Oil prices dropped after Iran was permitted to sell crude oil in dollars, including to U.S. buyers, following nuclear inspection agreements. Alphabet's stock fell 5% due to key AI talent departures to competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI. SpaceX shares tumbled by 16% amid a significant bond sale announcement. Major U.S. indices showed mixed results with the Dow rising while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq declined. Treasury yields increased as investors anticipated future rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The death of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan at 100 drew widespread tributes.

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DJIA Futures\ \ 51884.00\ \ -0.45%

S&P 500 Futures\ \ 7434.00\ \ -1.42%

Nasdaq Futures\ \ 29750.75\ \ -2.95%

Stoxx 600\ \ 633.90\ \ -0.84%

Shanghai\ \ 4106.25\ \ -1.37%

U.S. 10 Yr\ \ 23/32\ \ 4.498%

VIX\ \ 20.21\ \ 16.96%

Gold\ \ 4137.30\ \ -1.56%

Bitcoin\ \ 62199.54\ \ -3.45%

Crude Oil\ \ 73.61\ \ -0.34%

Dollar Index\ \ 97.48\ \ 0.25%

S&P GSCI Index Spot\ \ 630.49\ \ -0.75%

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https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/oil-prices-drop-after-iran-cleared-to-sell-crude-in-dollars-48285693

Oil Prices Drop After Iran Cleared to Sell Crude in Dollars

Plus, Alphabet’s stock drops on AI-talent departures and SpaceX shares tumble again

By Heard on the Street Staff

June 22, 2026 4:28 pm ET

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(2 min)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaking at a podium with flags from the US, Qatar, Pakistan, and Iran in the background. Nathan Howard/Pool/Getty Images

This is an edition of the Markets P.M. newsletter, a recap of the day’s most important markets moves, delivered after the closing bell. If you’re not subscribed, sign up here.

What Happened in Markets Today

Oil prices fell after the U.S. cleared the way for Iran to sell oil in dollars for the first time in decades, including to American buyers. Vice President JD Vance said Iranian officials had agreed to allow nuclear inspectors back into their country as early as this week, which would be a significant concession by Iran. The moves signaled progress in the continuing negotiations to wind down the U.S.-Iran war. Brent crude dropped 3.3% to just under $78 a barrel.

Alphabet shares dropped 5%. Monday was the first trading session since John Jumper, a top research scientist and Nobel Prize winner, said he was leaving Google DeepMind for Anthropic, one of the company’s chief competitors in building advanced AI models. Word of his departure came shortly after another AI all-star, Noam Shazeer, said he was leaving the company for OpenAI.

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Markets P.M.

Catch up on the day's most important markets moves, delivered after the closing bell.

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SpaceX shares tumbled for a third consecutive session. The stock fell 16% Monday and is down 23% since peaking June 16 on its third day of trading. The Elon Musk-controlled company announced its first-ever bond sale Monday with proceeds earmarked to pay down debt. Even with the drop the stock is still above its IPO price.

Major stock indexes were mixed. The Dow industrials rose 0.3%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.4% and the Nasdaq dropped 1.3%. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields climbed above 4.5%, as investors bet the Fed will raise rates this year to counter price pressures stoked by the war in Iran.

Tributes poured in for Alan Greenspan, who died at age 100. The former Federal Reserve chairman was appointed five times by four different presidents of both parties. In its obituary for him, The Wall Street Journal said he “transcended the role of central banker, exercising extraordinary influence over American finance and commerce and enjoying unparalleled global stature during a period of remarkable prosperity. But by the time of his death, at age 100, the 2008-09 global financial crisis had recast his aura of technocratic omnipotence.”

Markets at a Glance

Company

Last

Chg

Chg%

E-Mini Dow Continuous Contract

51,873.00

-246.00

-0.47%

E-Mini S&P 500 Future Continuous Contract

7,439.50

-101.75

-1.35%

U.S. 10 Year Treasury Note

4.49

-0.03

-0.66%

Crude Oil Continuous Contract

73.85

-0.01

-0.01%

STOXX Europe 600 Index Continuous Contract

635.60

-6.60

-1.03%

E-Mini Nasdaq 100 Index Continuous Contract

29,825.50

-828.00

-2.70%

CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX)

62,265.00

-2,156.00

-3.35%

Gold Continuous Contract

4,137.40

-65.30

-1.55%

Market Data as of

6/23/2026, 7:03:20 AM

One Big Story

Microsoft CEO Satya NadellaDenis Balibouse/Reuters

Satya Nadella helped usher in the AI boom. Now he has a tough message for the companies leading it.

The chief executive of Microsoft is joining a growing effort to take on artificial-intelligence giants OpenAI and Anthropic. Nadella in an interview offered a blistering critique of how the race for AI supremacy has taken shape, with a small group of companies capturing the value of the world-changing technology as they make dire prophecies about safety risks and job losses, insisting they need vast resources for limitless expansion.

“You can’t say, hey, all white-collar jobs are gone and this could even be a weapon and we will use all the power to build data centers,” Nadella told The Wall Street Journal. The public, he predicted, wouldn’t tolerate just a few models and companies “doing all of the learning for the world.”

What’s Coming Up

Companies reporting quarterly results Tuesday include FedEx, Cerebras, Carnival and KB Home.
S&P Global is scheduled to release its purchasing managers indexes for services providers and manufacturing.

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About Us

Markets P.M. catches you up on the day’s most important markets moves, delivered after the closing bell. This email was written by Jonathan Weil, a columnist for Heard on the Street, The Wall Street Journal’s home for financial analysis and commentary. To send us your feedback, reply to this email. Got a tip for us? Here’s how to submit.