4:17pm: Iran retaliates
US stocks ended Monday’s trading session higher after Iran launched what appears to be a limited retaliatory attack against the US, targeting a military base in Qatar. No casualties have been reported.
The Nasdaq added 1% at 19,630 points, the S&P 500 was up 1% at 6,025 and the Dow Jones added 0.9% at 42,581 points.
3:50pm: Proactive news headlines
- Fineqia International Inc (CSE:FNQ, OTC:FNQQF) reported a 152% revenue increase in Q1 2025 to nearly C$358,000, driven by strong institutional demand for its Cardano-linked exchange-traded note.
- Afentra plc (AIM:AET, OTC:STGAF) shares are expected to nearly double after securing Block KON4 in Angola, one of the country’s most significant oil and gas assets.
- Petro-Victory Energy Corp. (TSX-V:VRY) has begun drilling the AND-5 well in Brazil’s Potiguar Basin, marking the start of a two-well program in the Andorinha Field.
- Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:CMCL, NYSE-A:CMCL) received a ‘buy’ rating from Panmure Liberum, citing strong high-grade gold results and a 45% upside potential.
- Valdor Technology International Inc (CSE:VTI) signed a five-year exclusive agreement to resell the blockchain-secured PPRTRL platform in North America and Europe.
- Candel Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CADL) appointed Charles Schoch as permanent CFO after serving in the interim role since January 2024.
- Voyageur Pharmaceuticals Ltd (TSX-V:VM, OTC:VYYRF) signed an MOU with Altillion to develop North America’s first fully integrated iodine-based pharmaceutical supply chain.
- Medicus Pharma (NASDAQ:MDCX) named veteran asset manager Andrew Smith as COO to help advance its clinical programs across the US, Europe, and the Middle East.
- HIVE Digital Technologies (TSX-V:HIVE, NASDAQ:HIVE) acquired a 7.2 MW data center in Toronto to support AI training, inference, and cloud services.
- Nextech3D.ai (CSE:NTAR, OTCQX:NEXCF) rolled out a major update to its Map Dynamics platform, including AWS migration and AI features targeting new event markets.
3:20pm: Stocks on the move
- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares rose over 8% after the company launched a limited pilot of its autonomous Robotaxi service using Model Y vehicles in South Austin, Texas.
- Compass Pathways (NASDAQ:CMPS) reported positive Phase 3 results for its psilocybin-based treatment COMP360, showing a significant reduction in depression symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression.
- Hims & Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS) shares dropped about 30% after Novo Nordisk ended their partnership, citing violations related to illegal compounding and misleading marketing of the weight-loss drug Wegovy.
- Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) shares jumped more than 21% following news of a strategic partnership with Fiserv to integrate stablecoin USDC technology into mainstream financial services.
- Thruvision Group PLC (AIM:THRU, OTC:DIGTF) shares fell 9% after the company warned of a potential cash shortfall by September if pending sales do not come through, deepening its year-to-date decline to 88%.
2:40pm: Stocks rebound as geopolitical fears ease
Stocks climbed on Monday afternoon as investors shrugged off initial jitters following a US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. The Dow Jones was up 0.6%, the S&P 500 gained 0.7%, and the Nasdaq advanced 0.8%.
“The great ‘US attacks Iran selloff’ of 2025 lasted for about six hours before futures stabilised and oil prices gave up their weekend gains,” said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG. He noted the absence of an immediate Iranian counterstrike has given investors hope the conflict will remain contained.
Still, US officials continue to warn of a potential response, keeping markets on alert. “Arguably only the closure of the Hormuz straits would provide a real shock,” Beauchamp said. “But given Iran’s role in supplying China with energy it seems to make sense for Iran to talk up the possibility of closure without actually going through with it.”
1:51pm: Powell testimony and durable goods in focus
Next week’s testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is unlikely to break new ground, given it will largely echo the messaging from the recent FOMC meeting, says analysts at UBS.
Powell will appear before the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday, with UBS noting that his comments typically align with the just-released Monetary Policy Report.
Instead, the bank sees May’s durable goods orders as the key data to watch, following April’s weakness. “The most interesting data of the week will be May durable goods orders, after the weakness in April, to check for evidence of businesses postponing investment and expansion plans net of aircraft and defense,” UBS said.
Core PCE prices, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, are expected to rise 0.17% in May, nudging the 12-month rate from 2.52% to 2.64%. UBS also expects no revision to the second estimate of Q1 real GDP.
12:59pm: Tech sector swerves Iran tensions
The US stock market, particularly technology shares, is shaking off geopolitical jitters following a US airstrike on Iranian nuclear sites, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
The successful strike removes an overhang on the market, Ives wrote in a note to clients on Sunday, referring to the US B-2 bombing of key Iranian nuclear facilities, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. "It was viewed... as a matter of when, not if,” the tech analyst noted.
Ives said investors globally have responded to the development with a sense of relief, viewing the move as neutralizing the most significant threat to stability in the Middle East — Iran’s nuclear program — which he described as the region’s "black swan event."
“A weakened Iran with no nuclear capacity removes the biggest threat to the Middle East and Israel, which will be viewed as a positive for the market and tech stocks in particular,” Ives wrote.
11:40am: Existing home remain historically low
Existing home sales rose 0.8% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.03 million, exceeding economists’ expectations of 3.95 million, according to data released Friday. Inventory remained steady at 4.6 months of supply, while the median home price increased 1.3% year-over-year to $422,800.
