[New York Stock Exchange] Iran Warns of Military Action if Diplomacy Fails... All Indexes Fall

Crude Oil Prices Edge Up


Microsoft Drops More Than 2%

On August 17 (local time), the three major U.S. stock indexes on the New York Stock Exchange are all trading lower following reports that Iran could launch a military attack if it fails to reach a ceasefire agreement with the United States.

As of 10:31 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 162.61 points (0.30%) from the previous trading day to 53,575.49. The S&P 500, which focuses on large-cap stocks, is down 9.07 points (0.12%) to 7,776.18, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 1.22 points (0.01%) to 26,727.94.

U.S. markets today are closely watching negotiations in the Strait of Hormuz. After a senior Iranian official stated in an interview with foreign media that Iran would adopt an aggressive posture if diplomatic efforts with the United States fail, oil prices rose slightly.

At this time, September delivery West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange is up 0.04% from the previous session at $82.44 per barrel. October delivery Brent crude on the ICE Futures Exchange is up 0.33% from the previous session at $88.81 per barrel.

According to CNBC, while earnings results for U.S. companies have generally been positive, optimism about artificial intelligence (AI) is also growing again. Notable stock gains include Nvidia up 0.64%, Intel up 1.42%, Micron up 5.12%, Cisco Systems up 1.89%, and the SK hynix ADR Boost up 5.71%. Meanwhile, Alphabet is down 0.79%, Meta is down 2.38%, Microsoft (MS) is down 2.43%, and Apple is down 0.44%.

Anthropic announced that its preliminary second-quarter revenue reached $11.5 billion, marking a 14.6-fold increase year-over-year. The company also turned to an adjusted operating profit, garnering attention. The market is expressing high hopes that Anthropic's valuation could reach up to $2 trillion as the company prepares for its initial public offering (IPO).

Last week, the S&P 500 set a record high on the back of strong earnings announcements. These robust results are boosting investor sentiment and propelling the U.S. stock market upward.

Recent inflation data have also contributed to this trend. Due to relatively mild inflation figures, expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in September have diminished.

Lori Macpherson, chief market strategist at Renn Sterling, stated, "Changing expectations around rate hikes have impacted some tech stocks, and considering that tech stocks had underperformed in July despite a flood of strong earnings, this explains why technology shares have recently seen significant gains."

Meanwhile, the Fed plans to release the minutes of its upcoming meeting on the 19th.

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