Markets Pause as Oil Shock Rattles Bonds, Mega-Cap Week Looms

Oil Back Below $100 After Iran Tensions

Brent crude crossed the $100 barrier this week before pulling back as Trump weighed a military strike on Iran. The spike drove a global bond sell-off. Rising inflation expectations are forcing traders to reprice interest rate outlooks. Energy stocks caught a bid on the move. SLB and other oilfield services names attracted fresh analyst upgrades.

Big Tech Earnings Dominate the Calendar

This week is the heaviest on the earnings calendar. Microsoft reports Q4 fiscal 2026 results on Wednesday. Thursday brings Apple and Amazon on the same afternoon — over $7 trillion in combined market cap reporting within hours. Qualcomm and Starbucks also report mid-week. Options flow shows heavy two-way activity in chip names. Micron and NVIDIA are seeing both large put and call volumes — a sign of elevated uncertainty heading into results.

Bears Circle Consumer and Credit Names

Short sellers pushed Chewy short interest to 79.2% of free float. That's up nearly 16 percentage points in one week. Hertz hit 78.6%, up 9 points. Both stocks reflect growing pessimism on the consumer. Tesla sits deep in oversold territory with RSI at 28 and is down 30% year-to-date. Put buyers are active there ahead of Q2 results.

Europe and Gold Find Buyers

European stocks slid broadly but defence names rallied after Ukraine ratified a $105 billion EU loan deal. Gold miners got a lift. Analysts raised Newmont targets to $129.60. The 6G race is heating up — the Trump administration is building a 20-nation coalition, a positive backdrop for Qualcomm and Keysight Technologies ahead of Wednesday's print.