CNBC Daily Open: Oil jitters persist as U.S. targets Iranian ships near Strait of Hormuz

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Oil was slightly higher after plunging more than 11% Tuesday, as traders expect a group of countries to tap emergency crude reserves to mitigate disruption caused by the war in the Middle East. The sharp drop came despite aggressive rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about attacking Iran, with Hegseth saying Tuesday “will be our most intense day of strikes.”

U.S. crude oil and Brent crude tumbled more than 17% before paring some losses after U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on Tuesday falsely claimed on X that the U.S. Navy had escorted a tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. The post was subsequently deleted, and confirmed to be wrong by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. West Texas Intermediate Crude was last up 0.35% at $83.76 a barrel, while Brent crude was flat at $87.8 a barrel.

U.S. stocks ended the day mixed as traders weighed the pullback in oil prices against the risk of further escalation. Sentiment was also dented by a CBS News report indicating Iran may be moving toward deploying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. Central Command later said American forces on Tuesday sunk several Iranian ships, including 16 minelayers, near the strait, following a post by President Donald Trump that said if Iran had put any mines in the Strait, “we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!”

Even as the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed for most of the global oil supply, Iran has sent at least 11.7 million oil barrels to China through the waterway since the war began, according to TankerTrackers. Shipping intelligence data provider Kpler estimates around 12 million barrels of crude oil to have passed through the strait since the war started.

On the artificial intelligence front, Oracle reported an earnings beat and issued strong guidance, boosting its stock as much as 10% higher in extended trading. Investors appeared soothed by the software firm’s across-the-board beat, amid fears about the company’s hefty debt load funding its AI buildout.

And finally…

How the Iran war and rising energy prices are threatening semiconductor demand

A prolonged conflict in the Middle East could impact the semiconductor industry’s access to key materials while rising costs could hit demand for chips that have been central to the artificial intelligence boom, analysts warned.

Semiconductor stocks were caught in the sell-off seen in equity markets before President Donald Trump said on Monday that war will end “very soon.”

Memory chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung have been hit particularly badly with more than $200 billion wiped off their combined value since the start of the war, even with both stocks rallying sharply on Tuesday.

— Arjun Kharpal

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