Three boys play in the shallow waters of the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, on July 13, as a plume of smoke rises from an explosion in the background. (Razieh Paudat/ISNA via AP)
| Update:
key takeaways:
- Oil prices surged and world stocks were mixed after the US airstrike on July 13 and Iran retaliating.
- More losses for computer chip makers and other winners of the AI boom are weighing on stock markets.
- Concerns about how the ongoing war with Iran will impact global flows of crude are clouding the outlook for both energy costs and overall inflation.
NEW YORK – Oil prices are climbing July 13 after weekend attacks in the Middle East, while more losses at computer chip makers and other winners of the artificial intelligence boom are weighing on stock markets.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.9% to $78.95 after the United States and Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was under its control. The fighting between the two has prevented oil tankers from using the strait to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf to customers around the world, sending fuel prices rising around the world.
Rising inflation pressures are eroding profits for many companies, and the S&P 500 fell 0.2%, its fourth losing week in the past five. As of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 127 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% lower.
Read more: Trump says America will block Iran in the Strait of Hormuz
Chip stocks like Micron Technology declined. Micron fell 6.1%, giving it a spectacular rise of 243.1% so far this year. There are real profits behind this growth as the AI rush has created increased demand for computer memory and other computing building blocks.
But concerns are growing that stock prices have gone too high and demand may become unsustainable if AI does not deliver as much profit and productivity as expected.
The day’s decline began in Asia, where South Korea’s Kospi index fell 8.9%. That included a 15.4% drop for SK Hynix in Seoul, the worst decline since its stock began trading in 1997.
Today at 5 p.m. ET, US Central Command forces launched further strikes against Iran to reduce their ability to attack civilian sailors and commercial vessels freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The Commander in Chief has directed strikes to capture the Iranians… – US Central Command (@CENTCOM) 12 July 2026
The South Korean maker of computer memory just launched its stock trading shares in the United States on July 10, raising about $26.5 billion. Those shares rose 13.1% on their first day of trading, but they fell 7.6% on July 13.
Other areas of the AI industry fared better. Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in Taiwan rose 1% after the chip maker said its revenue in June rose nearly 68% from a year earlier. This took its total revenue growth in the first half of the year to 35.6% compared to a year earlier.
TSMC stock traded in the United States rose 0.1%.
Much of Wall Street’s attention this week will be on companies’ profit reports showing how much they earned during the spring season from April to June. On July 14 alone, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo are all releasing their latest quarterly results.
According to FactSet, analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 index to deliver overall growth of 23.6% compared to a year ago. If they’re right, it would be the second consecutive quarter of growth better than 20%.
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Companies across all industries will need strong growth to justify big moves in their share prices. The indices are near records despite recent volatility due to concerns over AI stocks.
According to FactSet, companies generally deliver results in line with top analysts’ expectations, including 37 of the last 40 quarters. If S&P 500 businesses do so again by normal margins, earnings growth for the latest quarter could be the best since the end of 2021.
In the bond market, Treasury yields rose along with the price of oil. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose to 4.58% from 4.56% at the end of July 10, up from just 3.97% before the war with Iran began.
Yields have risen around the world on concerns of expensive oil and higher inflation, which could prompt the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates. Higher rates may curb inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt the prices of all types of investments.
Stock market indices abroad were mixed amid mostly minor fluctuations in Europe.
Beyond South Korea’s decline, in Asia, the ups and downs were more intense. Stocks in Shanghai fell 2.1%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.9%.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Ellen Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
