{"id":71261,"date":"2026-09-01T16:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T20:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-shaken-by-oil-surge-and-middle-east-tensions-dell-shares-rocket-on-ai-growth\/71261\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T16:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T20:38:11","slug":"global-markets-shaken-by-oil-surge-and-middle-east-tensions-dell-shares-rocket-on-ai-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-shaken-by-oil-surge-and-middle-east-tensions-dell-shares-rocket-on-ai-growth\/71261\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Markets Shaken by Oil Surge and Middle East Tensions; Dell Shares Rocket on AI Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">Oil prices<\/a> surged 5.9% to $90.82 a barrel<\/strong> following renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities, sparking fears of a sustained disruption in the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dell Technologies (<a href=\"\/stock\/DELL\">DELL<\/a>)<\/strong> delivered a massive earnings beat and <strong>raised its fiscal year revenue guidance to $192 billion<\/strong>, driven by an explosion in AI-optimized server demand.<\/li>\n<li><strong>U.S. equities closed lower<\/strong>, with the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/sp500\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"snp500 today\">S&amp;P 500<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/SPY\">SPY<\/a>)<\/strong> falling 0.74% as rising Treasury yields and geopolitical instability pressured risk assets.<\/li>\n<li><strong>OpenAI<\/strong> announced the restart of a large frontier reinforcement learning run for <strong>GPT-5.6<\/strong> and introduced its new <strong>Astra<\/strong> model with advanced cybersecurity capabilities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Major STOXX index rebalancing<\/strong> was announced, with <strong>Barclays (<a href=\"\/stock\/BCS\">BCS<\/a>)<\/strong>, <strong>Engie<\/strong>, and <strong>Nokia (<a href=\"\/stock\/NOK\">NOK<\/a>)<\/strong> among the notable additions to blue-chip European indices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Global financial markets faced a volatile session on Tuesday as a sharp escalation in Middle East tensions sent energy prices soaring and dampened investor appetite for equities. <strong>WTI Crude jumped 5.9% to settle at $90.82 per barrel<\/strong> amid reports of renewed fighting between U.S. and Iranian forces, raising the specter of a blockade in the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>. The geopolitical shock rippled through asset classes, dragging <strong>Bitcoin<\/strong> down 2% to $77,247 and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">Gold<\/a><\/strong> down 2.4% to $4,330.<\/p>\n<p>The spike in oil prices reignited fears of &quot;sticky&quot; inflation, prompting a sell-off in the bond market. The <strong>U.S. 10-year Treasury yield climbed 4 basis points to 4.79%<\/strong>, while the <strong>UK 10-year yield surged 16 basis points to 5.22%<\/strong>. Traders are now increasingly pricing in a potential <strong>Federal Reserve interest rate hike<\/strong> in September to combat renewed inflationary pressures.<\/p>\n<p>In the technology sector, <strong>Dell Technologies (<a href=\"\/stock\/DELL\">DELL<\/a>)<\/strong> emerged as a major outlier, reporting stellar second-quarter results that blew past Wall Street estimates. The company posted <strong>revenue of $46.97 billion<\/strong> against the $44.78 billion expected, supported by <strong>$16.40 billion in AI-optimized server revenue<\/strong>. Dell management significantly raised its full-year revenue outlook to <strong>$192 billion<\/strong>, nearly $25 billion higher than previous guidance, citing an <strong>AI server backlog of $95 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Dell&#39;s success, the broader market struggled under the weight of rising rates. The <strong>Nasdaq 100 (<a href=\"\/stock\/QQQ\">QQQ<\/a>) dropped 1.3%<\/strong> as chipmakers faced a sharp sell-off, 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\/DIA\">DIA<\/a>) declined 0.8%<\/strong>. The <strong>S&amp;P 500<\/strong> ended the session down 56.59 points, or 0.74%, to finish at 7,629.55.<\/p>\n<p>In the artificial intelligence space, <strong>OpenAI<\/strong> provided updates on its development roadmap, revealing that it has resumed training for its <strong>GPT-5.6<\/strong> model. The company also introduced <strong>Astra<\/strong>, a new model with significantly enhanced cybersecurity capabilities and layered protections designed to prevent &quot;misaligned actions.&quot; While <strong>Astra<\/strong> will be made available soon, OpenAI noted that access to its most sensitive features will initially be limited to a select group of testers.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, <strong>STOXX<\/strong> announced its annual index review effective September 21. <strong>Barclays (<a href=\"\/stock\/BCS\">BCS<\/a>)<\/strong> will join the <strong>STOXX Europe 50<\/strong>, replacing <strong>Prosus<\/strong>. In the <strong>EURO STOXX 50<\/strong>, <strong>Engie<\/strong> and <strong>Nokia (<a href=\"\/stock\/NOK\">NOK<\/a>)<\/strong> will be added, while <strong>Wolters Kluwer<\/strong> and <strong>Volkswagen (<a href=\"\/stock\/VWAGY\">VWAGY<\/a>)<\/strong> preference shares are set to be deleted. The <strong>STOXX Europe 600<\/strong> will see several additions from the banking and energy sectors, including <strong>National Bank of Greece<\/strong> and <strong>Motor Oil Hellas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Oil prices surged 5.9% to $90.82 a barrel following renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities, sparking fears of a sustained disruption 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