WS #11944

The US-Iran military conflict continues to escalate with new attacks and casualties. Iran's IRGC claimed a preemptive strike destroying US ATACMS in Kuwait, and footage emerged of Iranian missiles burning the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain. Oman summoned the Iranian ambassador over drone attacks on its territory. Oil prices are expected to spike further, with Polymarket contracts showing bets on WTI hitting $75 this week. Separately, TSMC reported strong June revenue (NT$442.68B, +67.9% YoY) and Q2 revenue of T$1.27T, beating market forecasts of T$1.264T, with plans to add two advanced chip packaging plants in Taiwan. SK Hynix shares fell more than 12% after its Nasdaq debut, reversing a 13% gain on the first trading day. The dominant theme of US-Iran escalation is ESCALATING with no de-escalation signals. The TSMC earnings beat is a positive signal for semiconductor and AI-related tickers, partially offsetting macro risk-off sentiment.