U.S. Stocks Mixed as Iran Tensions Dampen Risk Appetite; Tech Rallies on Strong AI Outlook

U.S. stocks opened flat on Monday (17th), as investors balanced strong revenue guidance from Anthropic, which lifted technology shares, against escalating U.S.-Iran tensions that raised concerns about the worsening six-month-long Middle East conflict, dampening overall risk appetite.

Brent crude hovered near $89 per barrel, while U.S. Treasury prices declined. Despite recent data showing moderate inflation, rising energy costs have reignited fears of resurgent price pressures, prompting market worries that the Federal Reserve (Fed) might raise interest rates before year-end.

At press time: Dow Jones Industrial Average down nearly 150 points or ~0.3% Nasdaq Composite down 0.01% S&P 500 down 0.14% Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up nearly 1.4% TSMC ADR up nearly 0.5%

Anthropic’s rapid revenue growth has reignited enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) investments, helping tech-led global equities rise on Monday. U.S. equity futures also advanced, with Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.5% and S&P 500 futures up 0.1%. The U.S. dollar briefly touched a three-month low.

In pre-market trading, storage and semiconductor stocks such as SanDisk (SNDK-US) and Micron (MU-US) gained. Anthropic, developer of the Claude chatbot, told potential investors that second-quarter revenues would grow at least 14-fold compared to the same period in 2025, highlighting surging AI demand and reinforcing market confidence that tech giants will maintain substantial AI spending.

After a volatile July saw money temporarily rotate into cyclical stocks, AI-related equities are regaining market leadership. Marija Veitmane, Head of Equity Research at State Street Global Markets, said institutional investors’ risk appetite remains strong, particularly favoring top-performing U.S. equities and the technology sector.

Investors are also digesting quarterly holdings disclosures from major asset managers. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B-US) added to its position in Alphabet (GOOGL-US), sending the latter up 0.5% pre-market; Amazon (AMZN-US) rose 1.3%.

In commodities, new clashes in Lebanon and attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz clouded prospects for a U.S.-Iran war-ending agreement, pushing Brent crude toward $89 per barrel. A weaker dollar lowered gold’s cost for buyers using other currencies, sending prices above $4,400 per ounce and extending a two-week rally; copper prices also neared record highs. U.S. Treasury prices were largely unchanged.

This week’s focus shifts to earnings reports from retail giants Walmart (WMT-US) and Home Depot (HD-US) to gauge U.S. consumer health. Recent data shows U.S. consumer spending cooled in July after strong first-half growth, with households increasingly worried about deteriorating corporate conditions and rising inflation.

Laura Cooper, Global Investment Strategist at Nuveen, warned that if corporate earnings guidance reveals stress amid slowing hiring and elevated borrowing costs, it could shake market confidence in the resilience of the U.S. economy.

The Fed’s July meeting minutes are also closely watched. Traders have pushed expectations for the next 25-basis-point rate hike to January next year. While recent weak economic data has reduced the urgency for near-term tightening, any signals from the minutes could be amplified by the market in the absence of clear policy direction from the Fed.

As of around 9:00 PM Taipei time on Monday (17th):

Dow Jones Industrial Average down 137.96 points or 0.26%, at 53,594.45 Nasdaq Composite up 40.85 points or 0.15%, at 26,770.01 S&P 500 down 3.72 points or 0.05%, at 7,782.04 Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 200.91 points or 1.62%, at 12,617.96 TSMC ADR up 0.82% to $429.83 per share 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 4.7% NYMEX crude up 0.67% to $89.11 per barrel Brent crude up 0.47% to $82.79 per barrel Gold up 0.13% to $4,443.20 per ounce DXY down to 99.42

Key individual stocks:

Alibaba (BABA-US) rose 1.03% in early trading to $125.09 per share.

The stock was up 1.5% pre-market. According to Reuters sources, Alibaba is preparing to sell its gaming subsidiary Lingxi Interactive, with private equity firm Trustar Capital expected to acquire it for over $2 billion.

Intel (INTC-US) rose 0.58% early to $103.09 per share.

Shares were up about 1.5% pre-market. Last Friday’s SEC filing showed CEO Pat Gelsinger bought over 105,000 Intel shares at $95 per share last week, boosting market confidence.

Marvell (MRVL-US) rose 6.29% early to $235.98 per share.

Chip stocks broadly gained pre-market on Monday, with Marvell Technology (MRVL-US) and Arm (ARM-US) both up 2%, Applied Materials (AMAT-US) up 1.5%; Broadcom (AVGO-US) and AMD (AMD-US) each up 1%.

Today’s key economic data: None

Wall Street analysis:

Data shows Bridgewater held a total portfolio value of $24.4 billion in Q2, during which it significantly increased its stake in S&P 500 ETFs while broadly reducing tech and semiconductor positions. Specifically, Bridgewater established new positions in energy stocks Eversource Energy (ES-US) and ExxonMobil (XOM-US), while exiting Cisco (CSCO-US), Palantir (PLTR-US), and CrowdStrike (CRWD-US) entirely.

Additionally, Bridgewater cut its Micron (MU-US) stake by 92%, reducing its holding to 0.55%; it also reduced stakes in Microsoft (MSFT-US) and Seagate Technology (STX-US) by 34.39% and 39.29%, respectively.