Daily News 23th July 26
Daily News
Oil Surges Past $88 as Trump Vows to Bomb Iran's Bridges and Power Plants; S&P 500 Closes Little Changed Under Oil Pressure; Gold Eases From Two-Week High; AMD to Invest $5 Billion in Anthropic
23 July 2026
Today in Brief
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 adding 0.55%, South Korea's Kospi advancing 2.3% at open, the Kosdaq climbing 1.42%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 up 0.72%, as oil prices rose after a tanker was struck off Saudi Arabia and President Trump threatened to bomb Iranian infrastructure. The S&P 500 ended Wednesday little changed, dropping 0.14% to 7,498.96, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.57% to 25,690.90 and the Dow lost just 6.06 points to 52,218.58, pressured by Brent crude rising about 3.4% to settle at $94.07 a barrel — briefly topping $95 — after the 11th straight round of U.S. strikes on Iran, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying Iran is "not serious about talks." Gold slipped to around $4,120 an ounce, easing from a two-week high, while crude climbed to a fresh six-week high above $88 a barrel as Iran-backed Houthi militants claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea and Trump warned of strikes on Iranian infrastructure if shipping through Hormuz is targeted.
In other news: Trump vowed via Truth Social that the U.S. will destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant — including those near or in Tehran — every time Iran fires on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ousted army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi amid nationwide unrest, naming Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new commander-in-chief; India accelerated its shift to alternative fuels — mandatory 20% ethanol blending, compressed biogas, and a possible 15% isobutanol diesel mix — to shore up energy security as oil prices climb; Senator Ron Wyden introduced a bill to curb President Trump's tariff powers and restore Congress's say over trade policy; AMD announced it will invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic as part of a multi-gigawatt AI computing deal; TSMC's margins came under pressure from Trump's push for U.S.-made chips despite $200 billion in committed American investment; Alphabet raised its 2026 capex forecast to $195-$205 billion after a record cloud quarter; and IBM cut its annual revenue growth forecast as corporate spending shifts toward AI infrastructure.
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Thursday
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 adding 0.55% while the Topix rose 0.22%. South Korea's Kospi advanced 2.3% at open, while the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 1.42%. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 0.72% higher. Oil prices rose Thursday after a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile off Saudi Arabia and U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iranian infrastructure.
S&P 500 closes little changed as higher oil prices keep stocks under pressure
The S&P 500 ended Wednesday slightly below the flatline, pressured by a rise in oil prices, as investors looked ahead to another busy day of corporate earnings. The broad market index dropped 0.14% to end at 7,498.96, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.57% to 25,690.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 6.06 points, or 0.01%, and closed at 52,218.58. Brent crude futures rose about 3.4% to settle at $94.07 per barrel, hitting their highest levels in over a month and briefly topping $95. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed about 3% to close at $86.83. Oil prices advanced following the 11th straight round of U.S. strikes against Iran, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying Iran is "not serious about talks."
Gold slipped to around $4,120 per ounce on Thursday, easing from a two-week high
Gold slipped to around $4,120 per ounce on Thursday, easing from a two-week high, as escalating Middle East tensions pushed oil prices higher. Iran-backed Houthi militants claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, raising risks of broader energy supply disruptions, while President Trump warned of strikes on Iranian infrastructure if shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is targeted. The developments pushed crude prices to fresh six-week highs, keeping inflation pressures elevated and reinforcing expectations that interest rates could stay higher for longer. Investors now looked ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting, where policymakers are expected to keep rates unchanged. Still, markets continue to price in the possibility of a rate hike later this year, with traders assigning a 61% probability of an increase in September.
Crude oil rose to a fresh six-week high of $88 per barrel on Thursday, extending gains
Crude oil rose to a fresh six-week high of $88 per barrel on Thursday, extending gains as escalating Middle East tensions pushed prices higher. Iran-backed Houthi militants claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, raising risks of broader energy supply disruptions, while President Trump warned of strikes on Iranian infrastructure if shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is targeted. The developments kept inflation pressures elevated and reinforced expectations that interest rates could stay higher for longer. Investors now looked ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting, where policymakers are expected to keep rates unchanged, though markets continue to price in the possibility of a rate hike later this year, with traders assigning a 61% probability of an increase in September. Elsewhere, the ECB is widely expected to hold rates steady but keep the door open to a potential September hike.
