Overview
- Mid-July US strikes on Iran and President Trump’s announcement of a seaborne blockade and proposed transit levy have added acute risk to Strait of Hormuz shipping routes and shaken investor confidence.
- Brent crude jumped into the mid‑$80s per barrel, reviving inflation and rate concerns that have pushed markets into sharper swings.
- Asian equity markets suffered the heaviest losses, with South Korea’s Kospi plunging about 8 percent and major chip names falling hard as tech-heavy indexes took the brunt of the selloff.
- Earnings have driven a rapid reprice: IBM’s out‑of‑schedule profit miss sent its stock down roughly 23–25 percent while ASML beat and raised guidance on AI‑chip demand, prompting a rotation toward banks and cyclicals as US bank results begin.
- The near term will hinge on whether strong bank reports confirm the rally’s fundamentals, how oil-driven inflation affects Fed policy, and whether chip supply‑driven hardware price pressure keeps reshaping corporate IT buying and sector leadership.