Stock Market Today: SPY, QQQ Stumble as Oil Extends Rally on Escalating U.S.-Iran Tensions

SPY and QQQ fell as U.S.-Iran tensions drove oil prices up 26% since July 7, with Trump threatening strikes on Iranian infrastructure. Meanwhile, AMD rose on a multibillion-dollar chip deal with Anthropic, Micron's market cap exceeded $1 trillion amid AI stock recovery, and Bank of America raised its AWS revenue estimate for Amazon ahead of earnings.

Both the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) closed lower on Wednesday as oil prices rose alongside elevated U.S.-Iran tensions.

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News That Moved the Stock Market Today

President Trump said the U.S. would strike an Iranian bridge or power plant each time Tehran targets a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. In a Truth Social post, he added that the targets could include infrastructure "located next to, or in, the capital city of Tehran."
Iran responded by saying it would target U.S. infrastructure in the Middle East if Trump followed through with the threat.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slipped since the two countries resumed hostilities on July 7. That's led to a spike in Brent crude oil (BZ) prices, which are up by 26% since then. 15 vessels transited the waterway on July 19, followed by 13 on July 20 and nine on July 21, according to data from MarineTraffic.
AMD (AMD) closed higher after announcing a multibillion-dollar deal with Anthropic. Anthropic will purchase up to 2 gigawatts of AMD's Instinct MI450 chips, while AMD will invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic.
Micron's (MU) market capitalization jumped back above $1 trillion as AI-related stocks continued to recover from last week's selloff.
Bank of America Securities analyst Justin Post reiterated his Amazon (AMZN) price target of $310. Post also raised his Amazon Web Services (AWS) second-quarter revenue growth estimate to 33%. Amazon is set to report its earnings on July 30.
Intel (INTC), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and American Airlines (AAL) are set to report their earnings on Thursday.

News That Moved the Stock Market Today

President Trump said the U.S. would strike an Iranian bridge or power plant each time Tehran targets a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. In a Truth Social post, he added that the targets could include infrastructure "located next to, or in, the capital city of Tehran."

Iran responded by saying it would target U.S. infrastructure in the Middle East if Trump followed through with the threat.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slipped since the two countries resumed hostilities on July 7. That's led to a spike in Brent crude oil (BZ) prices, which are up by 26% since then. 15 vessels transited the waterway on July 19, followed by 13 on July 20 and nine on July 21, according to data from MarineTraffic.

AMD (AMD) closed higher after announcing a multibillion-dollar deal with Anthropic. Anthropic will purchase up to 2 gigawatts of AMD's Instinct MI450 chips, while AMD will invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic.

Micron's (MU) market capitalization jumped back above $1 trillion as AI-related stocks continued to recover from last week's selloff.

Bank of America Securities analyst Justin Post reiterated his Amazon (AMZN) price target of $310. Post also raised his Amazon Web Services (AWS) second-quarter revenue growth estimate to 33%. Amazon is set to report its earnings on July 30.

Intel (INTC), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and American Airlines (AAL) are set to report their earnings on Thursday.