US Launches Iran Strikes For Second Day; Platner Ends Senate Bid

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1:50Good morning. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Alexis Christophorus. Here are the stories we're following today. Alexis, we began with the latest developments in the Middle East where fighting continues. The US military struck Iran for a second straight day and Tehran retaliated against American allies in the Persian Gulf. President Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One. We just hit them very hard and I say we hit them 20 to one. Every time they hit us, we're gonna hit them 20. And we did it last night. It did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night. They hit actually three boats, not two.

2:30And when they hit, we hit back much harder. U.S. Central Command says it targeted Iran's air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, and missile and drone storage sites. And the renewed fighting is raising fears that the tit-for-tat attacks may derail talks on a permanent peace deal. Both the U.S. and Iran are accusing each other of violating a memorandum of understanding that established a short-term truce. We get more from Bloomberg Middle East reporter Patrick Sykes. The moment, it's more strikes than talks. Remember, we have a kind of suspension of the talks at the moment while the funeral proceedings for the former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are going on.

3:07That is to conclude today with his burial in Mashhad. In the meantime, yeah, we have these strikes. the strategy from the U.S. side seems to be to use them to, let's say, pressure Iran into compromising, I think in particular on the Strait of Hormuz front. Iran is still insisting that it have some kind of sovereignty over the future state of the Strait of Hormuz, control over the passage of ships within it. That's something that, of course, the U.S. and many other countries are still very much resisting. Bloomberg's Patrick Sykes says another issue yet to be resolved is the release of billions of dollars of frozen funds to the Islamic Republic.

3:50Well, Alexis, the potential unraveling of a fragile truce between the Iran and the U.S. has renewed anxiety over fuel prices. Traffic through the Strait of Ramirez came to a near standstill. Chris Kennedy covers energy markets for Bloomberg. Our base case is still that we are in that sort of escalation and then de-escalation period. But of course, these are pretty significant attacks two nights in a row. Iran is taking hits to some of their missile stockpiles, et cetera. And I think there is a risk that we will see some retaliation from Iran that could do some more lasting damage to export infrastructure, to oil production and gas production infrastructure in the Gulf.

4:28And that would, of course, have much longer term impacts on energy security. And Bloomberg Energy reporter Chris Kennedy. Right now, oil is falling after gaining more than 6 % the past two sessions. Checking West Texas Intermediate, it's down six-tenths of a percent at$73.11 a barrel. Brent at$77.55. And Karen, major political news this morning here in the U.S. Graham Plattner suspended his Senate campaign in Maine. Bloomberg's John Tucker joins us now with more. Good morning, John. And Alexis, the move by Plattner follows sexual assault allegations. the 41-year-old oyster farmer and military veteran posted a video on social media.

5:07I know that some will think it's an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not. We're not doing it because of the allegations. We're doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power. Following the allegations, support from fellow Democrats collapsed. A crucial race for the party is now in turmoil. The main Democratic Party is going to hold a nominating convention to choose a new nominee. The process to replace Plattner needs to play out before a July 27th deadline. The race to try and defeat Republican Senator Susan Collins is considered a must-win seat in their fight to take back the chamber.

5:41If Democrats lose Maine, their path to the majority is far more difficult. I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. All right, John, thank you. We turn to the markets now. Futures rebounding after yesterday's losses on Wall Street. The S &P, which was down more than 1 % yesterday, closed down just three-tenths of a percent. The Dow dropped 577 points or more than 1%. The Nasdaq closed the session up two-tenths of a percent. Right now, Nasdaq futures are leading the way higher. They are up six-tenths of a percent. And on the economic front, in minutes released from the Federal Reserve's June meeting, the first under chair, Kevin Warsh, a few officials said there was a case for raising interest rates.

