Sharp drops in Big Tech pull indexes lower

Pullbacks in big technology companies sent indexes lower on Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell 1.4% Tuesday. The selling was concentrated in AI-related companies that have had huge run-ups in recent months and sent the market to record after record, most recently in early June.

Investors are becoming worried that the growing likelihood of interest rate hikes this year to fight inflation will weigh on economic growth. The Nasdaq fell 2.2%. The Dow, which has less weighting in tech, held up better with a drop of just 0.1%. Chip companies, which have soared in recent weeks, sank. Micron Technology lost 13.2%.

Trump admin touts Iran deal as payday for farmers

U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance say their interim deal to end the war with Iran will deliver a financial windfall to American farmers. But the Iranians deny it.

In the absence of more details, sanctions experts are flummoxed over exactly how billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets would make their way to the American heartland from the escrow accounts where they’ve been locked for years by U.S. sanctions. A tentative agreement reached last week would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow Iran to start selling its oil freely again. The memorandum of understanding also promised to unfreeze Iranian assets.

Supreme Court kills suit against Cisco technology

The Supreme Court has granted tech giant Cisco’s bid to shut down a lawsuit claiming that the company’s technology was used to persecute members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in China.

The justices ruled Tuesday that American courts are the wrong forum for the suits, rejecting arguments made by the plaintiffs that the suits should go forward under the 18th-century Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act, first enacted in 1991. The decision was the latest to rule against plaintiffs seeking to use U.S. courts as a venue to seek justice over the acts of foreign governments, especially those that took place abroad.

Court OKs Exxon suit over property seized by Castro

The Supreme Court has ruled that Exxon Mobil can sue Cuban state-owned companies in American courts over property on the island nation that was seized after Fidel Castro took power.

The decision Tuesday was the second in as many months in favor of U.S. owners of Cuban property that was confiscated by the Communist government more than 65 years ago. The outcome in the two cases could be an additional lever for the Trump administration to exert pressure on Cuba, which is already being squeezed by a U.S. oil embargo.

Trump announces $17.5B in loans for reactors

The Trump administration is providing $17.5 billion to speed the development of 10 new large nuclear reactors to meet the skyrocketing power demand from massive data centers.

The Energy Department announced the loans Tuesday. Energy Secretary Chris Wright cited “tremendous interest” among developers of data centers, called hyperscalers, who would buy the power, as well as utilities and energy companies. The department said seven utilities and energy companies signed letters of intent that identified sites. It plans to pick five, each hosting two reactors. The financing would be used to purchase nuclear components with long lead times.