The Wall Street Journal reported US officials say President Trump has ordered a new round of strikes on Iran aimed at forcing Tehran to surrender. The operation could begin as early as this weekend and may run for several days. Officials said Trump is considering a two-week, high-intensity air campaign to degrade Iran’s missile capability, though military advisers warned of risks including ammunition depletion. Some US officials said Iran may delay negotiations, betting rising US domestic opposi

US oil rig count for the week to July 31 rose to 451 rigs from 450 the previous week.

Deutsche Bank strategist said Microsoft’s strong results triggered a global tech rebound, lifting the Nasdaq and semiconductor stocks and helping the S&P 500 record its best single-day performance in seven weeks despite weak breadth. Amazon’s robust cloud growth offset disappointing guidance from Apple. South Korea’s composite stock index (KOSPI) jumped 16.4% and Japan’s Nikkei Index rose more than 4%. Microsoft surged 15.51% after reporting the prior evening — its biggest one-day gain since 2008 — adding roughly $450bn to market value, the largest single-day market-cap increase on record and larger than the total market value of any European company except ASML.