WS #6761

The US-Iran military confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz continues to escalate, with multiple sources confirming new exchanges of fire. The US military carried out retaliatory strikes against Iran, and Trump described them as a 'love tap' while threatening to strike 'a lot more violently'. Iran attacked US destroyers with cruise missiles and drones, and a Chinese refined-products tanker was struck by an Iranian projectile off the UAE coast. The UAE has launched military strikes against Iran, broadening the conflict. This escalation sustains the risk of oil supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, supporting energy prices and pressuring risk assets. Separately, Trump gave the EU a 4 July deadline to approve a trade deal or face 'much higher' tariffs, while a US trade court ruled his latest 10% global tariffs illegal, providing a partial offset. In corporate news, Microsoft's exclusive cloud partnership with OpenAI is officially over, with AWS entering the picture, reshaping the AI-cloud landscape. The dominant theme is the escalating US-Iran conflict, with the tariff ruling and EU trade deal developments providing secondary signals.