Most Asian markets fell on Thursday amid rising oil prices and a continued slump in Samsung shares, dampening investor sentiment. A strong performance by Japanese semiconductor stocks, however, helped to offset some of the broader regional losses.
The U.S. dollar gained value on Tuesday as investors sought safer assets following reports of attacks on three oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, which heightened geopolitical tensions and prompted a response from Washington.
Crude oil prices extended gains after new U.S. military strikes against Iranian targets escalated geopolitical tensions, heightening concerns over potential disruptions to vital oil supplies from the Middle East.
U.S. stock futures were little changed in evening trading after a mixed session on Wall Street, where renewed tensions between the U.S. and Iran weighed on major indexes while the tech sector showed resilience.
Amazon has launched the Claude apps gateway for AWS, a new system designed to give organizations centralized control over access, costs, and policies for Claude AI applications. The tool aims to streamline developer access and enhance security.
Leidos Inc. has received a $27.2 million contract modification to procure missiles for the U.S. Special Operations Command. The work on the AGM-190A Small Cruise Missile program is expected to be completed by February 2029.
Mercator Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, has priced its initial public offering of 15 million units at $10 each, raising $150 million. The units are scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on July 9, 2026.
SpaceXAI has launched its new Grok 4.5 artificial intelligence model, which is designed for coding and agentic tasks and is priced to compete with offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI.
AZZ Inc. and Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. saw significant gains in late trading following positive financial updates, while Levi Strauss & Co. declined despite a solid earnings report due to its full-year profit forecast.
