WS #13269

The dominant theme remains the US-Iran conflict and its impact on oil markets, which is ESCALATING. Iran has officially denied Trump's claim of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with officials stating the strait remains closed and vessels require Iranian permission. This directly contradicts Trump's Saturday announcement of a potential deal and his cancellation of strikes, creating a high-signal counter-narrative. Simultaneously, OPEC+ approved a 188,000 bpd production increase for September, completing the rollback of voluntary cuts, but analysts note this is largely theoretical due to ongoing export disruptions. Oil prices remain elevated (WTI ~$84.67, Brent ~$87.93), and Iran has threatened to strike Gulf oil fields if attacked, keeping energy markets on edge. In tech, a major divergence is emerging: Apple's stock plunged 8.75% on weak guidance due to memory chip shortages, allowing NVIDIA to reclaim the title of world's most valuable company. Meanwhile, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet gained nearly $1.5 trillion in market cap on strong cloud growth, while Apple and Meta lost value. The memory chip crisis is worsening, with Samsung warning of severe shortages through 2027-2028, driving up prices for DRAM/NAND and impacting Apple, Microsoft (Xbox price hikes), and others. This creates a complex picture: AI infrastructure demand remains strong (Amazon AWS +37% growth), but component shortages are a growing headwind for hardware makers.