The August 25, 2026, edition of "Horizons Middle East & Africa" reported on rising tensions in the Middle East, with the UAE accusing Iran of launching two missiles towards its territory, leading to severed ties. This geopolitical instability, coupled with a stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz where oil traffic remains low, caused Brent crude prices to rise for a fourth consecutive day, holding above $91 per barrel.
The broader market saw a semiconductor selloff deepen, with investors retreating due to elevated bond deals and geopolitical uncertainty. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 closed negatively, and the STOXX gauge dropped about 3%. Asian equities were 2% lower, with the KOSPI dropping over 5%. US 10-year yields reached 4.69%, the highest in almost a year, and 30-year yields surged to their highest since 2007.
The show discussed the impact of higher yields on tech stocks, noting that the high valuations of these companies are sensitive to future earnings growth and rising costs. This led to widespread declines across Asian markets, including China, Korea, and Japan, with Taiwan also experiencing losses. However, China's primary market saw a blockbuster IPO from Unitree Robotics, a human-robot maker, whose shares jumped as much as 600% at open before moderating to a 500% gain, after raising over $400 million.
Discussions also covered the US-Iran standoff, with President Trump denying ongoing talks while his son-in-law suggested otherwise. Analysts believe regional countries, particularly the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, may need to broker their own deals with Iran, given their direct stakes and understanding of the local dynamics, especially after six months of conflict and the effective closure of Hormuz.
Bloomberg's Anthony Stephens highlighted a "transmission mechanism" where higher yields impact equities on the tech front due to significant debt and equity issuance by tech companies, creating a wall of paper entering the markets just as risk increases. This pressure from both debt and upcoming IPOs like Anthropic is forcing investors to re-evaluate existing tech holdings.
