STAINSTADT, SWITZERLAND – JUNE 21: US Vice President J.D. Vance (R) looks on next to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arakchi (left) shakes hands with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif before the start of the quadrilateral meeting between the US, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at Lake Lucerne. The summit aims to advance an agreement to end the Middle East conflict on June 21, 2026 at the Bürgenstock resort on Lake Lucerne near Stanstadt, Switzerland. Mr. Vance is visiting Switzerland to engage in negotiations with Iran to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz, which has been delayed due to Israel’s attack on Lebanon. (Photo by Nathan Howard Poole/Getty Images)
Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Hello, my name is Justina Lee from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
Markets are once again focused on renewed tensions in the Middle East, which could push oil prices higher. Reports that Iran attacked a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the possibility of another major oil producer leaving OPEC, and new disagreements between Iran and the United States have reignited concerns about energy supplies.
Meanwhile, investors are analyzing the increasingly fragmented technology sector. Micron’s impressive earnings and SK Hynix’s plans for a major U.S. listing sent both stocks soaring, but Apple’s newly announced price hike sent the stock down 6%, underscoring the sector’s continued weakness.
What you need to know today
Tensions over the Strait of Hormuz appear to have flared up again after a US official told MS NOW that Iran was behind an attack on a cargo ship near the coast of Oman. The Wall Street Journal said the ship was flying the Singaporean flag, raising new concerns about one of the world’s busiest oil shipping routes.
The US and Iranian governments are also at odds over the use of funds outlined in a memorandum of understanding between the two countries. The speaker of Iran’s parliament rejected the Trump administration’s claim that the Islamic Republic’s unfrozen assets would be used to buy U.S. agricultural products.
However, U.S. officials insisted that the funds released still required U.S. approval.
“As stated in the memorandum, the United States must approve the use of the funds,” one US official said. “As Vice President J.D. Vance announced this week, once Iranian assets are released, they will be used to purchase American agricultural products to feed the Iranian people.”
The region’s energy landscape faces another potential source of uncertainty. Following the United Arab Emirates’ withdrawal from OPEC in April, Iraq, the cartel’s second-largest oil exporter, is seeking increased oil production quotas and has reportedly warned the group it could withdraw if its demands are not met.
Reports suggesting Baghdad may terminate its OPEC membership “do not reflect the official position of the Iraqi government,” Iraq’s oil ministry said late Thursday. Still, he stressed the growing tensions within the alliance and reiterated the importance of reviewing oil production quotas.
The picture for technology stocks, on the other hand, is more complicated.
Memory maker Micron soared 15% with massive profits as demand for memory increased due to the artificial intelligence boom.
However, this news did not lift the sector as a whole. Asian semiconductor stocks reversed on Friday, with SK Hynix falling more than 3%. Softbank Group Shares fell 11% as investors grew wary of rising costs for AI infrastructure.
The pressure wasn’t just limited to the AI’s name. Apple shares fell more than 6% overnight, the steepest decline since April 2025, after the company announced price hikes for MacBooks and iPads, adding further headwinds to the sector.
And finally…
Chicago Fed President Goldsby says inflation is too high. Williams expects price pressure to ease
Austan Goolsby, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Fed, speaks at the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Economic Policy Conference on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Graham Sloan Bloomberg | Getty Images
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsby said Thursday that despite some bright spots, inflation is still trending in the wrong direction. A little later in the afternoon, New York Fed President John Williams said he expected inflation to start trending downward.
In a live interview with CNBC from his hometown, Goolsby declined to speculate on where he thinks interest rates are headed. But he said the focus remained squarely on inflation, echoing sentiment expressed a week ago by new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh.
—Jeff Cox
