Oil Tumbles as Strait of Hormuz Fears Ease
Oil prices were a central story in the session, with U.S. crude falling below $70 a barrel. The decline was driven by easing concerns over potential disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Several factors contributed to the relief: improved tanker traffic through the region, a softening of geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran, and expectations for additional Iranian crude exports. Taken together, these developments helped reduce fears of a supply shock.
The move was significant enough to push both Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude back to price levels not seen since before the conflict that broke out earlier in the year. Against this backdrop of falling prices, President Trump publicly accused oil companies of price gouging and pushed for a Justice Department investigation into gasoline prices.
For consumers, the lower crude prices could eventually translate into relief at the pump in the weeks ahead. However, an important caveat applies: gasoline prices typically take several weeks to fully reflect declines in crude costs, so any savings for drivers would not be immediate.
Bitcoin Extends Its Sell-Off
Bitcoin extended its sell-off, falling below the $60,000 level and touching its lowest price since October of 2024. The slide came as investors continued to pull back from risk assets more broadly. The world's largest cryptocurrency has now lost roughly half of its value from the record highs it reached the previous year.
Several pressures were cited as drivers of the decline: weaker overall sentiment, slowing inflows into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and concerns about liquidity as the Federal Reserve maintains a higher interest-rate environment. The weakness was not confined to the token itself — shares of crypto-linked companies also came under pressure, adding to the broader softness across the digital asset space.
Despite the recent decline, some crypto bulls argued that the pullback represents a temporary reset rather than the end of a long-term Bitcoin strategy. Notably, most of the firms covering Bitcoin still see upside from current levels. Standard Chartered holds a $100,000 price target for year-end, while another firm is maintaining an even more aggressive $150,000 target for the cryptocurrency.
This created a striking divide between Wall Street and crypto investors — a notable sentiment mismatch, where falling prices coexist with bullish institutional targets.
SK Hynix Eyes a Record-Setting U.S. Listing
A major corporate development was SK Hynix filing its F-1 registration. The company is planning to raise $29 billion through a U.S. listing, according to Bloomberg. If completed at that size, the offering would rank among the top five share sales of all time — for comparison, Alibaba's landmark listing raised $25 billion.
According to the filing, SK Hynix expects to begin trading on July 10th. The company's stock has already rallied roughly 300% in South Korea during the year and recently crossed the $1 trillion mark in valuation. This strength reflects the company's continued benefit from what Micron has described as the "insatiable" demand for memory chips.
Alphabet Joins the Dow
Alphabet will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average prior to the open of trade on Monday, June 29th, replacing Verizon. Verizon currently represents only a tiny sliver of the Dow — described as roughly one and a half quarters of one percentage point. With this change, Alphabet will become the fifth member of the "Magnificent 7" group of megacap technology stocks to join the Dow, alongside Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta.
Looking Ahead: PCE Inflation Data
The key item on the horizon is the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index — the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, at least under previous policy regimes. The report is expected to show that price pressures remain stubbornly elevated. Economists are forecasting headline PCE to hold steady at roughly 3.8%, while core PCE — the measure that strips out volatile food and energy prices — is expected to tick higher to 3.4%, up from 3.3% in April.
This report arrives shortly after the Federal Reserve raised its own inflation outlook, projecting that PCE will end the year at 3.6% before gradually easing into 2027.
Corporate Reports to Watch
Beyond the government data, a couple of corporate earnings reports were flagged as useful economic indicators. Darden's results will offer insight into how consumer discretionary spending is holding up at restaurants — including how promotions like never-ending pasta bowls are affecting margins and profits. Additionally, FedEx Freight is set to deliver its first report as a standalone entity. This carries added significance because there was a negative reaction to FedEx's earnings the prior day, raising the question of whether that weakness will follow through to the recently spun-out trucking company. The market reaction to Micron's results was also noted as something to keep watching.
