Wall Street closes lower as chip selloff and oil surge weigh on markets

Wall Street closes lower as chip selloff and oil surge weigh on markets Proactive Mon, July 13, 2026 at 2:24 PM GMT+2 8 min read CL=F ^DJI ^IXIC ^GSPC 4:15pm: Big bank earnings up tomorrow US stocks kicked off the week on a weaker note Monday as rising tensions between the United States and Iran rattled investors, sending chip stocks sharply lower while oil prices climbed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 138 points, or 0. 3%, to 52,499.

The S&P 500 dropped 60 points, or 0. 8%, to 7,515, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq led the declines, tumbling 408 points, or 1. 6%, to 25,873.

Markets were pressured by growing geopolitical uncertainty after President Donald Trump vowed to reinstate a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and announced plans to impose a 20% fee on all cargo passing through the strategic waterway. The developments pushed Brent crude back above $82 a barrel, boosting energy stocks but weighing on the broader market as investors shifted toward safer assets. Investors are now turning their attention to the start of second-quarter earnings season, which gets underway before Tuesday's opening bell.

Results from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are expected to provide the first glimpse into how corporate America is navigating a still-uncertain economic backdrop. 3:45pm: Proactive news headlines Northstar Gold Corp. (CSE:NSG) received its first reimbursement of about C$628,000 under the Surgical Mining for Critical Minerals Project to support development of its Cam Copper Zone 2 Surgical Mining initiative in Ontario.

First Phosphate Corp. (CSE:PHOS, OTCQX:FRSPF, FRA:KD0, OTC:FPHOY) closed the final tranche of its non-brokered private placement, raising total gross proceeds of about C$17. 7 million across two financing rounds.

G Mining Ventures Corp (TSX:GMIN, OTCQX:GMINF, FRA:W97) and G2 Goldfields Inc (TSX-V:GTWO, OTCQX:GUYGF) said they expect to complete the remaining closing conditions for G Mining's acquisition of G2 by the end of July. Pinnacle Silver & Gold Corp (TSX-V:PINN, OTCQB:PSGCF, FRA:P9J) plans to raise up to C$2. 2 million through a non-brokered private placement to fund exploration at its El Potrero gold-silver project in Mexico and for working capital.

2:45pm: Market movers Agenus ( Agenus Inc (NASDAQ:AGEN) ) shares nearly doubled after the biotechnology company announced an oversubscribed private placement of up to $340 million to advance development of its botensilimab and balstilimab immunotherapy combination for microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer. Twin Vee PowerCats (NASDAQ:VEEE) shares soared more than 370% after the company agreed to merge with a subsidiary of USFM Corporation while privatizing its marine business in a transformative transaction. First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) agreed to acquire TriCo Bancshares in a deal aimed at creating a leading Pacific banking franchise and expanding its presence from Hawaii into California.

Greenfire Resources (NYSE:GFR, TSX:GFR) plans to raise at least C$575 million through a rights offering to repay bridge financing tied to its proposed acquisition of Connacher Oil and Gas. FuboTV (NYSE:FUBO) shares rose after the streaming company named former Disney+ president Alisa Bowen as chief executive officer, succeeding co-founder David Gandler. SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY) shares fell sharply as investors took profits following the memory chip maker's recent Nasdaq debut and reassessed its valuation after a strong rally.

Story Continues 1:15pm: Markets remain calm despite Hormuz tensions US stock markets have remained remarkably calm over the prospect of a return to the US blockade of Iran, according to Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at online trading and investing platform IG, while oil prices have gained as markets weigh the potential impact on global supply. "The US' apparent decision to pile on the pressure on Iran by reinstating the blockade has lifted oil prices, though the reaction remains calm relative to the potential for supply disruption," Beauchamp wrote. :Markets seem to be pricing in a resumption of negotiations in due course, given the lack of appetite for an extended standoff, but with oil stockpiles not fully rebuilt this is a risky view to take.

