Wednesday, June 3, 2026
[4:10 PM ET…closing prices for stocks; 3:50ish for commodities and bonds]
Tale of the Tape at the gas pump, nationwide averages, courtesy of AAA.
Fri., Feb. 27…regular $2.98…diesel $3.75
Wed., June 3…reg. $4.26…diesel $5.41
Overnight Tuesday, the U.S. and Iran both reported a flurry of new strikes, as Trump administration officials painted a murky picture of where diplomatic efforts stood to end the war.
U.S. Centcom reported that Iran had launched missiles and drone strikes on two regional neighbors, Kuwait and Bahrain, and on civilian mariners transiting nearby waters. Several failed in flight, it said, and others were intercepted.
But some of the drones did get through and destroyed a terminal at Kuwait’s international airport, killing one and injuring more than 60.
Kuwait’s defense ministry spokesman called the attack “criminal Iranian aggression, while the foreign ministry said diplomatic missions had been damaged.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed the attack, saying it was in retaliation for U.S. strikes on an Iranian oil tanker and Qeshm Island. Iran also said it targeted U.S. bases in the Gulf.
Centcom said it conducted strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm, off the coast of Iran.
These were the most serious military actions from both sides since the ceasefire took hold, and they came as Lebanese and Israeli officials met in Washington for a new round of U.S.-mediated talks on ending the war in Lebanon, even as Israel launched new strikes in the southern part of the country against Hezbollah.
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that an interim truce with Iran “could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week” but that there was no guarantee that such a deal will be “acceptable to the Senate or acceptable to the American people.”
President Trump said in an interview that he could meet Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei if developments continue positively. I’m not sure what planet Trump is living on with this comment.
There is no agreement today, and so oil continued to rise anew, in part because EIA data showed a sixth consecutive weekly decline in U.S. crude inventories. Stockpiles fell by 7.97 million barrels last week, the largest draw since February and well above expectations for a 4-million-barrel decrease. I’ll be addressing the inventory issue, writ large, in my next Week in Review column. It’s not a pretty picture.
On a different serious issue, Ukraine carried out a strike on the outskirts of Russia’s St. Petersburg, hours before the opening of a major economic forum designed to attract foreign investment into the country.
Thousands of guests from 130 countries are due to attend, including a low-key U.S. delegation, with President Putin due to address the crowd on Friday.
Hours later after the strikes, President Zelensky confirmed Ukrainian drones had hit several locations in Russia, including an oil terminal and a naval base in the nearby town of Kronstadt.
“The Ukrainian plan of long-range sanctions is being implemented exactly as it is needed to bring peace closer,” Zelensky wrote on social media, using a euphemism for long-distance strikes on Russia.
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The S&P 500 and Nasdaq saw their winning streaks end at nine today on concerns over the situation in the Middle East, with increased escalation and no imminent end to the conflict.
SpaceX announced it is planning to offer shares at $135 apiece to raise $75 billion in its coming initial public offering, the company aiming to sell 555.6 million shares. It’s unconventional that SpaceX is setting a fixed price rather than a range ahead of the marketing phase of the deal.
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Dow Jones -620…-1.2% [50687]
S&P 500 -56…-0.7% [7553]
Nasdaq -239…-0.9% [26853]
Oil (WTI) $96.10…Brent $97.90
Gold $4445
Silver $73.25
Bitcoin $65,357 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.08%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.49%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.62%…back up six basis points….
Back Thurs.
Brian Trumbore
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