Update: Equity Markets Fall as Trump Says Iran Violated Ceasefire
(Updates with market moves at the end of the day.)US equity benchmarks slipped Friday as President Donald Trump accused Iran of violating their ceasefire agreement, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 registered weekly losses.The Nasdaq fell 0.2% to 25,297.6, its fifth consecutive losing session, while the S&P 500 edged down 0.1% to 7,354. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1% to 51,876.1. Among sectors, industrials saw the biggest drop, while healthcare paced the gainers.This week, the technology-heavy Nasdaq slid 4.6%, while the S&P 500 shed nearly 2% -- following two consecutive weekly advance. The Dow logged a weekly gain of 0.6%.Trump accused Iran of launching drone attacks on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, more than a week after Washington and Tehran signed an interim peace agreement that includes the reopening of the crucial waterway for crude oil shipments."This is a foolish violation of our ceasefire agreement," Trump said in a social media post Friday.The incident indicated that Iran retained some of its military capabilities, CNN reported, citing Trump.In a separate social media post, Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on all goods from any European country that implements a digital services tax on US companies."This tariff will supersede trade deals made with the country, whether implemented, signed, or not," Trump said.West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 3.4% at $69.47 a barrel in Friday late-afternoon trade, while Brent fell 4.2% to $72.09. Both benchmarks were on track for weekly declines of more than 9%, with Brent headed for its sixth consecutive weekly fall."The deep and rapid drop in crude, which saw WTI drop to $69, has soothed global inflation angst -- but it hasn't cured it," Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Financial Group, said in a report. "Just as concerns over the oil shock are fading, the cost pressures from the ongoing (artificial intelligence) boom have leapt to the forefront."US Treasury yields were lower, with the two-year rate last down 3.7 basis points at 4.10% and the 10-year rate falling 1.9 basis points to 4.38%.Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said that an interest rate increase looks necessary this year."In March, I had penciled in one rate cut by the end of the year. In June, I've changed that to one rate hike by the end of the year," Kashkari, a Federal Open Market Committee voter this year, said during a panel discussion at the Aspen Ideas Festival, according to a CNBC report. "It's a pencil, and so we're going to have to see how the data comes in."The Fed is likely to maintain interest rates stable for the rest of the year as inflation looks set to ease, Morgan Stanley said Friday in a report."We believe tariff pass through is ending, paving the way for substantial disinflation in core goods over the next year, and the recently signed (memorandum of understanding) between the US and Iran has helped push oil prices back toward pre-conflict levels," Morgan Stanley Chief US Economist Michael Gapen wrote. "In addition, we look for further moderation in shelter inflation and some payback from residual seasonality into year end."US consumer sentiment increased in June amid moderating gasoline prices, while inflation expectations eased, a survey by the University of Michigan showed.In company news, IBM (IBM) shares rose 5.2%, the third-best performer on the Dow. The company's technology capable of producing chips smaller than one nanometer represents a "major moment" for the semiconductor industry amid increasing artificial intelligence workloads, Wedbush Securities said in a note on Friday.Microsoft rose 5.7%, the top gainer on the Dow.OpenAI is leaning toward delaying its initial public offering until next year, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing three people involved in the company's deliberations.Onsemi (ON) shares slid nearly 24%, the steepest drop on the S&P 500, after the chipmaker agreed to acquire semiconductor company Synaptics (SYNA) in a deal with an enterprise value of about $7 billion. Synaptics shares fell 3.7%.Gold was last seen up 1% at $4,088.20 per troy ounce, while silver advanced 1% to $58.93 per ounce.Spot gold was headed for its fourth weekly fall as expectations of US interest rate hikes combined with a stronger dollar weighed on the yellow metal.
