{"id":64728,"date":"2026-07-13T16:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T20:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/market-retreats-as-trump-reinstates-iran-blockade-and-houthi-missiles-target-saudi-arabia\/64728\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T16:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T20:38:14","slug":"market-retreats-as-trump-reinstates-iran-blockade-and-houthi-missiles-target-saudi-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/market-retreats-as-trump-reinstates-iran-blockade-and-houthi-missiles-target-saudi-arabia\/64728\/","title":{"rendered":"Market Retreats as Trump Reinstates Iran Blockade and Houthi Missiles Target Saudi Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>U.S. stock indexes closed lower<\/strong> as the <strong>Nasdaq Composite (<a href=\"\/stock\/IXIC\">IXIC<\/a>)<\/strong> fell <strong>1.49%<\/strong> (391.99 points) to <strong>25,889.62<\/strong>, driven by a sharp sell-off in semiconductor and AI-linked stocks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>President Donald Trump announced a reinstatement of the Iran blockade<\/strong> and threatened &quot;strong&quot; military strikes, causing <strong>Brent crude prices to jump nearly 10%<\/strong> on fears of a closed Strait of Hormuz.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels fired ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia<\/strong>, targeting the southern region and Abha International Airport in retaliation for an airstrike on Sanaa Airport.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Paramount Skydance (<a href=\"\/stock\/PSKY\">PSKY<\/a>) extended its debt exchange and tender offers to July 22, 2026<\/strong>, as it seeks to align the financing with the closing of its <strong>$110.9 billion acquisition<\/strong> of <strong>Warner Bros. Discovery (<a href=\"\/stock\/WBD\">WBD<\/a>)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brown-Forman (<a href=\"\/stock\/BF.B\">BF.B<\/a>) CEO Lawson Whiting is planning to step down<\/strong> following a slowdown in alcohol sales and unsuccessful merger discussions with Pernod Ricard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Geopolitical Tensions Jolt Global Markets<\/h2>\n<p><strong>President Donald Trump<\/strong> intensified hostilities in the Middle East on Monday, stating on the <em>Hugh Hewitt Show<\/em> that the <strong>Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has failed<\/strong> due to non-compliance. Trump announced his intent to <strong>&quot;strike Iran strongly tonight and tomorrow,&quot;<\/strong> while also reinstating a maritime blockade that includes a proposed <strong>20% fee on all cargo<\/strong> passing through the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Simultaneously, <strong>Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels<\/strong> launched ballistic missiles toward <strong>Saudi Arabia<\/strong>, ending a period of relative de-escalation. The <strong>Saudi-led coalition<\/strong> confirmed its air defenses intercepted multiple threats targeting the kingdom\u2019s southern region, an escalation sparked by a strike on the <strong>Sanaa International Airport<\/strong> runway earlier in the day.<\/p>\n<h2>Tech Stocks Slump as Oil Prices Surge<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/sp500\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"snp500 today\">S&amp;P 500<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/GSPC\">GSPC<\/a>)<\/strong> fell <strong>0.77%<\/strong> to <strong>7,517.39<\/strong>, while the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/dowjones\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Dow Jones Today\">Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average (<a href=\"\/stock\/DJI\">DJI<\/a>)<\/strong> saw a more modest decline of <strong>0.23%<\/strong>, closing at <strong>52,517.69<\/strong>. The Dow&#39;s losses were partially mitigated by <strong>energy sector gains<\/strong>, as <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">crude oil<\/a> futures surged in response to the renewed threat of supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Semiconductor stocks<\/strong> faced the heaviest pressure, led by a <strong>6.1% drop<\/strong> in <strong>SK Hynix (<a href=\"\/stock\/SKHY\">SKHY<\/a>)<\/strong> following its recent Nasdaq debut. Investors also showed caution ahead of congressional testimony from <strong>Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh<\/strong>, as rising energy costs fueled concerns that the central bank might be forced to consider further interest rate hikes to combat renewed inflationary pressure.<\/p>\n<h2>Corporate Shakeups and M&amp;A Delays<\/h2>\n<p>In the media sector, <strong>Paramount Skydance (<a href=\"\/stock\/PSKY\">PSKY<\/a>)<\/strong> pushed the expiration of its exchange offers for <strong>Warner Bros. Discovery (<a href=\"\/stock\/WBD\">WBD<\/a>)<\/strong> notes to <strong>July 22, 2026<\/strong>. The company indicated it may further extend these offers to ensure they remain synchronized with the final closing of the merger, which currently faces <strong>antitrust challenges<\/strong> from several U.S. state attorneys general.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, <strong>Brown-Forman (<a href=\"\/stock\/BF.B\">BF.B<\/a>)<\/strong>, the maker of Jack Daniel\u2019s, confirmed that <strong>CEO Lawson Whiting<\/strong> will retire once a successor is found. The announcement follows a period of stagnant sales in the spirits industry and reports that the company held <strong>unfruitful deal talks<\/strong> with European rival <strong>Pernod Ricard<\/strong>. Despite the leadership change, the company\u2019s governance remains anchored by the <strong>Brown family<\/strong>, which maintains a controlling interest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways U.S. stock indexes closed lower as the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) fell 1.49% (391.99 points) to 25,889.62, driven by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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