outlook remained in line with what was set out in its 2025 results in late November.

Shares in EasyJet hovered around the flatline on Monday morning but are currently trading nearly 11% in the red year-to-date.

Shares in precious metals miner Fresnillo (FRES.L) were up 4% on Monday, making it the biggest gainer on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) at the time of writing, buoyed by rising gold prices.

Gold futures (GC=F) advanced 0.7% to $4,284 (£3,238) per ounce on Monday, while spot gold was up 0.3% to $4,250.

Gold prices have risen as bets have increased that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December. Declining interest rates tends to see gold prices move high, as this boosts the appeal of holding the precious metal as a non-yielding asset.

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Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said that the US central bank is expected next week to announce an interest rate cut for the third meeting in a row, “with the early indications of a new Fed chair, to be announced shortly, likely to be a dove who will continue to ease monetary policy”.

“With inflationary concerns having more recently taken something of a back seat, the Fed is likely to concentrate now on the other part of its dual mandate, with signs of weakness emerging across the labour market,” he said.

Shares in UK investment bank Peel Hunt (PEEL.L) ticked nearly 1% higher on Monday morning, on the back of its interim results.

Peel Hunt reported group revenue of £74.4m ($98.4m) for the first half of its 2026 financial year, which was up 38% compared to the same period last year.

Pre-tax profit of £11.5m was up 858% compared to the first half of last year.

Steven Fine, CEO of Peel Hunt, said that the second half of the financial year had “started strongly”.

“Consequently, we are confident in meeting market expectations for the full financial year,” he said.

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