U.S. stock market opens higher despite Middle East tensions and expectations of U.S. military intervention

Trump "Foolish Powell won't cut rates" criticizes again

International oil prices and gold prices continue volatile swings

As Iran strongly responded to the U.S.'s demand for 'unconditional surrender,' on the 18th (local time), U.S. stocks opened higher despite unease. Meanwhile, President Trump once again took aim at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, stating that "foolish Powell won't cut rates."

At 10:10 a.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite Index were up 0.4% each, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.3%. Bonds and the dollar also showed modest gains.

Crude oil, which had declined early in the morning, is seeing sharp swings within a 1% range. Around 10:10 a.m., benchmark Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell by 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively. Gold, which opened higher, also turned downward again.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell by 3 basis points (1bp=0.01%) to 4.357%.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, stated that Iran would not surrender and warned, "If the United States intervenes in the conflict, it will suffer irreparable damage." Previously, Trump had used his Truth Social platform to threaten Iranian leaders and urge unconditional surrender. In addition, current administration officials told NBC News that President Trump is reviewing options on Iran, including military action.

Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, pointed out that even before the Middle East crisis, there was a lack of flexibility due to excessive risks and high valuation burdens. He stated that pricing does not reflect the ability to withstand uncertainties such as tariffs, fiscal uncertainty, and the debt ceiling.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve's rate decision is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. While a rate hold is expected, policymakers' rate forecasts in the form of a 'dot plot' will be released, drawing attention to their outlook on rate policy. Though Trump criticized Powell again in the morning, the Federal Reserve's decision is not expected to be significantly affected.

According to Piper Sandler, options experts expect the S&P 500 to move about 1% either way. This is the smallest swing ahead of a Fed meeting since January.

Texas Instruments announced it would invest $60 billion (₩82.49 trillion) in U.S. semiconductor factories. Marvell Technology's stock continued to rise following positive analyst reports after an AI-related event.

The stock price of stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group (CRCL), which had been rising steadily since its listing on June 5, continued its rally. After the U.S. Senate passed the Genius Act to regulate stablecoins, this surging stock is trading at nearly five times its IPO price of $31.

As of the previous day, Circle Internet's market capitalization reached $32.8 billion, surpassing about half of the companies included in the S&P 500 Index. It also overtook the market cap of United Airlines and Super Micro Computer.

Contributed by Jung-A Kim, kja@hankyung.com