(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data and company/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)
US equity indexes traded mixed, giving up intraday gains following a surprise decline in the wholesale price inflation rate and a signal from Iran that its allies could shut the maritime gateway to the Red Sea.
The Nasdaq was steady at 26,092.1, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% to 7,534.1, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average leaned slightly lower to 52,469.8 after midday Wednesday. All three gauges traded higher earlier in the session.
The US Producer Price Index fell by 0.3% in June following a 0.6% increase in May, below expectations for a flat reading in a Bloomberg-compiled survey. Excluding food and energy prices, core PPI rose 0.2%, slower than the 0.3% gain expected and a 0.1% rise in May.
Iran is now signaling it could use Yemen's Houthi allies to shut the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, opening a new front against Washington and putting two of the world's most important energy arteries at risk, Reuters reported. As US strikes deepen inside Iran and Houthi attacks escalate in tandem, analysts said Tehran is widening the conflict and seeking to increase pressure on Washington by extending the threat to global trade and energy supplies beyond the Gulf, the news report said.
The front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent fell 0.2% to $84.59 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate slid 0.1% to $79.23 a barrel.
In company news, Dutch semiconductor equipment supplier ASML (ASML) reported year-over-year growth in Q2 earnings and sales and raised revenue guidance for the full-year 2026.
Payments firm Stripe and Advent International have offered to acquire PayPal (PYPL) for $60.50 per share in a deal that would value the company at more than $53 billion, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter.
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