This limited exchange of projectiles is still nowhere near the intensity of March's conflict, leaving hope for a relatively quick resolution. " 11:55am: Altman slams Musk's 'space-based' data centers OpenAI (Unlisted:OPAI) CEO Sam Altman has criticized Elon Musk's plans for space-based data centers, accusing the  SpaceX Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX) ( SpaceX Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX) ) and xAI leader of promoting an unproven technology to public market investors as the two technology executives continued their long-running dispute. The comments came after Musk accused Altman of "taking scamming to a whole new level" in a post on X, escalating a series of public exchanges between the two billionaires that have followed their split over the direction of OpenAI.

"Homeboy you're the one selling public market investors on short-term space data centers," Altman wrote on X, referring to SpaceX's plans to develop orbital computing infrastructure. Musk's comments referenced ongoing legal disputes involving OpenAI and Altman, while Altman's response targeted SpaceX's plans for artificial intelligence computing satellites. SpaceX has outlined plans for a large-scale satellite network capable of supporting AI workloads, including up to one million compute satellites.

The company's AI1 satellite design is expected to support peak power levels of up to 150 kilowatts. However, the orbital data center concept remains in development and has yet to be demonstrated at scale. Shares of SpaceX traded down about 5% on Monday at about $138, only modestly above last month's IPO price of $135.

11:00am: Week ahead Wall Street heads into one of its busiest weeks of the summer, with second-quarter earnings season shifting into high gear alongside key inflation data and closely watched testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. The week kicks off with a flood of bank earnings. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo report on Tuesday, offering investors an early read on loan growth, investment banking activity, consumer health and the impact of higher interest rates.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) ( Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) ) and Bank of New York Mellon follow on Wednesday, while Regions Financial and  Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) ( Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) ) report Friday. Technology investors will also be watching closely as AI heavyweights take the spotlight. ASML reports Wednesday, followed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

(TSMC) and Netflix on Thursday. Beyond earnings, investors will be parsing a packed economic calendar. Tuesday's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report and Wednesday's Producer Price Index (PPI) are expected to shape expectations for the Fed's next policy move.

Warsh will deliver his semiannual testimony before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the Fed's Beige Book, released Wednesday, will provide an updated snapshot of economic conditions across the country. 10am: Dow opens higher but Nasdaq falls It's a mixed open for Wall Street, with investors switching out of tech and buying more defensive names ahead of earnings season and some other market moving events later this week. The Dow Jones has opened up 0.

3%, helped by gains from the likes of Salesforce, Chevron and Apple. The S&P 500 slipped 0. 3%, while the Nasdaq fell almost 1% as chipmakers led the declines.

Top fallers on the tech-laden index are SanDisk, Arm Holdings, Western Digital, Micron and Marvell, all dropping over 7%, with Nvidia also trading 1. 4% lower, as investors take profits across the semiconductor sector. 8.

25am: Nasdaq tipped to drop, as oil rebounds further US stocks are set for a weaker start to the week after last week finished on a positive note, with technology shares expected to come under the most pressure as investors balanced renewed geopolitical tensions against a busy week for inflation data and the start of bank earnings season. Nasdaq futures were down 1. 0% early on Monday, while S&P 500 futures were down 0.

4% and Dow Jones futures were sitting just 0. 1% lower. The pullback follows a solid week; the S&P 500 gained more than 1%, the Nasdaq rose 0.

9% and the Dow added 0. 4%. Monday saw oil prices climb after the US confirmed fresh military strikes on Iran aimed at reducing Tehran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

WTI crude rose 3. 5% to $73. 94 a barrel, having briefly traded above $75 in the early hours.

Iran said the ceasefire was in a "crisis phase" and warned it could abandon the agreement if Washington failed to meet its commitments, maintaining that efforts with Oman to establish a mechanism for managing the strategic waterway were being hampered by the US. The rise in oil prices weighed heavily on Asian technology stocks. South Korea's Kospi slumped almost 9%, with memory chip maker SK Hynix dropping 13% despite its strong debut on Wall Street last week , while Japan's Nikkei lost 1.

9%. European markets were roughly flat, with London's FTSE 100 down 0. 3% and benchmarks for Germany and France broadly unchanged.

Investors are now turning their attention to Tuesday's US inflation report and Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh's testimony to Congress. Although economists expect headline inflation to ease slightly, higher energy prices have raised doubts over how much comfort policymakers will take from the data. Earnings season also gathers pace this week, starting with results from several major US banks tomorrow.