US strikes escalate Israel-Iran conflict as geopolitics overshadow economics: What to know this week

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Stocks drifted lower last week as investors continued to digest the impacts of a growing conflict between Israel and Iran while closely watching how President Trump's tariffs could impact the US economy. In the week ahead, geopolitics look set to dominate the conversation.

On Saturday, President Trump said the US military struck three sites in Iran, marking the first entry of the US strike since the conflict escalated on June 13. In a speech at the White House on Saturday night, Trump suggested the US could take further action if "peace does not come quickly." The ripple effects of the US' involvement in this broadening conflict will almost certainly set the tone for markets in the early going this week and likely overshadow the latest economic data and earnings reports set for release. Last week, the S&P 500 fell 0.15%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the holiday-shortened trading week narrowly above the flat line.

A reading of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge will highlight economic releases in the upcoming week. Updates on activity in the manufacturing and services sectors, consumer confidence, and the final reading of first quarter economic growth are also expected. A two-day semiannual monetary policy testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will also be in focus starting on Tuesday. Quarterly results from Carnival Corporation, FedEx, Micron, and Nike lead the list of expected corporate releases. Yahoo Finance reports.

📊 Shares and oil dither, as investors mull Iran risks: World shares slipped on Monday and oil prices briefly hit five-month highs before retracing gains as investors awaited possible retaliation from Iran following U.S. attacks on its nuclear sites, with fallout risks to global trade and inflation.

Markets remained restrained, with the dollar getting a modest safe-haven bid and no sign of a rush to bonds. Oil prices were up just 0.4%, after rising as much as 5.7% overnight. Reuters reports.

💼 FedEx, Micron, Nike, and more: Earnings to watch this week: Asking for a Trend host Josh Lipton outlines key earnings results that will be released this coming week, starting Monday, June 23. On Monday, KB Home will be reporting earnings. Tuesday's earnings reports include Carnival, FedEx, and Blackberry. FedEx is seeing some headwinds that could push its fourth quarter results lower, but some analysts anticipate results to be aligned with expectations.

Micron will be posting earnings results on Wednesday after the closing bell. General Mills will also be releasing its results that day. On Thursday, Nike's and McCormick's earnings results will be posted. Nike's fourth quarter results will be released after the markets close, with looming concerns a possible sales drop. Yahoo Finance reports.

🚙 Tesla taps retail investors for stage-managed robotaxi launch: Tesla rolled out its long-promised driverless taxi service to a handful of riders Sunday, a modest debut for what Elon Musk sees as a transformative new business line.

The first robotaxi trips were limited to a narrow portion of Tesla’s hometown of Austin, with an employee sitting in the front passenger seat of each vehicle to monitor for safety. The carmaker hand-picked a friendly group of retail investors and social-media influencers to serve as initial riders and live-stream their trips. Yahoo Finance reports.

🖥️ Tech companies lead list of double-digit gains in June for stocks in the S&P 500: From the end of May, the S&P 500 was up 1.5% in early trading on Friday. But many stocks of semiconductor manufacturers and providers of related computer hardware had soared by double digits.

Buy-side investors are “super bullish” on memory-chip and hard-disk-drive stocks such as Micron Technology. MarketWatch reports.

🤖 OpenAI scrubs Jony Ive deal from website after trademark lawsuit threatens $6.5 billion IO products acquisition: Over the weekend, ChatGPT-parent OpenAI pulled all public materials related to its $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive's AI hardware startup, IO Products.

What Happened: The takedown followed a trademark lawsuit filed by IYO Inc., a separate AI device company, which claims the “IO” branding infringes on its intellectual property, reported Bloomberg. A spokesperson for OpenAI confirmed the removal to the publication and said it was due to the ongoing legal matter. Ive's representative called the suit "an utterly baseless complaint," adding, "We'll fight it vigorously." Benzinga reports.

🛍️ Amazon’s premium beauty push may be a buffer against Trump's tariffs: Amazon's defense against tariffs for its coming Prime Day? Luxury goods. President Donald Trump's tariffs have spurred some Amazon sellers who source products from China and other heavily tariffed countries to bow out of the company's Prime Day, one of its biggest sales events of the year, to protect their margins. Amazon Prime Day is now a four-day shopping event exclusively for Amazon Prime members, taking place this year from July 8 to July 11.

The Seattle-based e-commerce company is hoping that recent sales growth in high-margin cosmetics in its Amazon Premium Beauty category will cushion the impact of tariffs on Prime Day sales revenue and consumer sentiment. Yahoo Finance reports.

🏦 Trump just made the Fed's rate deliberations even more complicated: The Federal Reserve was already wrestling with a lot of uncertainty about the future path of monetary policy, and President Trump’s weekend strike on Iran’s nuclear sites will likely make that path even cloudier in the near term. The uncertainty of the part of central bank policymakers was already evident last week in the Fed’s latest "dot plot" outlining future interest rate moves.

While eight officials saw two cuts still happening in 2025, seven officials predicted no cuts at all — up from the four officials who made that call previously. Trump’s strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend inject yet another layer of unknowns into those discussions as central bank officials prepare for their next meeting in July. Yahoo Finance reports.

🤖 Nvidia: How the chipmaker evolved from a gaming startup to an AI giant: Over the past two decades, Nvidia has skyrocketed into global conversation. The semiconductor company is considered an international leader in the design and manufacturing of computer chips and helped revolutionize the rise of artificial intelligence.

Beyond its strengths in the gaming, data, and AI fields, Nvidia announced plans this March for a quantum research center in Boston, where CEO Jensen Huang said researchers could tackle problems from drug discovery to materials development. Yahoo Finance reports.

(All pricing and percent gains are based on Early Pre-Market from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM Eastern Time)
Benzinga reports.

1) $OP: OceanPal

Total gain: +81.25%

2) $TMDE: TMD Energy Limited

Total gain: +43.50%

3) $HUSA: Houston American Energy 

Total gain: +31.82%

4) $RBNE: Robin Energy

Total gain: +28.75%

5) $NINE: Nine Energy Service

Total gain: +27.18%

The closing price of the top three market percent gainers trading near or above $3 on June 20.
Benzinga reports.

*All pricing and percent gains are based on regular market trading hours from 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern Time

1) $NXTT: Next Technology Holding

Total gain: +145.12%

The stock appeared to be moving on no notable news.

2) $WHLR: Wheeler Real Estate IT

Total gain: +108.91%

The stock appeared to be moving on no notable news.

3) $CTOR: Citius Oncology

Total gain: +66.77%

The company announced that preparations for the commercial launch of LYMPHIR, an FDA-approved immunotherapy for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, are nearing completion. Benzinga reports.

*Estimate and Actual numbers represent Earnings Per Share in US Dollars


KBH: KB Home
2Q 2025

After Market Close
Estimate: 1.470
Actual: N/A

CMC: Commercial Metals
3Q 2025

Before Market Open
Estimate: 0.850
Actual: N/A

FDS: FactSet Research Systems
3Q 2025

Before Market Open
Estimate: 4.300
Actual: N/A

Time (ET) / Report / Period

9:45 am - S&P flash U.S. services PMI - June

9:45 am - S&P flash U.S. manufacturing PMI - June

10:00 am - Existing home sales - May

“You have to keep your priorities straight if you plan to do well in stocks.”

- Peter Lynch

Sourced in: "One Up On Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market.”, by Peter Lynch, published in 1989.