Houthis threaten to choke Saudi shipping

Good morning. Here’s what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

1.

Siege for siege: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they would impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, threatening to open a new front in the US-Iran war and squeeze global energy supplies further. In a video statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group was blocking Saudi ships in response to what he called a Saudi siege on Yemen. The territory the Houthis control sits alongside the Bab al-Mandab, the strait leading into the southern Red Sea, which Saudi Arabia has relied on to export crude since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia has not commented. The threat came despite signs both Tehran and Washington want to revive diplomacy. Iran’s foreign ministry said mediators had presented proposals to ease tensions, and a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran had received a proposal for a 10-day ceasefire. Meanwhile US President Donald Trump vowed Iran would pay for killing three US soldiers in recent days, writing on Truth Social that “every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over”. US petrol prices have climbed back to USD4 a gallon. Brent crude swung either side of USD88 a barrel. (Capital Brief)(Reuters)(Bloomberg)(FT)(NYT)

2.

Sitting tight: US stocks slipped overnight as renewed oil volatility and Middle East tensions outweighed a rebound in chipmakers, with investors holding back ahead of a heavy week of technology earnings. The S&P 500 closed down about 0.2% and the Dow fell around 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite ended little changed. A rally in chip stocks lost steam through the session overnight, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up more than 3% at one point, before paring most of that gain. Oil swung sharply, with Brent crude briefly topping USD90 a barrel earlier in the session before easing back below USD89 after Iran said it had received proposals from mediators to prevent further escalation. Investors are now waiting on second-quarter results from Alphabet, Tesla, IBM and Intel, due later in the week, for a broader read on corporate America after a run of mostly financial-sector reports. Among movers, Domino’s Pizza gained after its quarterly revenue beat estimates, and AMC Entertainment jumped after posting record quarterly revenue. (WSJ)(Reuters)(Bloomberg)