Dow, S&P 500 Futures Slip While Nasdaq Holds Firm As Trump Reinstates Hormuz Blockade: ORCL, SOUN, QTTB, FAC In Focus

• Following the announcement, oil prices rallied, with Brent crude prices soaring more than 9% during trading hours, clocking their biggest single-day gain since 2020. Oil is now trading above $80 per barrel. 
• A report from POLITICO stated that Trump had formally notified Congress that the U.S. was once more at war with Iran, in a letter dated July 10.
• Meanwhile, markets will be bracing for the start of earnings season, with major banks kicking off their quarterly reports on Tuesday. 

U.S. stock futures traded lower overnight late Monday after tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated further, even as President Donald Trump reinstated the naval blockade of the Middle Eastern country in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Meanwhile, markets are expecting the first wave of corporate earnings reports on Tuesday, with five of the six largest U.S. banks scheduled to report. 

Dow futures were down 0.18%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.06%, and Nasdaq-100 futures climbed 0.13% at 9:20 PM EDT.  

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) were trading in the red at the time of writing, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) edged higher. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) was up 0.02% amid ‘bearish’ sentiment.

How Did US Markets Fare On Monday?

All three benchmark indexes closed lower on Monday, with the Nasdaq leading the decline, shedding over 400 points to close 1.55% lower. The S&P 500 was down 0.79%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.26% lower at the close. 

US Market Drivers

U.S. markets slid lower at the start of the week as rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran stoked worries of a war reboot and stirred inflation concerns. 

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the U.S. would reinstate a blockade on Iranian shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz as the two countries exchanged fire once again. 

“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait,” he said in a post on Truth Social. 

“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’ but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World. The process and formation will begin immediately,” he added. 

However, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, an Iranian agency created in May 2026 to oversee and regulate commercial shipping in the Strait, said in a post on X, “Due to recent hostile actions by the US forces, passage through the #Strait_of_Hormuz is currently unfeasible. As soon as stability and calm are restored, all applications will be reviewed in accordance with the scheduled timeline, and the permitting process will resume.”

Following the announcement, oil prices rallied, with Brent crude prices soaring more than 9% during trading hours, clocking their biggest single-day gain since 2020. Oil is now trading above $80 per barrel. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. Central Command also announced that it had launched further attacks against Iran. In a post on X, it said, “At 4:45 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command began launching the third consecutive night of strikes against Iran, at the Commander in Chief's direction. These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The latest escalations come after a week of reciprocal strikes between the two nations. Tehran had earlier said that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S.’s “hostile” attacks. Iran also went on to launch strikes on U.S. military facilities across several Gulf states in retaliation for military action from the U.S. 

A report from POLITICO stated that Trump had formally notified Congress that the U.S. was once more at war with Iran, in a letter dated July 10. 

Meanwhile, markets will be bracing for the start of earnings season, with major banks kicking off their quarterly reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) will be reporting their second-quarter results on Tuesday.

“Today was a little bit of an outlier. Everything was kind of down today. But in general, it doesn’t really change the way we look at the earnings season. We feel pretty constructive about large tech in general. We do think earnings have some upside,” Michael Graham, director of research and investment strategy at Canaccord Genuity, reportedly told CNBC. 

On the economic front, investors will be watching June inflation data due Tuesday for clues on the Federal Reserve's next policy move. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is set to begin the semiannual monetary policy testimony before Congress on Tuesday, marking his first Humphrey-Hawkins appearance as head of the central bank.

Trending Stocks To Watch 

Oracle Corp. (ORCL): Shares of the hyperscaler jumped onto the retail radar after the company slipped to 52-week lows amid concerns about high debt levels and concentrated customer risk. 

SoundHound AI Inc. (SOUN): The voice and agentic AI company’s shares slid more than 2% on Monday, extending a third day of declines as short interest in the company climbed to a record high. 

Q32 Bio Inc. (QTTB): Shares of the biotechnology company surged more than 90% after the company’s 36-week results from the second part of its early-stage trial of bempikibart in patients with severe or very severe alopecia areata came in strong. 

Factorial Energy Inc. (FAC): The solid-state battery technology company’s stock plummeted more than 35% on Monday despite announcing a partnership with Tulip Tech, a Netherlands-based developer of advanced unmanned aerial vehicles battery systems. 

Global Market Trends 

Crude oil prices shot up late Monday amid the growing conflict in the Middle East. At the time of writing, Brent crude futures expiring in September were up more than 1%, trading at $84.19 per barrel, while WTI crude futures expiring in August rose 1.6% to $79.39 per barrel.

Yields on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.62% at the time of writing, nearing a one-year high, while spot gold prices fell to around $3,997.47 per ounce. 

Asian markets were trading mixed on Tuesday, with South Korea's KOSPI and Japan’s Nikkei 225 declining at the open, while China’s SSE Composite index and Australian stocks were trading lower.  

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.