Tech Rout Deepens, Oil Crashes as Hormuz Reopens
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% on Wednesday while the Dow Jones gained 0.3%, extending a bruising start to the week for tech as AI-focused names sold off on concerns about lofty valuations, massive spending, and coming interest rate hikes.
- Brent crude tumbled 4% to $73/barrel and WTI dropped to near $70/barrel — the lowest oil prices since early March — as oil tankers began navigating the Strait of Hormuz.
- Iran and Oman have begun discussing a system to charge tolls for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, directly contradicting Trump's pledge that the waterway would remain free of tolls.
- Micron was due to report earnings after Wednesday's closing bell; shares have rallied more than 250% year-to-date but extended losses in the prior session amid the broader tech rout.
- Uncertainty persists over US-Iran talks and where key issues might ultimately land, leaving the Hormuz situation in flux even as tanker traffic resumes.
Why it matters: Energy traders saw Brent crude drop 4% to $73 as tankers resumed Hormuz transit, while tech investors endured a third straight day of AI-linked selling ahead of Micron's after-bell print. The Iran-Oman toll scheme puts Trump's toll-free Hormuz pledge at odds with the actual negotiations unfolding on the ground.
Ask SkimNews
