Thursday saw a sharp decline across the three major indices as Brent crude oil prices surged past the $100 per barrel mark. US Treasury yields rose alongside oil prices, with the 10-year yield climbing to its highest level since January 2025. In a post on his social media platform, Trump wrote, "From now on, every time the Islamic Republic of Iran fires at ships in the Strait of Hormuz, whether by missile, rocket, drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy a bridge or a power plant, including those located in or near the capital city of Tehran."
US Markets: At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 507.59 points, or 0.97%, to 51,710.99. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 553.21 points, or 2.15%, to 25,137.69. The S&P 500 Index declined 90.78 points, or 1.21%, to 7,408.18. Micron Technology (MU.US) rose 3%, SK hynix (SKHY.US) gained 2.5%, Alphabet (GOOG.US) plunged 7%, Tesla (TSLA.US) fell 14.5%, and SpaceX (SPCX.US) climbed over 2%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 0.57%, with Alibaba (BABA.US) dropping 2%.
European Markets: Germany's DAX 30 fell 419.90 points, or 1.67%, to 24,754.20. The UK's FTSE 100 declined 77.81 points, or 0.73%, to 10,639.16. France's CAC 40 dropped 138.80 points, or 1.64%, to 8,299.09. The Euro STOXX 50 Index fell 107.64 points, or 1.70%, to 6,209.35. Spain's IBEX 35 Index decreased 326.19 points, or 1.67%, to 19,245.11. Italy's FTSE MIB Index plummeted 1,470.04 points, or 2.78%, to 51,322.00.
Asian Markets: Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.46%, while South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index surged 4.4%.
US Dollar Index: The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.32% to close at 101.445 in late trading. At the New York close, the euro traded at $1.1377, down from $1.1411 in the previous session. The British pound was at $1.3318, down from $1.3373. The dollar rose to 163.80 Japanese yen, up from 163.13 yen. The dollar strengthened to 0.8169 Swiss francs, up from 0.8146 francs. The dollar weakened to C$1.4076, down from C$1.4085. The dollar increased to 9.7663 Swedish kronor, up from 9.7014 kronor.
Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin fell over 1% to $65,179.73, while Ethereum dropped more than 2.8% to $1,882.72.
Crude Oil: International oil prices surged on Wednesday. At settlement, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for September delivery jumped $5.36, or 6.17%, to $92.19 per barrel. London Brent crude for September delivery rallied $6.62, or 7.04%, to close at $100.69 per barrel—its first time above $100 since May.
Precious Metals: Spot gold was quoted at $4,049.21 per ounce, while spot silver traded at $57.647 per ounce.
Macro News: The US imposed tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 economies. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced on Wednesday that it is applying tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on dozens of countries and regions under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, citing "forced labor" as the reason. This action replaces the expiring global import tariffs. The new tariffs will take effect at 12:00 PM Eastern Time on Thursday (12:00 AM Beijing time on Thursday). The USTR stated that with the 10% global tariffs expiring, this round will target 60 economies, covering over 99% of US trade volume. Senior US officials indicated that tariffs on goods in transit will go into effect at 12:01 AM Eastern Time on July 28 (12:01 PM Beijing time on July 28). Imports of fuel, food, and fertilizer are exempt from the new tariffs. Products subject to separate industry-specific tariffs, such as automobiles, metals, and pharmaceuticals, are also excluded. Additionally, goods covered by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will be exempt. US officials noted that the new tariffs will not stack with existing steel and aluminum import taxes, such as those imposed under Section 232 by the Trump administration last year on national security grounds.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is considering options to alleviate pressure from its significant financial losses, with key discussions expected this autumn. ECB President Christine Lagarde stated that policymakers will debate raising the minimum reserve requirement, which would increase the proportion of funds commercial banks must hold in non-interest-bearing accounts with the central bank. The ECB is also evaluating a "tiered interest rate mechanism," where it would cease paying interest on some excess reserves, and options like charging banks fees. These measures aim to lighten the burden on national central banks and offset some losses from past stimulus policies. The Eurosystem is facing losses due to the ECB's large-scale bond purchase programs between 2015 and 2022, followed by rapid interest rate hikes from 2022 to 2023, which resulted in substantial interest payments to banks. Sources say discussions on this politically sensitive issue remain deeply divided.
Individual Stock News: Intel's revenue and outlook exceeded expectations, with shares rising 13% in after-hours trading. Intel (INTC.US) issued a surprisingly strong revenue forecast, suggesting a surge in data center spending is fueling a long-awaited recovery for the chipmaker. The company expects third-quarter sales between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion. Even the low end of this range comfortably surpassed the average analyst estimate of $15.1 billion. This forecast underscores Intel's growth momentum among data center clients, who are urgently seeking chips to meet AI computing demands. In the last quarter, this segment's sales soared 59%, more than double the pace of Intel's overall revenue growth. Following the earnings release, Intel's stock surged up to 13% in after-hours trading. Additionally, Intel reported second-quarter revenue of $16.13 billion, exceeding market expectations of $14.43 billion.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US) raised its AI accelerator market size forecast to $1.4 trillion and officially launched its rack-scale AI system, Helios. At the AMD Advancing AI conference held in San Francisco on July 22-23, AMD CEO Lisa Su projected that the AI accelerator market will reach $1.4 trillion by 2030, the global data center CPU market will hit $220 billion, and the global computing market will total $2 trillion. Furthermore, AMD formally introduced its first rack-scale AI system, Helios. Su stated that Helios has entered full production and shipments will begin soon. Analysts noted that a year ago, Su predicted the 2028 AI accelerator market would be $500 billion. Based on the latest forecast, by the end of this decade, this market's size will be roughly equivalent to today's entire semiconductor market. Su added that GPUs will account for the majority of this growth.
Major Ratings: Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Apple (AAPL.US) from $360 to $364 per share and lowered its target for Alphabet (GOOG.US) from $415 to $400 per share.
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