6:20They ultimately supported the decision to leave rates on hold. We get more on the Minutes from Tyler Kendall in Washington. The Minutes tell us that the discussion really centered around inflation risks and restoring price stability. Writing in part, quote, participants judged that the risks to the inflation outlook were tilted to the upside. They observed that both core and total inflation had moved higher, generally attributed to the increases to the lingering effects of tariffs, supply chain disruptions, and related to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall says policymakers will next look to the release of June consumer price data on Tuesday.

6:58In company news, Alexis, traders are looking forward to the U.S. debut of SK Hynix, which is expected on Friday. Right now, demand for the South Korean-based memory chip maker in the U.S. is strong. The listing is more than seven times oversubscribed and is currently on track to be the largest U.S. debut for a foreign company. And in Europe, shares of AstraZeneca are plunging 9%. Its gene silencer drug failed to help prevent heart problems in patients with a rare and potentially fatal disease of the organ. Astra is looking to establish itself in the disease area, where the market for therapies is expected to be worth$18 billion by 2030.

7:35If you collect luxury watches, Alexis, now may be a good time to get a deal on a used Rolex Daytona Oysterflex watch, especially if you can find it in yellow gold. The price of that model has dropped 4 % since April, according to the Bloomberg Subdial Index, mirroring a slump in the precious metal that began with the war in Iran. The value of the top 10 watches has risen by just over 2 % since April, suggesting that iconic brands and historic models are driving the market. All right. Well, watches may be at a discount, Karen. Wealthier Americans are cutting back on back to school spending. According to a Deloitte survey of families in late May, a majority of those making more than$200 ,000 a year say they plan to spend 20 percent less than they did in 2025.

8:21On the other end of the spectrum, families earning less than$100 ,000 a year expect to spend more, mostly due to higher prices.

8:33time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in new york and around the world for that we are joined by bloomberg's michael barr good morning michael good morning alexis the developer behind the midtown manhattan tower that was evacuated tuesday over structural concerns says it has a plan to fix the issue including reconstructing 15 floors that were added to the original building as part of its conversion into apartments. Metro Loft CEO Nathan Berman says the issue was caused by two columns that weren't sufficiently reinforced, leading them to bend and causing some of the floors above to sag.

9:08New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani is promising a full investigation. As soon as we answer the emergency questions around safety in this moment, we are going to be conducting a full investigation as to how we got to this point. Officials say the building is now stable. A federal judge has ruled that New York writer E. Jean Carroll can collect $5.8 million held in escrow since a jury found that President Trump sexually abused and defamed her. The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld the 2023 civil verdict against President Trump in the case, allowing the judge to release the money. President Trump's lawyers appealed, but it was denied in an emergency order to block the payment from being made.

9:51A jury found President Trump sexually abused Carol in 1996 and then defamed her in 2022. A federal judge fined former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan$5 ,000 and cited her, but spared the 67-year-old prison time for helping a Mexican defendant out of her courtroom to evade ICE agents. Dugan's lawyer, Jason Lusak. He certainly made the right call in not sentencing Judge Dugan in prison. And she's lost so much throughout this process. Dugan stepped down from the Milwaukee County Circuit judgeship she had held for nine years amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers. Global News, 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now.

10:36I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg Alexis. All right. Thanks, Michael. Thanks, Michael. Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. And for that, we bring in John Stashauer. Thanks, Darren. They didn't play in the World Cup yesterday. They're back today with the start of the quarterfinals, a game in Foxborough between France and Morocco. Also today, the women's semifinals at Wimbledon. Coco Gauff has won four straight three-set matches. She's got a match with Carolina Mujova. Linda Moskova will take on Marta Kostiuk. The Yankees' slump continues. They got shut out at Tampa Bay, lost 3-0. The Yanks have lost 11 of their last 13 and are now five games behind the Rays.

11:15That's your Bloomberg Sports Update. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this.