Wells Fargo attributed the modest uptick in sales to “greater resale supply and a modest reprieve in mortgage rates,” but cautioned that the market remains constrained. “Persistent affordability challenges continue to keep resales running at a slow pace,” the bank said in a note. It added that May’s sales pace was “roughly on par with the pandemic low hit in 2020 and not far above last year's low point of 3.9 million.”
11:10am: Business activity holds firm in June
US business activity remained resilient in June, with the S&P Global Composite PMI coming in at 52.8, just below May’s reading of 53.0, signaling continued economic expansion.
The services sector edged slightly higher, with the S&P Global Services PMI rising to 53.1, ahead of the 53.0 forecast. Manufacturing showed stronger-than-expected momentum, climbing to 52.0 from 51.3 in May, beating economists’ estimate of 51.0 and marking its highest level since April 2022.
Readings above 50 indicate growth in activity, suggesting that both sectors remain on solid footing despite persistent economic headwinds.
10:35am: Week ahead
US markets enter the final week of June facing fresh geopolitical risks after a dramatic weekend strike by American forces on Iranian nuclear sites, an escalation that has rattled global energy markets and sharpened investor focus on oil prices, Fed policy, and economic data.
Markets initially reacted with caution. Oil prices surged early in Monday’s session but pulled back amid signs that crude continues to flow through the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global energy supply.
Equities showed only a muted response to the weekend’s developments. “It really feels like markets have become increasingly unreactive to the news,” Ozkardeskaya observed. “The lack of reaction is fascinating.”
Meanwhile, this week’s economic calendar is packed, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivering his semi-annual testimony before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, though analysts expect few surprises following last week’s FOMC meeting.
Investors will also track an onslaught of US data, including Q1 GDP revisions, durable goods orders, trade figures, and the Fed’s preferred inflation metric — core PCE — due Friday. Deutsche Bank expects Thursday’s final GDP print to remain unchanged at -0.2%, while the core PCE is forecast to rise 0.13% month-over-month, pushing the year-over-year rate up to 2.6%.
Housing data will also come under scrutiny, with existing home sales on Monday, new home sales on Wednesday, and pending home sales Thursday.
9.55am: Stocks make quick U-turn higher
US stocks started lower but the three major indices quickly climbed into positive territory.
The S&P 500 is up 0.3%, Dow Jones has gained 0.25% and the Nasdaq almost 0.2%.
Representing US smaller and mid-cap stocks, the Russell 2000 was down 0.5%, however.
Top risers on the S&P are financial sector names; Northern Trust is up 7% after a WSJ report that Bank of New York Mellon had made an approach.
Fiserv climbed 4.5% after announcing a stablecoin payments collaboration with Circle.
Drug maker Eli Lilly, cosmetics company Estee Lauder and Tesla are next, all up over 3%.
8am: Stock futures in the red on Monday
US stock futures have been searching for direction ahead of full Wall Street trading beginning on Monday after President Trump authorised the 'bunker buster' bombs being dropped on three nuclear sites in Iran.
Stock index futures gapped lower overnight on the news, with S&P 500 futures sinking towards 5,900, the index's lowest level since the beginning of the month.
This encouraged some dip-buying that sent the S&P, Dow Jones and Nasdaq futures higher before all three resumed their slide, all down around 0.2% at the time of publication.
This was in line with trading in Europe, where the FTSE 100 was also 0.2% lower, while the benchmarks in Frankfurt and Paris were down 0.6% and 0.7%.
In currency markets, the US dollar heading higher, up 0.5% versus the euro and sterling, with the DXY dollar index up 0.7% at 99.4.
Oil prices shot higher overnight, before easing in the early part of the European session. WTI crude was up 0.5% at $74 a barrel, with Reuters lately reporting that three oil tankers have changed course today away from the Strait of Hormuz near Iran.
"President Trump wrongfooted everyone by authorising US involvement in Israeli-Iranian hostilities," said market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation, noting that US action had been limited so far to bombing sorties aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
This came after President Trump indicated at the end of last week that he would make a decision within two weeks.
"The situation remains fluid," said Morrison. "It’s currently unclear how successful the US mission has been, and it’s uncertain if the US action is set to continue. At the same time, there’s plenty of wild speculation over how Iran is likely to respond, assuming they are in a position to do so."
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, market analyst at Swissquote Bank, said the world is "holding its breath to see how Iran will respond", with Tehran saying "all options" are on the table, including trade disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of global oil and gas flows transit.
"This could involve blocking the canal or attacking commercial ships, as the Houthis do," she added. "Another option could be striking nearby oil facilities – similar to the 2019 attack on Saudi Abqaiq that knocked out 7% of global oil supply.
"But many remain optimistic that Iran will avoid a full-blown retaliation and regional chaos, to prevent its own oil facilities from becoming targets and to avoid a widening conflict that could hurt China, its biggest oil customer."
In company news, Tesla shares are trading 0.8% higher after the company's first fully autonomous ride-hail vehicles hummed onto the streets of Austin, Texas. Early analyst reaction varied to this initial group of 20 'geofenced' vehicles, with safety monitors on board and invited customers only, to begin with.
Elsewhere, Apple is reportedly weighing an acquisition of Perplexity AI, a fast-rising name in artificial intelligence, as the company looks to reassert itself in a sector where it has so far lagged behind peers.