WS #13298

The dominant market-moving development is the US-Iran de-escalation: President Trump called off a planned massive strike on Iran, citing a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks. This triggered a sharp oil price slump (Brent -7.3%, WTI -5.85%), which is bullish for oil importers and bearish for energy producers. The yen surged to ~155/USD after confirmed US-Japan coordinated intervention, with BOJ data suggesting ~$59B bought on Jul 30; this is a counter-signal to the weak-yen trend. Asian markets are mixed: KOSPI extended its selloff (-4%) on AI/chip rout, while Indian indices gap up on oil relief. Alibaba launched Qwen3.8-Max, claiming parity with Anthropic's Fable 5, but benchmarks show it falls short; this is a negative for Chinese AI competitiveness but a positive for US AI leaders. Apple suffered its worst rout since 2025 (-7.4%) on disappointing guidance due to component shortages and memory costs, contradicting the broader tech narrative. AstraZeneca is reportedly exploring a ~$400B merger with Bristol Myers Squibb, a major pharma consolidation signal. Iron ore crashed to a 1-year low, pressuring miners. The narrative arc is ESCALATING on de-escalation: the Iran conflict is de-escalating, but the AI/chip selloff is escalating.