Dow, S&P 500 Hit Records as US-Iran Talks Progress; SanDisk Jumps 10%

TradingKey - Rising expectations of a US-Iran deal dragged down oil prices, and coupled with earnings from most reporting companies beating expectations, risk appetite in US equities rebounded. All three major US stock indexes strengthened, with both the Dow and the S&P 500 hitting new highs. AI hardware stocks returned to the market's main line, with memory and optical communications stocks leading the gains.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.71% to 54,084.99 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.59% to 26,584.99 points; and the S&P 500 Index advanced 1.79% to 7,736.52 points.

Tech Stock Performance

Palantir (PLTR) rose 29.45% to $162.66 post-earnings.

Palantir's second-quarter revenue grew 93% year-over-year to $1.94 billion, beating expectations of $1.8 billion. Of this, US commercial revenue reached $764 million, up 149% year-over-year. US government revenue reached $809 million, representing a 90% year-over-year increase. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) was 41 cents, beating market expectations of 35 cents.

Marvell Technology (MRVL) rose 12.81% to $218.59.

Marvell Technology said on Tuesday that it has launched a brand-new AI memory infrastructure product line to support cloud service providers in achieving independent memory expansion. The company stated that these products, including Bravera SC6 SSD controllers, the Structera X memory expansion platform, and the Photonic Fabric optical interconnect architecture, aim to improve token efficiency in data centers.

Among large-cap tech stocks, gainers (from highest to lowest): SpaceX (SPCX) rose 9.43%, Broadcom (AVGO) rose 6.61%, Nvidia (NVDA) rose 2.54%, Apple (AAPL) rose 1.96%, Tesla (TSLA) rose 1.64%, Google (GOOGL) rose 1.11%, Microsoft (MSFT) rose 1.06%; as for decliners, Amazon (AMZN) fell 2.32%, Meta Platforms (META) fell 0.39%.

[Source: FutuBull]

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 6.55% to 12,179.26 points. Of the 30 constituents, 29 rose and 1 fell.

Among memory stocks, SanDisk (SNDK) rose 10.84%, SK Hynix (SKHY) rose 8.17%, Micron Technology (MU) rose 7.62%, Western Digital (WDC) rose 4.05%, and Seagate Technology (STX) rose 1.72%.

Corporate News

Anthropic to Spend $10 Billion on Computing Power in Deal with Cloud Startup

According to people familiar with the matter, Anthropic has reached a $10 billion computing power agreement with an infrastructure startup founded only a few months ago, in the Claude developer's latest move to meet growing demand for its products. The people said Anthropic has signed a contract to use data centers operated by Volta Infra Holdings Ltd., an Nvidia-backed cloud computing startup. Volta said earlier Tuesday that it had reached a $10 billion agreement with an unnamed artificial intelligence lab. The project will partner with Bitdeer Technologies Group, which operates data centers, and utilize its data center facilities in Norway. Volta said the agreement is for a six-year term.

Apple Requests Judge to Immediately Bar OpenAI from Using Its Trade Secrets

Apple has asked a U.S. federal court for an immediate order requiring OpenAI to stop using what it claims are stolen trade secrets, return the confidential information, and block OpenAI from further accessing other internal Apple materials. Apple stated that if this information is integrated into OpenAI's products and operating systems, the damage will be irreparable.

Blackstone Aims to Raise at Least $36 Billion in Debt Financing for Anthropic

Blackstone plans to raise another massive debt financing package, potentially worth at least $36 billion, for Anthropic to use Google (GOOGL) chips. People familiar with the matter said the financing amount, structure, and whether Blackstone will ultimately lead the deal are still under discussion, and the plans could change. If completed at the current scale, the deal would surpass the $35 billion debt financing arranged about two months ago by Apollo and Blackstone for Anthropic to lease custom Google chips, which was already one of the largest deals in the private credit market.

Procter & Gamble to Acquire Nutritional Supplement Brand Thorne for $3.8 Billion

Procter & Gamble will acquire nutritional supplement brand Thorne for $3.8 billion, further doubling down on its health and wellness business. Founded in 1984, Thorne was valued at approximately $525 million when it went public in 2021, and was subsequently taken private by private equity firm L Catterton for $680 million in 2023. The company stated that its revenue for 2025 has exceeded $500 million, and it aims to grow into a brand with $1 billion in annual sales in the coming years.

Industry & Macro News

US Treasury Secretary Bessent: Agreement with Iran to Open Strait of Hormuz Could Be Reached Tomorrow

In an interview with CNBC, US Treasury Secretary Bessent said that we could reach an agreement with Iran tomorrow to open the Strait of Hormuz. He noted that an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz could be reached on Tuesday or Wednesday. Bessent stated that the situation in the Gulf has been somewhat unstable over the past few days, but even now, we are seeing quite a few vessels transiting out of the Strait of Hormuz. He expects energy prices to pull back, and as prices fall, there could be a wave of sharp rebound trading.

US Plans to Ban Imports of New Chinese Data Center Equipment

According to a Reuters report, people familiar with the matter revealed that the US government is drafting a ban that would prohibit imports of new Chinese data center components in order to protect critical infrastructure supporting AI development. Four sources said the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates the US telecom sector, is drafting measures to ban imports of new Chinese optical transceiver modules. Optical transceivers are primarily used for high-speed fiber-optic data transmission within data centers. US officials hope to announce and implement the ban in 2026. However, the FCC could still modify or shelve the restrictions, the sources said.

Iran Considers Allowing Europe to Conduct Minesweeping in Strait of Hormuz

According to a Bloomberg report, Iran is considering allowing European nations to conduct minesweeping operations in the Strait of Hormuz. This concession could become part of an agreement to normalize shipping in the waterway and help advance peace talks with the US. Iran has previously stated publicly on multiple occasions that it would not allow foreign participation in minesweeping operations at this critical oil and gas hub. However, according to diplomats familiar with the matter, Tehran's position has softened during private meetings in recent weeks. Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet responded.

OPEC Crude Oil Production Recovers Further in July, with Three Persian Gulf Nations Accounting for Almost All of the Increase

According to a Bloomberg survey, OPEC's crude oil production recovered further last month, clawing back some of the losses caused by the war, as output increases in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq drove a rebound in supply. The survey showed that OPEC members' supply rose by 1.16 million barrels per day (bpd) in July to an average of 19.44 million bpd, with the three Persian Gulf nations accounting for almost all of the gain. The group's output remains significantly below pre-war levels. Iraq led OPEC's production growth in July, with daily output increasing by 460,000 barrels to 2.3 million barrels. According to tanker-tracking data, Iraq's crude oil loadings grew by 37% in July. Kuwait's daily output in July increased by 360,000 barrels to 1.57 million barrels. Kuwaiti officials said this week that the country has restored its highest average production level since the start of the conflict. The situation in Saudi Arabia was more complex. According to the survey, Saudi output rose by 390,000 bpd to 7.4 million bpd, but its production remains millions of barrels below pre-conflict levels.