This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Live coverage has ended. The full story is below.
This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.
President Trump has placed an 8pm ET deadline on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or its bridges and utility plants would be bombed. In response to the escalated tensions, oil prices are rising, with WTI Crude and Brent Crude hovering at around $115 and $110, respectively. All three of the major stock market averages are under pressure, including the Nasdaq Composite, which is being led lower by the likes of ASML Holding (Nasdaq: ASML) and Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA).
The Invesco QQQ (Nasdaq: QQQ) is about to get some heavyweight competition. Both BlackRock and State Street are preparing to launch their own Nasdaq 100 ETFs, targeting one of the most popular funds on Wall Street.
Wall Street firm UBS is less optimistic on U.S. stocks, trimming its year-end S&P 500 target to 7,500 from 7,700 and its mid-year call to 7,000 from 7,300. The firm is blaming the Iran war as a force that could keep oil prices high, drag on growth, and push Fed rate cuts further down the road.
Here’s a look at where things stand as of morning trading:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 46,361 Down 0.66%
Nasdaq Composite: 21,849 Down 0.65%
S&P 500: 6,574 Down 0.53%
Market Movers
Broadcom (Nasdaq: AVGO | AVGO Price Prediction) is tacking on 3% today after signing on Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL) and Anthropic for its AI chips.
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) is jumping on the the innovation bandwagon, joining the Terafab project alongside SpaceX, xAI and Tesla to bolster silicon fabrication for AI and robotics.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX will reportedly target a valuation of $1.75 trillion, setting out on its investor roadshow in early June.
Dividend stock Hershey (NYSE: HSY) , which has been accused of using a chocolate substitute by the Reese’s family, is trying to make things right. The company has promised to switch to real chocolate in all its products (eventually) alongside the introduction of two new products, Reese’s Marshmallow Cup and Reese’s Strawberry PB&J Cup.
Delta (NYSE: DAL) is raising baggage fees for passengers again, and the stock is down 1% today.
Insurance stocks are rising, including the likes of Humana (NYSE: HUM), up 6%, and UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) thanks to higher Medicare payments.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.