Trump vows to bomb Iran's bridges, power plants if it shoots at ships in Hormuz Strait
President Donald Trump on Wednesday vowed that the U.S. will blow up an Iranian bridge or power plant — including those in the country's capital city of Tehran — every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The threat, delivered via a Truth Social post, ratchets up hostilities between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic that were already inflamed following the collapse of their ceasefire and the recent deaths of three American service members, whose remains Trump was scheduled to receive later Wednesday. "From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT," Trump's post read. The potential targets include "those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran," Trump specified.
Zelenskyy ousts Ukraine's army chief as protests expose wartime power struggle
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has moved to oust top army commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and sought to bring the country's former defense minister back into government just days after dismissing him. The reshuffle comes after almost a week of nationwide unrest and represents one of the biggest political crises since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. In a late-night television address, Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he was appointing Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces and thanked the outgoing Syrskyi for playing a key role in Kyiv's defense early in the war.
India steps up energy shift as costs and tariff pressures mount — oil blending push sparks backlash
The world's third-largest crude consumer, India, is testing alternative fuels such as ethanol from corn and biogas from animal waste, as rising global oil prices and potential curbs on Russian supplies threaten the country's energy security. The South Asian country has made it mandatory to blend 20% ethanol into petrol, five years ahead of schedule, and is planning to scale up production of compressed biogas — a substitute for compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas. According to local media reports, the government is considering mixing 15% isobutanol in diesel, while last week it also successfully tested its first hydrogen cell-powered train. Alternative fuels are becoming an increasingly important pillar of India's energy security strategy, especially as the country faces rising global energy prices and supply constraints, experts said.
Sen. Wyden introduces bill to curb Trump's tariff powers
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Wednesday introduced a bill that would rein in President Donald Trump's broad tariff powers by eliminating some of his statutory tools to set import duties and giving Congress a greater say over the ones that remain. "Donald Trump has pushed the boundaries of power on trade and tariff policies like no other president we've seen before," Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement unveiling the 35-page bill. "That's why I am introducing a bill to put Congress back in the driver's seat on international trade," he said. "Congress must reassert its authority over trade and tariffs to stop any president from being able to unilaterally change the worldwide economy at the click of a button."
AMD to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic as part of computing power deal
Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Anthropic and said it will invest up to $5 billion in the artificial intelligence company "in the future." As part of the deal, the chipmaker said Anthropic will deploy 2 gigawatts of its AMD Instinct MI450 Series graphics processing units, or GPUs, in AMD Helios rack-scale solutions. The first gigawatt, a measure of power that's become a common metric for describing AI data center capacity, will be deployed in the first half of next year, according to a release. "We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Anthropic and deploy AMD Helios at gigawatt scale," AMD CEO Lisa Su said in a statement.
Trump's push for American-made AI chips hits TSMC's margins
Pressure from President Donald Trump to manufacture advanced semiconductors in the U.S. is increasing costs and squeezing margins at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's leading chipmaker. Following Trump's return to power in 2025, the president has repeatedly threatened tariffs on companies that don't make their products in America. Since then, TSMC has announced a total of $200 billion in commitments to the country, including last week's unveiling of a $100 billion investment into advanced semiconductor manufacturing and packaging facilities in the U.S. While buoyed by the artificial intelligence boom — TSMC's market cap has risen more than 100% in the past 12 months — blockbuster earnings this quarter were hit by overseas expansion, the company said.
Google increases capex forecast again after cloud-driven quarterly beat
Alphabet on Wednesday reported its best-ever quarter of growth for its cloud computing division, but faced investor scrutiny after concerns about continued delays to its flagship AI model were aggravated by a $15 billion increase in capital spending plans for 2026. The search giant now expects to spend between $195 billion and $205 billion in capital expenditures, its finance chief Anat Ashkenazi said on a conference call with analysts. The company said last quarter that it planned to spend between $180 billion and $190 billion this year. Shares of the company were down about 3% in extended trading. The stock was initially volatile but mostly flat, but dipped after Ashkenazi announced the capex update. "We have increased our capacity quite significantly over the past three years."
IBM cuts annual revenue growth forecast as customers prioritize AI infrastructure spending
IBM cut its annual revenue growth forecast on Wednesday, days after shocking Wall Street with a warning that corporate spending was shifting toward AI-focused data-center gear at the expense of its software and mainframe computers. The company also missed profit and revenue expectations for the second quarter ended June 30. Executives sought to reassure shareholders that customers prioritized spending on AI in the quarter but were not looking to move away from mainframes in the longer term. The Armonk, New York-based company's shares dipped marginally in extended trading, following a 2% rise earlier. CEO Arvind Krishna said last week IBM had "faltered" in adapting and "numerous large deals" had slipped, sending the company's shares down 25%, its steepest one-day fall in more than a century.
