Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com.

CHIP STOCKS RETREAT AFTER RUN AS INVESTORS ROTATE

Wall Street's main indexes are mixed with just modest changes in early trade on Wednesday as fresh U.S.-Iran tensions cast doubt on peace in the Middle East, marking a cautious start to the second half of 2026.

Tehran said it would not meet with top U.S. envoys who flew to the region following ​an outbreak of hostilities. Although a source with direct knowledge of the talks as well as an Iranian official said the U.S. and Iran held technical talks in Doha, contrasting rhetoric suggested a breakthrough could be elusive.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh on Wednesday said that inflation expectations and inflation risks have come down in recent weeks, even as he repeated the Fed is committed to bringing inflation down to its 2% goal.

Traders are eyeing the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR, which flirted with the 4.5% level earlier, and is now around 4.46%. June ADP National Employment and ISM manufacturing PMI and prices paid all came in below estimates.

A majority of S&P 500 .SPX sectors are higher with communication services .SPLRCL, up more than 2%, the leading gainer. Tech .SPLRCT, down more than 1%, is taking the biggest hit.

Under the surface, software & services .SPLRCIS along with gold/silver miners .XAU are showing strength. Chip stocks .SOX, after a blistering first-half run, are sharply lower.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood around 10:16 a.m. ET.

(Terence Gabriel)

*****

EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

JULY HAS BEEN GOOD TO U.S. EQUITY BULLS FOR 11 YEARS, CAN IT HIT 12? CLICK HERE

MARKETS DIVERGE, MOMENTUM DOMINATES CLICK HERE

HOW IPOS COULD CHANGE THE AI GAME CLICK HERE

INFLATION GIVES ECB MORE TIME, AND PERHAPS A REASON TO STOP HIKES CLICK HERE

CITI SEES NIKKEI HITTING 90,000 CLICK HERE

CAUTIOUS START TO THE QUARTER CLICK HERE