Stocks Churn as US-Iran Risk Offsets Chip Rally: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders sent stocks and bonds wavering as fresh Middle East violence stoked concerns about an escalation of the war that has jolted global markets.
Following the S&P 500’s longest weekly advance since May, the gauge fluctuated. Chipmakers rallied as Anthropic PBC’s revenue surge bolstered bets on the artificial-intelligence trade. Brent crude rose to around $89, leaving traders wary about inflationary pressures that could make the Federal Reserve raise rates. Treasury 30-year yields hit the highest since 2007.
The prospects for peace in the Middle East suffered a fresh setback, with President Donald Trump reportedly saying he is in no hurry to end the war with Iran and fighting flaring anew in Lebanon.
Trump told Fox News in a phone interview that a US naval blockade on Iranian ports is putting pressure on the country and he has no timeline for resolving the conflict. He also warned that if “Oman gets in the way we’ll bomb the s—— out of them,” without give any further details.
Given the recent rise in oil prices and the lack of progress on the US-Iran diplomatic front, the Middle East remains a risk factor, according to Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
But barring any surprises, he said traders should focus on this week’s retail earnings, which may offer some insight into whether the soft consumer data was a one-off or possibly something more significant.
Following important snapshots of inflation in the world’s largest economy, the US data calendar will lighten up a bit. On Wednesday, the Fed will release minutes of its late-July meeting. The summary may offer investors a better sense of the degree to which officials were losing patience with high inflation.
Markets will be looking for clues on just how spirited the debate between doves and hawks became in July, according to Darrell Cronk at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
“The key question: Are more committee members beginning to migrate toward the hawkish camp, or was the recent dissent more isolated than indicative of a broader shift in sentiment?” he said. “The hawks appear dug in, the question is how many more come to their camp between now and September.”
Market bets on Fed hikes are still too aggressive given that inflation in the world’s biggest economy is cooling, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Jan Hatzius.
A rate increase at the central bank’s September meeting has become “very unlikely” due to softer retail sales data, disappointing employment numbers and slowing inflation prints, he said.
Corporate Highlights:
Anthropic PBC is telling prospective investors its second-quarter revenue jumped at least 14-fold versus the same period a year ago, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News. Nvidia Corp. has agreed to spend as much as $105 billion to support a massive new data center campus in Ohio set to be leased by OpenAI, according to a financial filing, marking the latest tie-up between two dominant forces driving the AI boom. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. as Greg Abel began tapping into the company’s massive cash hoard. L3Harris Technologies Inc. abruptly replaced Chief Executive Officer Christopher Kubasik following a conduct review, in a surprise shakeup atop one of the biggest US defense contractors as weapons makers come under pressure to boost output. RTX Corp. won a contract valued at $22.9 billion from the US navy to accelerate production of Tomahawk cruise missiles, at a time when weapon systems stockpiles come under strain given the ongoing war with Iran. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 0.1% as of 11:26 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.1% The MSCI World Index fell 0.1% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1583 The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3553 The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.36 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 1.2% to $63,791.86 Ether rose 1.2% to $1,903.73 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.70% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 3.22% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 5.06% The yield on 2-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.17% The yield on 30-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 5.28% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4% to $82.69 a barrel Spot gold rose 1.1% to $4,422.48 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
