US EQUITY OPEN: Indices in the red as US/Iran tensions escalate

OPEN: US indices open in the red with sectors largely lower as Consumer Staples and Discretionary lag. To the upside, only Energy and Materials sit in the green, as the former is buoyed by gains of c. USD 2.80/bbl in the crude complex. There were numerous Middle East updates overnight, as US forces struck multiple Iranian tankers tied to the IRGC in response to more attempted missile attacks on a US Navy warship, and in retaliation Iran launched missiles at targets and launched at least 20 missiles at bases in Jordan. Heading into the close on Tuesday, IRGC warned that oil tanker crews in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports would be targeted in light of the US Army targeting several Iranian oil tankers. The Dollar has moved lower through the duration of the US session, so far, to the benefit of G10 FX peers as the Yen outperforms and sees USD/JPY currently sit around 153.40, after breaching 153 to the downside earlier in the session following Bessent remarks. Precious metals are in the green, while Treasuries are pretty flat across the curve with focus on the Treasury buyback announcement. There is no tier 1 US data on Wednesday, or Fed speak given blackout, so traders await the aforementioned Treasury buyback announcement ahead of private inventory data after-hours. Later in the week highlights include Oracle earnings, PPI (Thurs) and CPI (Fri). STOCK SPECIFICS: Apple (AAPL) foldable iPhone event is later today ServiceTitan (TTAN) next quarter revenue guide short of expectations Alphabet (GOOGL) to invest a minimum of EUR 13bln in Finland’s AI infrastructure in 2027-28. Signet Jewelers (SIG) EPS & revenue beat alongside raising FY top line guidance Chime Financial (CHYM) entered a definitive agreement to acquire Stride Bank for USD 590mln in cash & raised Q3 outlook. Dow (DOW) reportedly weighs exit from USD 20bln Saudi chemicals venture Evommune (EVMN) phase 2b EV0756 trial did not meet primary & secondary endpoints. Independence Realty Trust (IRT) and Centerspace (CSR) have agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction. Meta (META) launches Muse personal AI agent. Muse can connect with Meta apps and third-party services including Google Workspace, Ticketmaster, OpenTable, Spotify and Apple Health.