This content was published on
June 22, 2026 - 18:01
5 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders drove stocks down from the brink of all-time highs as a renewed slide in SpaceX overshadowed optimism about progress in peace talks between the US and Iran. Oil dropped.The Nasdaq Composite lost 1%. Elon Musk’s rocket company sank 10% as it’s selling investment-grade bonds for the first time, part of what’s expected to be a massive borrowing spree to fund its artificial-intelligence ambitions. Alphabet Inc. led declines in megacaps. While the S&P 500 fell, most of its shares rose. West Texas Intermediate crude slid below $74 on hopes for a recovery in energy flows from the Persian Gulf.Expectations for a lasting peace deal in the Middle East, the revival of the AI trade and solid corporate earnings have fueled an almost 20% surge in the US equity benchmark from war-driven lows.Geopolitical developments are likely to remain a key source of volatility in the near term, while shifts in investor confidence in the durability of the AI rally may also lead to bouts of market swings, according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Chief Investment Office.“The market is extremely rich,” said Giuseppe Sette at Reflexivity. “Some people in SpaceX are sitting on fairly significant profits from large stakes, which could prompt short-term profit-taking.”“The issue that stands out the most is the idea that the hyperscalers continue to receive an extremely low return on investment on their colossal level of spending on AI,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak. “Another big concerns surrounds the issue of circular investments, where companies invest in each other, while also committing to buying each other’s products.”SpaceX’s debut high-grade bond sale is the latest in a wave of jumbo deals from technology companies driving the AI boom. Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and others have raised more than $300 billion of debt tied to AI since November across multiple credit markets, driving near-record issuance this year, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists.The rocket, satellite and AI conglomerate is seeking to raise at least $20 billion from the offering, Bloomberg reported last week. Proceeds will refinance the bridge loan of roughly the same size, a facility that makes up the bulk of SpaceX’s $29.1 billion of long-term debt.Elsewhere, Andy Burnham appears set to become the UK’s seventh prime minister in a decade after Keir Starmer laid out a timeline for his own departure and potential rivals backed a quick transition to the popular Manchester politician.While investors showed little reaction to Starmer’s well-telegraphed resignation, they were buoyed after Streeting threw his support behind Burnham, reducing the chance of a leadership contest that could have prolonged uncertainty for months.Corporate Highlights:SpaceX has inked a multibillion-dollar agreement to provide computing resources to artificial intelligence startup Reflection AI, the latest in a string deals from Elon Musk’s firm as it vies to become an AI infrastructure provider. Google DeepMind Vice President John Jumper, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on artificial intelligence, is leaving the company to join Anthropic PBC. Micron Technology Inc. announced a strategic agreement with Anthropic to scale next-generation artificial-intelligence infrastructure. Chevron Corp. signed a 20-year deal with Microsoft Corp. to provide natural-gas fired power for a proposed West Texas data center, which could be one of the biggest in the US. AbbVie Inc. agreed to buy Apogee Therapeutics Inc. for $10.9 billion to bolster its anti-inflammatory drug portfolio amid growing competition for its best-selling product, Skyrizi. CRH Plc agreed to acquire US construction services company Arcosa Inc. for $8.5 billion in what is a record deal for the Irish building-materials provider. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksThe S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 12 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.6% The MSCI World Index fell 0.2% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2% The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1432 The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3247 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 161.51 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 1.6% to $64,776.76 Ether rose 1.4% to $1,743.1 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 4.50% Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.95% Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.81% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.2% to $73.40 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.6% to $4,182.61 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
