Overview
- CENTCOM confirmed that U.S. forces carried out additional strikes on targets in Iran at President Trump’s direction late Wednesday, marking a sharp escalation after reports an American Apache was downed near the Strait of Hormuz.
- U.S. stock benchmarks fell more than 1% on Wednesday as a rout in chip and AI‑linked names led losses, with major chip indexes slipping roughly 3–4% and heavyweight firms such as Nvidia and Broadcom among the biggest drags.
- Oil spiked roughly 2% to about $92 a barrel after the strikes as Tehran warned of closing the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, a development that raises costs for oil‑importing countries and stokes inflationary pressure.
- Asian and regional markets swung sharply: South Korea’s KOSPI plunged several percent, Pakistan’s KSE‑100 reversed a prior rally to fall about 900 points, and India’s large‑cap Sensex ended marginally higher while the broader market showed broad selling.
- Investors now face a tighter mix of risks—renewed Middle East fighting, a hotter U.S. CPI print, and stretched tech valuations—which could sustain volatility, squeeze importers through higher fuel bills and influence Fed rate expectations and capital flows.