According to BlockBeats, on July 9th, US stock index futures rose slightly in pre-market trading, with S&P 500 futures up 0.2%, Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.61%, and Dow Jones futures essentially flat. Amid renewed tensions between the US and Iran and rising international oil prices, the market is betting on a technology-driven rebound in US stocks. Most major European stock indices rose, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index closing up 1.4%, South Korea's KOSPI up 0.62%, and the A-share CSI 300 index closing up 2.5%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index, however, declined slightly.

On the news front, the United States announced a new round of strikes against Iran in response to attacks on merchant ships near the Strait of Hormuz, causing WTI crude oil futures to rise by nearly 1% at one point. US President Trump had previously stated that the US-Iran ceasefire was "over" and that he may no longer have any intention of continuing negotiations with Iran. Market concerns about continued supply risks in the Strait of Hormuz will further push up global energy prices and geopolitical risk premiums.

From an institutional perspective, Wells Fargo Investment Research stated that if the situation in the Middle East escalates further, oil prices may continue to maintain a high risk premium given the low global crude oil inventory. However, corporate profit growth and the AI investment boom will continue to support US stocks, with the S&P 500 index expected to rise to the 7800-8000 point range by the end of the year. The market will also be focusing on US initial jobless claims data, existing home sales data, and PepsiCo's earnings report today.

According to BlockBeats, a recent research report from Bank of America on July 9th stated that market concerns about rising high-bandwidth memory (HBM) costs and competition from custom ASIC chips have been amplified, underestimating the company's strong pricing power, supply chain advantages, and ecosystem barriers. Bank of America believes that the upcoming Rubin AI platform is expected to offset HBM cost increases with its higher selling price, while Nvidia's approximately $119 billion supply chain commitment will further solidify its cost advantage. The report anticipates that the company's gross margin will remain at a mid-range level of approximately 75%.

Regarding market concerns about ASIC replacement risks, Bank of America points out that Google's TPU has been developing for over a decade, but Nvidia's GPU revenue has grown approximately 700 times during the same period, demonstrating that custom chips have not weakened GPUs' dominant position in AI training and inference. The bank predicts that Nvidia will continue to account for 65% to 70% of global hyperscale cloud vendors' AI infrastructure spending in the future.

In terms of valuation, Bank of America believes that Nvidia's current forward P/E ratio of approximately 18.7x is only half of the average of approximately 37x over the past decade, and close to an 11-year low, indicating that pessimistic expectations have been fully priced in. With the Rubin platform progressing and the August earnings report approaching, Bank of America expects Nvidia to once again demonstrate its product competitiveness and profitability, driving the market to re-evaluate its valuation.

According to BlockBeats, on July 9th, with the outbreak of a new round of military conflict between the US and Iran, Trump's plan to extricate himself from the conflict with Iran was once again thwarted. Analysts believe that with the ceasefire agreement faltering and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remaining tense, Trump is facing triple pressure from diplomatic, energy, and electoral fronts. Previously, the US had reinstated sanctions on Iranian oil sales, and Iran retaliated by launching attacks on US military bases. The dispute between the two sides over control of the Strait of Hormuz has become the core trigger for the escalation of the conflict.

Market analysts point out that with only months left until the US midterm elections, rising energy prices are pushing up inflationary pressures in the US and posing a significant political risk to Trump. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Trump's approval rating has fallen to 34%, returning to its lowest point since his second term. Although Trump still maintains that the conflict will "end soon," many analysts believe he will find it difficult to force Iran to make concessions through military action or achieve a breakthrough in diplomatic negotiations. The situation may remain in a state of "limited conflict + continued game-playing" for a long time to come.

Most institutions believe that if the risks in the Strait of Hormuz persist, international oil and fuel prices will remain high, which will not only exacerbate risk aversion in global markets but may also further push up domestic inflation in the United States, putting continuous pressure on Trump's campaign and the Republican Party's midterm election prospects.