WS #6078

The Iran conflict remains the dominant market narrative, with oil prices rising as peace talks stall. Brent crude rose 1.71% to $100.83/barrel after Trump canceled a planned trip to Pakistan by his envoys, citing an unacceptable Iranian proposal. The Strait of Hormuz remains nearly fully closed. German Chancellor Merz criticized the US for lacking an exit strategy, noting Iran is 'stronger than expected' and the war is directly impacting Germany's economy, which cut its 2026 growth forecast to 0.5%. The IEA's Birol stated the energy crisis has permanently altered fossil fuel reliance, boosting renewables and nuclear. In a major development, OpenAI ended its exclusive partnership with Microsoft, allowing OpenAI to sell to competing cloud providers like AWS and Google. Microsoft shares fell 1.4% on the news. Hut 8 announced a $3.25B notes offering for a data center project with Google and Anthropic. POET Technologies shares crashed 43% after Marvell canceled all purchase orders. A $2.1M whale bet on AMZN $300 calls for Oct 2026 was detected. The White House press dinner shooting is a security event but not market-moving. The Pershing Square IPO expected to raise $5B is ongoing. The MBH Bank decided not to pay dividends, retaining earnings for growth. Gold investment demand in India reached a record 40% of total gold buying. The EU Parliament approved new military obligations, with global defense spending hitting a record $2.887 trillion.