[New York Stock Exchange] Trump Says "Could Resume Blockade"... All Indexes Fall

International Oil Prices Surge Again
Semiconductor Sector Shows Mixed Performance
Focus on FOMC Meeting Minutes Release

On July 8 (local time), all three major U.S. stock indexes were trading lower as tensions between the United States and Iran flared up again. The United States, having attacked Iran the previous day, is now increasing pressure by signaling it could resume a maritime blockade against Iran. In response, international oil prices are also rising.

As of 9:36 a.m. at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 525.79 points (0.99%) from the previous session, standing at 52,400.52. The S&P 500 Index, which tracks large-cap stocks, dropped 43.95 points (0.59%) to 7,459.90, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Index fell 102.36 points (0.41%) to 25,716.31.

New York Stock Exchange. New York (USA) – Special Correspondent Yoonju Hwang.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have sharply dampened investor sentiment, dragging down the indexes. At the NATO summit in Türkiye, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the ceasefire with Iran was "over," triggering a surge in international oil prices and a strong aversion to risk assets.

President Trump also stated, "I no longer want to deal with Iran," using expletives and adding, "We could launch a strong attack on Iran tonight." Earlier, the U.S. Central Command announced that it had begun striking targets inside Iran.

International oil prices are on the rise. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for August delivery surged 4.97% from the previous session to $73.94 per barrel. On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent crude for September delivery jumped 5.41% to $78.17 per barrel.

ExxonMobil was down 0.44%, while Chevron was up 0.55%. Diamondback Energy rose 1.74%, and APA gained 0.71%, among other strong performers. Semiconductor stocks showed mixed results: Intel fell 1.87% and AMD was down 0.23%. In contrast, Micron rose 0.74%, Qualcomm was up 0.40%, Applied Digital climbed 2.97%, Nvidia gained 0.25%, and Broadcom advanced 2.35%.

Daniela Hathorn, chief market analyst at Capital.com, said, "As tensions in the Middle East rise again, the market's increasingly complacent mood has been disrupted, and investors are now reassessing geopolitical risks after weeks of expecting tensions to subside smoothly."

She added, "The recent attacks have reminded investors that, although a ceasefire is in place, there is never any guarantee of a lasting agreement between the United States and Iran. The market had grown complacent, expecting the conflict to gradually fade, but recent developments suggest that such assumptions may have been premature."

Investors are also closely watching the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in June, which will be released at 2 p.m. Eastern Time today. These minutes are significant as they provide the first insight into Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s policy direction. At the time, Fed officials held rates steady but indicated that further rate hikes might be necessary if inflationary pressures persist.

Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, stated in a report, "Because Chair Warsh has been extremely opaque in his recent press conferences, the FOMC minutes could be an unpredictable variable. While Chair Powell typically offered detailed explanations of meeting discussions, Chair Warsh has not, so this set of minutes—expected to have a more hawkish tone—could contain unexpected content."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.