U.S. stocks fell after President Donald Trump announced plans to resume a naval blockade against Iran and impose tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
On the 13th, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 52,498.64 in New York, down 138.37 points, or 0.26%, from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 60.05 points, or 0.79%, to 7,515.34, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 408.43 points, or 1.55%, to 25,873.18.
Among the top technology stocks by market capitalization, Nvidia fell 3.52%, while Alphabet, Google's parent company, dropped 1.31%. SpaceX declined 4.24%, Broadcom 3.98%, Meta, Facebook's parent, 1.86%, and Tesla 3.19%. Apple (0.63%), Microsoft (1.53%), and Amazon (0.80%) held up despite the down market.
New York stocks opened mixed amid continued armed conflict between the United States and Iran, then turned fully lower on news during the session of Trump's plan to collect maritime tolls. Trump posted on his social networking service Truth Social that day: "The Strait of Hormuz is OPEN, with or without Iran, and we are blockading Iran again." He added, "We will be compensated at 20% of the entire cargo shipped for providing the safety and security necessary in this very volatile region." He continued, "The relevant procedures and structure will begin immediately," and "The United States will from now on be called the 'Guardian of the Strait of Hormuz.'" Earlier, in a telephone interview with Fox News, Trump also said, "We have been guarding the strait for free all this time, but from now on we will receive an enormous amount of money in return," adding, "Other countries are very wealthy and they are on our side."
Semiconductor-related stocks also weakened, contributing to the index decline. On its second day of listing, SK hynix's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) closed down 9.32% at $152.35, slightly above the offering price of $149. Micron (-4.32%), AMD (-4.21%), ASML (-3.97%), Intel (-6.12%), Applied Materials (-4.50%), and SanDisk (-12.63%) all posted losses. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also fell 4.78%.
International oil prices surged. On London's ICE Futures Exchange, Brent crude futures for September delivery jumped 9.6% from the previous session to $83.30 per barrel. Brent rose as high as $83.54 per barrel at one point, reaching its highest level since the 16th of last month, just before the signing of a ceasefire MOU between the United States and Iran. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery also rose 9.4% to close at $78.14 per barrel.
