Oil prices climbed in early Monday trading while US Treasury futures weakened, as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East escalated over the weekend.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced it had fired missiles at US military bases, while US Central Command reported altering the navigation routes of 83 commercial vessels. Explosions were heard near Iran's Larak Island in the south, and a US official confirmed that American forces had struck two weapons facilities in Iran.
President Trump criticized Canada for taking advantage of the US for years and rejected Canadian automobiles and auto parts. The UK Maritime Trade Operations reported an oil tanker attack in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran was observed using small boats to monitor vessels transiting the strategic waterway. Trump also urged the Federal Communications Commission to investigate media polling and penalize an NBC News anchor. Treasury Secretary Bessent and others travelled together to attend the G20 summit. A flash flood struck the Grand Canyon, leaving more than 20 people missing.
Turning to corporate news, NASA and SpaceX postponed an International Space Station mission launch due to a capsule leak. SpaceX is also building a turbine blade factory, aiming to address the data center "power shortage" challenge. Iren secured $2.4 billion in debt financing to purchase Nvidia chips for its Canadian data center campus expansion. Lambda obtained approximately $1 billion in short-term private debt to buy Nvidia chips for leasing to Microsoft. OpenAI announced it would stop supplying models to Cursor, a SpaceX-backed venture.
In commentary, bond investors adopted a cautious stance following Warsh's remarks that fueled rate hike expectations. Kremlin spokesman Peskov said a trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine meeting could only take place after a final agreement was reached. Iceland's Prime Minister stated that EU accession talks would not be pursued during the current government's term. Senior US military officials warned that the war effort against Iran is unsustainable, with the Pentagon facing resource depletion and fiscal pressure.
Looking at last week's market performance, US stocks closed lower on Thursday, August 29, but still recorded weekly gains, with market expectations rising for a September rate hike. Nvidia fell over 4%, dragging the indices, while Amazon rose 3.97% to lead the "Magnificent Seven." Chinese ADRs were mixed, with Alibaba up 2.23% and TSMC down 2.29%. In commodities, oil posted a weekly decline, copper extended its winning streak to nine weeks, and gold tumbled. European markets advanced, led by auto stocks.