The market experienced significant volatility following renewed escalation in US-Iran tensions after American forces carried out a 'series of powerful strikes' against Iran late Tuesday in response to attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. According to Bloomberg, President Trump stated that the ceasefire with Iran is 'over,' declaring "As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them." The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell roughly 1%, or more than 500 points, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.2%. However, the tech-weighted Nasdaq Composite trimmed losses to gain 0.2% following a down day for US markets. Crude prices climbed by about 5%, with West Texas Intermediate trading above $74 a barrel and Brent holding near $78 a barrel as energy markets were shaken by the Treasury revoking a license that had allowed Iran to export oil globally.
As reported by Investing.com India, the current earnings announcement season is expected to favor specific sectors. The best earnings are in energy, the second-best earnings are in information technology, including all the data center-related and semiconductor stocks, and the third-best earnings are in materials. This ranking reflects the current market dynamics and investor preferences for technology and energy-related companies, with data center stocks particularly well-positioned to benefit from the ongoing AI infrastructure boom and memory shortage driven by hyperscaler demand.
The memory sector is experiencing significant growth driven by AI infrastructure demand. According to Investing.com India, South Korean memory company SK Hynix is raising $28.07 billion in its IPO, planning to sell 17.79 million ADR shares traded on NASDAQ. Institutional investors have signaled indications of interest for up to $7 billion for the SK Hynix IPO, but analysts expect much higher demand due to an acute global memory shortage attributed to the boom in AI data centers. Despite this IPO excitement, Samsung shares fell 10% on Tuesday after announcing a 19-fold earnings increase, marking the third straight quarter of record earnings for the South Korean company.
Intel has emerged as a key beneficiary of a structural server supply deficit as hyperscalers rapidly replace aging data center hardware. According to MarketBeat, Intel shares have rallied 200% since January 2026, recently climbing from $36.90 to test the $122 level. The company has raised enterprise server processor prices by 10% to 15%, leveraging a supply shortage as hyperscalers replace aging 2019-era server farms. HSBC analyst Frank Lee has set a Street-high $200 price target on Intel, citing the structural server supply deficit and strong foundry execution. The company's 18A node has reached high-volume manufacturing with improved yields, while 18A-P, the performance-tuned version, entered risk production on schedule, demonstrating predictable execution that removes substantial risk layers.
Economic data and policy developments provided additional market context during the volatile session. As reported by Investing.com India, the Commerce Department announced that the trade deficit rose 42.2% in May to $77.6 billion, representing the largest trade deficit in 14 months since March 2025. Imports rose 3.3% to $395.3 billion in May, while exports declined 3.2% to $317.7 billion due largely to lower gold exports and a strong U.S. dollar. Economists now expect the trade deficit to subtract 1.7% from second quarter GDP, which is currently estimated at a 1.4% annual pace by the Atlanta Fed. Investors also parsed through the Fed's June meeting minutes for clues about policymakers' thinking after the central bank held interest rates steady at its first meeting under Chairman Kevin Warsh, with the minutes revealing a divided committee where a few officials argued that a rate hike could be warranted.