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13:10like our 15-acre tropical water park, wildlife sanctuary, world-class golf course, and so much more. Visit Bahamar.com today. Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM, and around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business App. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. And the U.S. military struck Iran for a second day, and Tehran retaliated against American allies in the Persian Gulf, raising fears that the tit-for-tat attacks may derail talks on a permanent peace deal. Speaking on Air Force One on the way home from the NATO summit in Turkey, the president said he's not sure if this means the U.S.

13:50and Iran will return to a full-scale war. We have many ways we can win, but we've already won militarily. They have very little left, and they want to make a deal so badly. They called a little while ago, they want to make a deal so badly. And we're joined now by Abir Abu Omar, Bloomberg Middle East reporter. Abir, thanks for being here. Get us up to date, please. What's the latest on the fighting with Iran? Yeah, good morning, Karen. Look, what we're seeing right now is a muted reaction, really. The retaliation by Iran has been hitting countries in the GCC that includes Bahrain and Kuwait. Bahrain earlier saying that it intercepted missiles out of Iran.

14:27Kuwait saying similar things as well about attacks that have happened overnight and into the early hours of the morning that have affected some infrastructure there. Iran, also saying that the attacks by the United States on the country have been have killed over a dozen people, injured some 78 people or so. And then they affected some bridges in the eastern side of the country. Now, the reason I say these are muted reactions is because this is not dissimilar from actions that we've seen over the past couple of months or so with Iran starting by attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz and then the U.S.

15:02retaliating. Now, what we know from President Trump is that he said yesterday at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, is that according to him, or as far as he's concerned, ceasefire talks are over. But then in his own narrative, in his own remarks, he said, but the negotiators, namely Jared Kushner and Steve Woodcoff, can go on and continue those talks. And so we're seeing the back and forth in his own narrative, in his own remarks. And this all suggests that we might see a return to an escalation. That certainly feels like it's been the case over the past couple of days. But neither the market nor a lot of people on the ground seem to think that we're going to go back to a state of kinetic warfare that we saw back in March, where the entire region is dragged into it.

15:46And that is why you're seeing Brent crude, NY crude as well, reversing gains earlier in the session. So escalation, for sure, This is the most serious escalation since the MOU was reached in June. But we keep an eye out on the situation and the standstill of the movement in the Strait of Hormuz. That's also another very important element here. Strait of Hormuz and the assertion of dominance of Iran on the waterway. We keep an eye out on that and whether those shipments and ship owners return to making their movement through the waterway. Yeah, because this latest fighting has cut traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

16:22As you said, it has pretty much come to a standstill for the moment, at least today. So it sounds like ships are no longer getting through. So if the fighting, well, continues to escalate, that will certainly upset President Trump. And I would imagine it would continue to fuel any kind of retaliations. Absolutely. And I mean, this is exactly what Iran has woken up to, right? The fact that they have this much leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. Look, perhaps they already had known that they could have this much leverage. But the fact that they're using it just shows you that in the Middle East right now, it looks like the paradigm of how things are going to be done, especially in the Strait of Hormuz, may change forever.

17:02this might be the new reality, not just her moves telling ships and ship, not just Iran, excuse me, telling ships and ship owners to stick to to roots that it had laid out, but also possibly once the negotiation period is over, Iran says and is adamant on the fact that it will start charging tolls and fees to those to those tankers that are making their way through through the Strait of Hormuz. And not only would this upset the US and President Trump, but also countries in the GCC that depend on the Strait of Hormuz. And this is why you're seeing the UAE, Saudi Arabia, doubling down on other routes.

17:36For the time being, we're still seeing Brent below the$80 per barrel mark. So that's, you know, possibly good news for President Trump and his coming midterm elections in November. But still, it's definitely, it does feel like there's a new reality at play here. And that is something that Iran is aware of. This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else you listen. You can also listen live each morning starting at 5 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston and nationwide on Sirius XM Channel 121.

18:25Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app, now with Apple CarPlay and Android auto interfaces. And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it, in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Alexis Christophorus. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak. Healthcare doesn't always work great. If you've ever waited on a refill or couldn't schedule an appointment, you get it.

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