On Monday (August 3), international oil prices fell sharply due to news that the US and Iran were likely to reach a navigation agreement in the Strait of Hormuz; the coordinated intervention of the US and Japan in the foreign exchange market pushed the yen to continue to strengthen, the chip sector came under pressure again, US Treasury yields fell slightly, the US dollar awaited guidance from non-farm payroll data, and gold entered a range-bound trading pattern. The overall market was driven by both expectations of easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and concerns about the valuation of technology stocks. Trump Halts Planned Strike Against Iran At the urging of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, President Trump canceled a planned military strike against Iran scheduled for the weekend, marking a major turning point in negotiations to resume navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump stated that the strike would have been "the largest military operation since World War II." He also signaled that an agreement related to the Strait of Hormuz was likely to be finalized, and negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal would also proceed. On Sunday, Trump told the media that a new round of talks between the US and Iran would begin on Monday afternoon. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated that an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz negotiated between Iran and Oman was nearing completion, indirectly confirming that an agreement was imminent. Stimulated by the news, crude oil futures fell sharply on Monday, with Brent crude opening lower and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude falling by about 6% during the day. However, even with the price drop, current oil prices are still more than 15% higher than the post-war lows during the period of US-Iran ceasefire and the gradual resumption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The market is cautiously optimistic about the prospects of the agreement. Previously, tensions in the Middle East, coupled with hawkish comments from Federal Reserve official Warsh, fueled inflation concerns, causing US Treasury yields to surge. Currently, yields on US Treasury bonds and other US Treasuries have retreated from their highs. However, the extent of this yield correction is limited, which is not unexpected—the US-Iran ceasefire process has been fraught with setbacks, and multiple rounds of peace talks have failed. Traders have long been accustomed to the volatile situation, and major stock markets have only responded with cautious optimism to this positive news. After two consecutive days of strong rebound, US stock index futures are currently up about 0.5%, led by Amazon and Microsoft. The market continues to focus on AI earnings reports, and the chip sector has fallen again . The chip sector has once again become the focus of the market. Shares of South Korean companies SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics fell by more than 8% today, dragging down the Japanese stock market; however, European stocks opened higher. Nearly two-thirds of the S&P 500 companies have released their earnings reports, and the earnings season is coming to an end, but a large number of artificial intelligence-related companies are still about to disclose their results. Palantir Technology kicks off this week's earnings season, with SpaceX and AMD set to release their results tomorrow. The persistently high valuations of these tech stocks remain a market concern. Recently, the rapid rise of Chinese tech companies has further exacerbated market anxiety: Deepin Search released a new version of its AI model last Friday, reportedly with lower operating costs than Anthropic's Claude Fable5; Alibaba launched its latest large-scale model today, also posing a strong competitor to Anthropic. Bessant's statement helps the yen continue its upward momentum . Following Italy's intervention in the foreign exchange market on Thursday, the yen continued its strong upward trend at the start of the week. Since Wednesday's close, the USD/JPY exchange rate has fallen by nearly 4%, briefly touching 155.21, a three-month low, before rebounding to below 157. Other major currencies also weakened against the yen, with the euro showing a particularly significant decline. The US Treasury, in a rare coordinated intervention with Japanese authorities, bought yen to stabilize the exchange rate, using the EUR/JPY as the trading instrument. According to reports, the New York Fed had already conducted a rate inquiry for the EUR/JPY before its formal intervention on Friday. Market analysts believe that the authorities chose this currency pair, rather than directly manipulating the USD/JPY exchange rate, to avoid market speculation that the US government intentionally suppressed the dollar. Japan's Ministry of Finance warned that it could not rule out further "coordinated foreign exchange market intervention"; US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant also held the same position, stating that the yen's previous disorderly depreciation had been problematic. Trump also publicly expressed support for this joint US-Japan intervention. The dollar's trajectory awaits guidance from the non-farm payrolls report, while gold prices remain volatile. Aside from yen-related currency pairs, the dollar started the week with a slight overall strengthening, halting the decline triggered by the Fed's statements (the market lowered its expectations for a September rate hike). The recent sharp drop in oil prices further weakened the likelihood of a September rate hike by the Fed. There are no public speeches from Fed officials this week, and the market's attention is entirely focused on Friday's non-farm payrolls data. If the non-farm payrolls data is strong, bullish sentiment towards the dollar is likely to rise again. Before that, the market will focus on the US ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for the latest clues about the current state of the US economy and inflationary pressures. The dollar's stabilization at the start of the week limited the upside potential for gold prices. Currently, gold prices have rebounded to around $4050. Gold prices have been lackluster in recent weeks, fluctuating sideways: the uncertain outlook for the Middle East and the uncertain direction of Federal Reserve policy have combined to make it difficult for gold prices to establish a clear trend.