WS #12392
The US-Iran conflict continues to escalate sharply, with the US launching an eighth consecutive night of strikes against Iran and two US service members killed in Jordan with a third missing. Iran's supreme leader vows retaliation, and Iranian security officials have threatened to target Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports and UAE ports if US strikes hit civilian infrastructure. Brent crude has hit $88 as Iran extends the conflict from the Strait of Hormuz to threatening Kuwait's drinking water. US refiner margins spiked to record highs amid fuel shortage concerns. Separately, the AI/tech sector faces headwinds: SK Hynix suffered its worst day ever (-15.37%) after its Nasdaq debut, dragging down Samsung, Micron, and other memory stocks. Meta is reportedly in talks to lease computing capacity to Anthropic for up to $10B, raising fears of hyperscaler in-sourcing that has hit CoreWeave (-35% over the past month). The Bank of Korea ended a three-year rate freeze as the AI chip boom stokes inflation. US inflation cooled to 3.5% in June, but massive AI build-out spending (topping $700B this year) poses a new inflation threat. The Tate brothers' arrest and extradition news is noise. World Cup results are noise.
Topics
Key developments
- US launches eighth consecutive night of strikes against Iran; two US soldiers killed in Jordan
- Iran threatens to target UAE airports and ports if US strikes hit civilian infrastructure
- Brent crude hits $88 as Iran extends conflict to threaten Kuwait's drinking water
- US refiner margins spike to record highs amid fuel shortage concerns
- SK Hynix crashes 15.37% after Nasdaq debut, dragging memory stocks lower
- Meta in talks to lease computing capacity to Anthropic for up to $10B, raising in-sourcing fears
- CoreWeave stock drops 35% over past month on Meta compute fears and Q1 loss
- US inflation cooled to 3.5% in June, but AI build-out spending poses new inflation threat