Industrials and Manufacturing Sector

IBM shares tanked Tuesday after missing Q2 targets—reporting $2.93 earnings per share on $17.2 billion revenue when Wall Street expected $3.01 and $17.86 billion (CNBC). CEO Arvind Krishna blamed clients suddenly rushing to buy memory chips and servers ahead of expected price hikes, leaving IBM's software and infrastructure business in the dust. The stock is now pacing its worst day since the 1987 crash, a brutal reminder that even blue-chip titans get blindsided by supply-chain scrambles.

U.S. crude finished up 1.82% to $79.56 a barrel Tuesday after President Trump scrapped his demand for a 20% protection fee on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, trading the toll for investment deals with Gulf states instead (CNBC). One-fifth of global oil flows through Hormuz, and the threat of a U.S.-imposed tax had briefly pushed crude above $80, but Trump's pivot to sweetheart trade agreements proved more palatable than a hard toll. The move eases immediate geopolitical risk, though Iran tensions and shipping attacks remain a structural wild card for energy markets.

United Microelectronics (UMC), Taiwan's second-largest contract chip manufacturer, began mass production of silicon photonics wafers at its Singapore plant Tuesday, hitting a key milestone in just 18 months (CNBC). Silicon photonics transmits data at ultra-high speeds—essential plumbing for AI data centers—and UMC's platform will be available for customers by 2027 as the global market for this tech swells to $3.71 billion. Citi forecasts UMC's Q2 sales will jump 13% sequentially with gross margin recovery, though the stock fell 1.6% in Taipei, suggesting investors are already pricing in the wins.