WS #13354

The dominant market narrative is a risk-on rally driven by US-Iran de-escalation, with oil prices plunging ~5-7% (WTI ~$80, Brent ~$83.8) after Trump called off strikes and claimed Hormuz could reopen 'by tomorrow.' This is corroborated across multiple sources (oilprice.com, GDELT, This is Money, SBS). However, Iran's IRGC adviser directly rejected Trump's claim, and Iran denies direct negotiations, creating a counter-signal that could reverse the oil drop and risk-on sentiment. The S&P 500 closed +1.48% at 7,600, Dow +1.33% at record 53,182, Nasdaq +1.78%, with Amazon crossing $3T market cap for the first time. Tech mega-caps surged (MSFT +4.9%, GOOGL +4.9%, AMZN +4.6%, META +6%, NVDA +2.9%), but AAPL fell -1.8% and saw a $465.7M dark pool order, a notable divergence. Palantir (PLTR) reported a massive Q2 beat (revenue $1.94B vs $1.81B est, EPS $0.41 vs $0.35, raised FY guidance), driving +12.5% after-hours. Other earnings: Snap (SNAP) beat and guided above, +18% after-hours; Backblaze (BLZE) beat, +18.7%; Ameresco (AMRC) beat, +20.9%; Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) beat, +14.2%; Powell Industries (POWL) missed, -16%; GameStop (GME) fell -12.2% on debt-for-equity exchange. AstraZeneca (AZN) fell up to 7% on merger talks with Bristol-Myers (BMY), creating a $400B pharma mega-deal speculation. Williams Cos (WMB) agreed to buy Momentum Midstream for up to $5.5B. 25 states sued over Trump's new tariffs, and California filed two lawsuits, adding legal overhang to trade policy. The BOJ kept rates unchanged but warned of inflation risks, signaling potential hikes. The narrative is ESCALATING on the Iran front with conflicting signals, while the tech rally is broad but AAPL diverges.