WS #8310

The dominant narrative remains the escalation of US-Iran tensions, with fresh Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon and rocket attacks on northern Israel corroborated by multiple sources (Al Jazeera, Reuters, OSINT). This reinforces the geopolitical risk premium on oil, though early Asian trading shows Brent crude dipping 0.3% to $99.27 as markets weigh prospects for a US-Iran deal. The SK Hynix $1 trillion market cap milestone on AI chip demand is a high-signal positive for the semiconductor sector, with multiple liquidations of MU shorts indicating strong bullish momentum in memory stocks. Separately, SQM boosted lithium guidance on earnings beat, supporting the EV/battery supply chain. The Texas primary runoff (Menefee defeats Al Green) is a political story with limited direct market impact. The Ebola outbreak and potential travel disruption remain a low-probability tail risk. No counter-signals emerged to offset the oil supply risk, but the slight dip in Brent suggests some deal optimism is being priced in.