Brent crude surged above $100 a barrel as U.S. strikes on five Iranian tankers triggered retaliatory attacks across the Persian Gulf, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield to 4.85%. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% while a disappointing $6 billion Treasury buyback deepened the bond sell-off. ASX 200 futures point to a 1% drop as markets await Thursday’s PPI and Friday’s CPI for Fed rate hike clarity.
Wall Street sold off to close out August as fresh US airstrikes on Iran and tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz sent WTI crude surging 5.9% to $90.82 a barrel. The S&P 500 fell 0.71% to 7,631.47 while the Nasdaq dropped 1.03% to 26,099.77, dragged by a 2.1% slide in semiconductor stocks. Bond yields spiked across the globe, with the US 10-year hitting 4.79% and Japan’s 10-year breaching 3% for the first time since 1996. ASX 200 futures point to a weaker open, down 79 points.
Wall Street ended lower on Monday as renewed US–Iran military strikes sent Brent crude surging above $90 and pushed Treasury yields to their highest since January 2025. Despite the pullback, US stocks closed August with gains — the S&P 500 up 2.6% and Nasdaq up 3.9%. Fed Chair Warsh’s hawkish Jackson Hole speech has markets pricing a 64% chance of a September rate hike, with Friday’s nonfarm payrolls the key swing factor.
Fed Chair Warsh’s hawkish Jackson Hole debut sent two-year yields surging 12 basis points and rate-hike odds above 50% for September. Wall Street slipped with the S&P 500 down 0.25% to 7,711.76, while a U.S. strike on Iranian launchers at Larak Island kept the geopolitical risk premium elevated and ASX futures point to a weaker Monday open at 9,009.
Nvidia’s blockbuster $92 billion quarter and 70% forward growth guidance carried Wall Street higher on Thursday, with the Nasdaq surging 1.6% even as every other S&P 500 sector declined. Core PCE inflation held stubbornly at 3.3%, keeping rate hike expectations alive ahead of Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole keynote on Friday.
Wall Street traded flat as July PCE inflation came in hotter than expected at 3.7%, reinforcing bets the Fed will hold rates in September. After the bell, Nvidia’s revenue more than doubled to $96.2 billion but a lower-than-hoped margin guide sent shares down 2%, while Salesforce and CrowdStrike both surged 12% on strong outlooks.
Wall Street advanced modestly as tech stocks rebounded ahead of Nvidia’s earnings and oil plunged 5.8% on Strait of Hormuz reopening hopes. US consumer confidence hit a seven-month low while the US–Canada trade war escalated with retaliatory tariffs. ASX 200 futures point higher as July CPI data and the RBA’s hawkish tightening bias take centre stage.
Wall Street posted a second straight week of gains as markets shrugged off a fresh round of US strikes on Iran and Tehran’s declaration that the Strait of Hormuz is closed. SK Hynix surged 13% on its record $26.5 billion Nasdaq debut while the RBA flagged rising default risks across Australia’s $250 billion private credit sector.
A chip-led rebound powered Wall Street higher as the S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 7,541.83 and the Nasdaq surged 1.3%, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index clawing back more than 5% over two sessions. SK Hynix priced its record $26.5 billion U.S. ADR debut while crude pulled back sharply after Trump said Iran wanted a deal. SPI futures point to a flat ASX open at 8,741.
Trump declared the U.S.–Iran ceasefire “over” at the NATO summit in Ankara as the military launched a second day of strikes, sending Brent crude surging 5.9% to $78.55 after briefly topping $80. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% while the Nasdaq eked out a 0.2% gain on a chip rebound after China signalled it would allow AI firms to buy Nvidia H200s. Fed minutes revealed an evenly split committee on rate hikes, and ASX 200 futures point to a 49-point drop at the open.
Chip stocks hammered as Samsung’s record profit fails to impress. US strikes Iran, revokes oil waiver after Hormuz tanker attacks. Crude surges 5%. Most S&P 500 stocks rose — rotation, not retreat.
June was a month of contradictions — semiconductors surged 106% YTD on relentless AI capex, SpaceX’s record IPO whipsawed retail investors, and new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh killed forward guidance cold. The Iran peace deal holds for now, but July’s nuclear talks could reset everything.