Midday Mashup
Published
The session's central tension is between an AI-driven hardware rally that keeps pushing equities higher and an Iran war that refuses to de-escalate, with Trump telling Axios he is at a turning point on whether to resume large-scale attacks, even as Iran confirmed it downed at least two American unmanned aircraft in recent days. That combination, tight money plus relentless AI demand, which defined the morning, now has a harder geopolitical edge running beneath it.
In equities, the AI infrastructure and semiconductor bid has held and in some cases widened. Generac is up 18.9% in the regular session on its Amazon data center supply deal, Intel is up 9.7%, Arm Holdings up 7.3%, and Super Micro Computer up 10.2%. HP Enterprise adds 7.8%. CoreWeave, which opened higher, has swung to -5.1% after proposing a $3 billion convertible senior notes offering. The VIX is down 12.4%, consistent with the broad risk-on tilt despite the macro noise. T-Mobile US falls 4.7% and Instacart drops 3.9%.
On Iran, the picture has darkened since the morning. An explosion was reported in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Maritime Trade Operations authority says threat levels there remain severe, and a tanker reported being pursued by a skiff east of Aden. Brent has pulled back to near $105 and WTI near $102, off the morning lows but still elevated, with Saudi Arabia working to restore roughly half of its east-west pipeline capacity after last week's drone strikes hit three pump stations. The US approved a possible F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia valued at up to $24.3 billion, and Central Command says it has redirected 104 commercial vessels to ensure compliance with its directives.
Nvidia's chief executive says the company will sell twice as many chips next year as this year, and Nvidia separately commits $2 billion to the Brookfield AI Fund. Spot silver is up 5% to $66.13 per ounce. China's foreign minister described US-China relations as moving along a constructive, strategically stable track after a call with Secretary of State Rubio. Standard Chartered shifted its Fed forecast to a 25 basis point hike in December, and JPMorgan now expects the Bank of England to hike 25 basis points in February 2027 rather than cut. France's prime minister warned that without corrective measures, the 2027 budget deficit would exceed 6.5% of GDP. The US is pushing for 50% steel tariffs among G20 partners and plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Niger's uranium sector.