U.S. and Israeli flags projected on the historic walls of the Old City near Hebron Gate in Jerusalem, Israel, on June 22, 2025. <\/p>\n
Gazi Samad | Anadolu | Getty Images<\/p>\n
United States on Saturday conducted air strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites, entering Israel’s war against Tehran. The timing was unexpected. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was still considering U.S. involvement and would arrive at a decision “within the next two weeks<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Financial and political analysts had largely taken that phrase as code word for inaction.<\/p>\n “There is also skepticism that the ‘two-week’ timetable is a too familiar saying used by the President to delay making any major decision,” wrote Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets.<\/p>\n Indeed, Trump has commonly neglected to follow up after giving a “two week” timeframe on major actions, according to NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n And who can forget the TACO trade<\/a>? It’s an acronym that stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out” \u2014 which describes a pattern of the U.S. president threatening heavy tariffs, weighing down markets, but pausing or reducing their severity later on, helping stocks to rebound.<\/p>\n “Trump has to bury the TACO before the TACO buries him … he’s been forced to stand down on many occasion, and that has cost him a lot of credibility,” said David WOO, CEO of David Woo Unbound.<\/p>\n And so Trump followed up on his threat, and ahead of the proposed two-week timeline.<\/p>\n “There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” Trump said on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n But given Trump’s criticism of U.S. getting involved in wars under other presidents, does America bombing Iran add to his credibility, or erode it further?<\/p>\n What you need to know today<\/p>\n The U.S. strikes Iran <\/strong> Iran calls attacks ‘outrageous’<\/strong> Stock futures in U.S. retreat<\/strong> Oil jumps but bitcoin slumps<\/strong> [PRO] Eyes on inflation reading
U.S. President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0on Saturday said the\u00a0United States\u00a0had attacked Iranian\u00a0nuclear\u00a0sites<\/a>, pushing America into\u00a0Israel’s war with its longtime rival. Secretary of Defense\u00a0Pete Hegseth\u00a0said Sunday that “Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated<\/a>.” The decision to attack Iran engages the American military in active warfare in the Middle East<\/a> \u2014 something\u00a0Trump\u00a0had vowed to avoid.<\/p>\n
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Tehran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty<\/a> and people after the “outrageous”\u00a0U.S. attacks\u00a0on three of its major nuclear enrichment facilities<\/a>. Iranian state-owned media, meanwhile, reported that\u00a0Iran’s parliament backed closing<\/a>\u00a0the Strait of Hormuz, citing a senior lawmaker. The U.S. on Sunday called on China to prevent Iran from doing so<\/a>.<\/p>\n
U.S. futures slid Sunday evening stateside<\/a> as investors reacted to Washington’s strikes on Iran. On Friday, U.S. markets mostly fell<\/a>. The S&P 500<\/a> lost 0.22%, its third consecutive losing session, while the Nasdaq Composite<\/a> retreated 0.51%. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> eked out a 0.08% gain. The pan-European Stoxx 600<\/a> index ticked up 0.13%, but ended the week 1.5% lower<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Oil prices jumped Sunday evening<\/a> in the U.S., its first trading session after Saturday’s strikes. U.S. crude oil<\/a> rose $1.76, or 2.38%, to $75.60 per barrel, while global benchmark\u00a0Brent<\/a>\u00a0was up $1.80, or 2.34%, to $78.81 per barrel.\u00a0Meanwhile, bitcoin<\/a> prices briefly dipped below the $99,000 mark<\/a> Sunday, its lowest level in more than a month, before paring losses. It’s now trading around $100,940, down 1.5%.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Where markets go this week<\/a> will depend on whether the conflict in the Middle East escalates after the U.S.’ involvement. Investors should also keep an eye on economic data. May’s personal consumptions expenditure price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, comes out Friday, and will tell if tariffs are starting to heat up inflation<\/a>.
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