US Stocks Fall, Dow Drops Over 400 Points as US Launches New Round of Strikes Against Iran; Tech Stocks Lead Losses, Micron Falls 2.6%

TradingKey - Brent crude broke above $95 after the U.S. launched a new round of strikes on Iranian targets, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit another recent high, both dampening market trading sentiment. Major U.S. stock indices fell, led by losses in tech stocks, while consumer and healthcare stocks gained against the trend.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.79% to 52,766.88; the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.03% to 26,099.77; and the S&P 500 Index declined 0.71% to 7,631.47.

Tech Stock Performance

Apple (AAPL) bucked the trend to rise 2.61%, closing at $325.13.

Apple Chief Executive Officer John Ternus, in his first address to employees as the new leader, praised the company's strong product pipeline and teased an "extraordinary" iPhone launch event scheduled for next week. He stated, "We have a major launch next week, and it is going to be incredibly extraordinary."

Among mega-cap tech stocks, Apple (AAPL) rose 2.61% and Meta Platforms (META) gained 1.08%. On the downside, Tesla (TSLA) fell 3.22%, Amazon (AMZN) dropped 1.87%, Nvidia (NVDA) declined 1.51%, Google (GOOGL) lost 1.28%, Microsoft (MSFT) fell 1.24%, SpaceX (SPCX) slipped 1.02%, and Broadcom (AVGO) edged down 0.18%.

[Source: FutuBull]

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 2.14% to 11,288.61 points. Among its 30 constituents, 28 fell and 2 rose. Among them, Lam Research (LRCX) dropped 3.74%, Applied Materials (AMAT) fell 3.61%, Arm Holdings (ARM) slid 2.93%, Texas Instruments (TXN) slipped 2.90%, KLA (KLAC) declined 2.60%, AMD (AMD) fell 2.30%, and ASML (ASML) dropped 1.82%.

Among memory stocks, Micron Technology (MU) fell 2.64%, SK Hynix (SKHY) dropped 2.31%, SanDisk (SNDK) slid 1.90%, Seagate Technology (STX) declined 1.42%, and Western Digital (WDC) slipped 0.02%.

Company News

Anthropic Releases Fable 5.1, Citing Improved Coding Capabilities and Lower Costs

Anthropic has launched Fable 5.1, a new version of its artificial intelligence model, claiming superior performance in coding and scientific tasks alongside greater cost efficiency. In coding, Fable 5.1 excels at handling long-term, complex tasks, including software project development, code reviews, and intricate scenarios involving entire application codebases. Scientific capabilities have also been enhanced, covering experimental protocol design, simulation of experimental results, and the interpretation of complex charts and data tables. On the cost front, token pricing for enterprise users remains on par with Fable 5, but the cost for the model to recall previously processed information has been cut by 75%. This step can account for more than half of token consumption in long-text, complex tasks, and the price cut is expected to significantly reduce overall operating costs. Regarding safety, Fable 5.1 upgrades its classifiers to more accurately identify risky prompts with fewer false positives, allowing cybersecurity and biology-related users to operate more efficiently.

SpaceX Reportedly to Overhaul Data Center Leadership

According to The Information, Elon Musk has reshuffled the team responsible for data center construction at SpaceX in recent weeks, replacing several leaders and bringing in executives from the rocket and satellite internet businesses to bolster data center infrastructure development, people familiar with the matter said. Two people familiar with the matter stated that the data center reorganization stems from civil engineering issues and persistent reliability problems at SpaceXAI's existing data center facilities in Tennessee and Mississippi. During the early stages of AI infrastructure construction, SpaceXAI rushed to build these data centers quickly, leaving some facilities operating for months without backup cooling and power systems. People familiar with the matter said this heightened the risk of system outages.

SoftBank-Backed SB Energy Files for US IPO

SB Energy, a power infrastructure company backed by SoftBank Group and OpenAI, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S., becoming the latest firm seeking to capitalize on the growing electricity demand from data centers. According to the company's filing, revenue for the first half of 2026 was $139 million with a net loss of $3.2 billion, compared with revenue of $83 million and a net loss of $216 million in the same period last year. SB Energy holds a portfolio of solar and battery storage assets and is developing a 9.2-gigawatt natural gas power plant. The Ohio-based natural gas plant will supply power to an artificial intelligence data center as the company pivots its focus toward digital infrastructure. Both OpenAI and SoftBank have agreed to invest $500 million in SB Energy to build and operate a 1.2-gigawatt OpenAI data center in Texas. Ares Management has also invested in SB Energy.

Industry & Macro News

U.S. Central Command: Begins New Round of Strikes Against Iran

U.S. Central Command issued a statement: "U.S. forces began strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (12:00 a.m. Beijing Time). This strike is in response to the IRGC's recent attempts to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. personnel in the region." Previously, U.S. President Donald Trump had considered a Central Command plan to conduct limited strikes against Iran to prevent it from rebuilding radar and missile capabilities that could be used to attack ships in the strait.

U.S. Crude Oil Futures Break Above $90 Level for First Time Since Late July

WTI crude oil futures touched $90 a barrel, reaching the level for the first time since late July and rising 4.28% on the day. On the news front, Trump stated that strikes against Iran are underway and warned that if Iran dares to retaliate, little of the nation will be left. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and armed forces responded forcefully, stating: "We will inevitably respond multiple times over, launch devastating strikes against U.S. forces, and hit U.S. bases severely."

Fed Governor Barr: Should Raise Rates Decisively If Inflation Fails to Cool

Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr stated that the Fed should be prepared to raise interest rates if inflation fails to cool. He warned that inflation has persistently exceeded the target for more than five years, posing a risk of entrenched price pressures. Barr said policymakers can remain patient if upcoming data shows inflation is cooling. In remarks prepared for an event in Washington on Tuesday, Barr stated: "If the data trend gives me confidence that inflation is moderating toward the 2% target, then I think we can take some more time to evaluate our policy stance. But if inflation does not appear to be cooling by a sufficient margin, then I think we should act decisively to raise interest rates."

U.S. July JOLTS Job Openings Rise Slightly

Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday showed that job openings rose to 7.27 million in July, up from a downwardly revised 7.18 million in June, but slightly below the median estimate of 7.31 million in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Meanwhile, layoffs fell to their lowest level since January this year, indicating that while companies remain cautious about expansion, there are no signs of widespread headcount reductions.