Geopolitical Developments

US-Iran Escalation & Oil Market Impact: Oil prices surged as tensions between the United States and Iran intensified. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude surpassed $90/bbl and Brent crude settled at $94.65/bbl (up 4.6%).
President Donald Trump stated that US military strikes were carried out in retaliation for Iranian mining attempts in the Strait of Hormuz and a previous attack on a military base in Jordan.
Retaliatory Actions & Air Defenses: Iranian IRGC reported starting retaliatory strikes, warning that US actions would tighten access to the Strait of Hormuz. Local reports indicated explosions near Chabahar, target sites near Ahvaz, Kuhestak, and air defense activations in eastern Tehran.
Germany-Russia Diplomatic Friction: Russia dismissed Germany's allegations regarding an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport as baseless and warned of response measures to German sanctions.

Financial & Market Updates

Global Market Reaction: The jump in energy prices raised inflation concerns and pushed global interest rates to levels not seen since 2008, dampening equities. The S&P 500 dropped 0.7%, led lower by chipmakers. European gas futures also climbed to their highest point since 2023.
US API Inventory Data: Weekly API crude stock numbers showed a draw of -2.6M barrels, distillate stocks fell by -0.3M barrels, gasoline stocks rose by 0.3M barrels, and Cushing inventories increased by 0.2M barrels.
G20 Finance Discussions: Discussions surrounding the G20 joint communique faced hurdles over sovereign debt restructuring and global trade imbalances between surplus and deficit nations.

Dell Technologies Q2 Earnings: Dell reported Q2 net revenue of $46.97B (beating $44.78B est.) and adjusted EPS of $7.04 (beating $4.90 est.). AI-optimized server revenue reached $16.40B with a $95B backlog. Dell raised its full-year revenue guidance to $192B.

OpenAI Astra Model: OpenAI announced that its upcoming Astra model will initially launch with restricted cybersecurity capabilities, limited to a test group.