Finance

Equities remain vulnerable to a diplomatic stalemate between the United States and Iran regarding the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway. President Donald Trump rejected a ceasefire proposal from Tehran, warning that military actions could resume following the upcoming midterm elections. Crude oil prices briefly scaled past $100 a barrel before marginally easing, keeping investors on edge over potential shocks to global energy supplies and energy-driven inflation.

Economic sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated sharply as the consumer confidence index dropped 6.7 points to 81.9 in September, marking its lowest point since 2014. The drop was closely accompanied by an August JOLTS report showing job openings falling by 256,000 down to 7.079 million. This combination of weakening confidence and labor cooling has led some investors to contemplate a potential easing of upcoming monetary policy tightening.

Despite broader macroeconomic headwinds, tech stocks found pockets of morning demand after a leaked Anthropic public offering prospectus valued the firm at upwards of $2 trillion. Artificial intelligence news also stayed in focus following OpenAI's decision to halt its next-generation model over safety concerns. Furthermore, sentiment in the tech sector was reinforced by a freshly signed AI accord between President Trump and top technology executives.