September 3, 2026
US-Iran tensions escalate, sending the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500 and chip stocks lower
What happened
US-Iran tensions escalated, sending futures on the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 lower. Roughly 1,747 billion dollars of market value moved on the geopolitical news. Chip stocks pulled back within their uptrend, with Broadcom falling 5.1 percent and oil prices surging 10.5 percent over the past week.
Why it matters
Geopolitical escalation widens the risk premium. Capital flees risk-on assets like equities and cyclicals, and bids up havens like oil, gold and volatility. A sustained conflict threatens supply chains and raises input costs for transport and consumer companies while lifting defence and energy names.
The case against
The move may be a short-lived, sentiment-driven slide rather than the start of a sustained downturn. Oil prices were already climbing and chip stocks were overdue for a pullback after their strong run, so the escalation may simply be accelerating an existing rotation.
What settles it
Whether Brent crude settles above its recent high and defence stocks resume their uptrend