Stocks stagger and oil rises as traders eye Iran threat, Nvidia results

Asian stocks fluctuated Tuesday while oil edged up as investors assess a US plan for the “economic asphyxiation” of Iran, while tech firms struggled following another down day on Wall Street and ahead of earnings from chip titan Nvidia.

With the war against Tehran now in its sixth month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House was declaring an “economic D-Day” on the Islamic republic and threatened to hit countries that trade with it.

The threat comes with talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz stalled and neither side showing any sign of backing down — pushing oil prices up for most of August, which has in turn fanned long-term inflation fears and put pressure on bond markets.

“Around the globe, our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” Bessent told journalists Monday.

“We are going to hold everyone accountable, and this is economic asphyxiation of this regime,” he said, adding that countries not joining US sanctions would “share” in Iran’s isolation.

President Donald Trump was making phone calls to world leaders with requests to stop interactions with Tehran, Bessent said.

The Treasury Department said Iran’s digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors would be targeted for…