Iran’s funeral for slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei began Friday, pausing the Qatar-mediated peace talks with the U.S. Meanwhile, a record-breaking heat wave is testing Americans over the Independence Day weekend, and Wall Street closed out the holiday-shortened week with the Dow at an all-time high.

Top U.S. Stories

  • A massive heat dome is trapping more than half the country, with over 185 million people under heat alerts Friday and more than 300 temperature records expected to fall by Saturday — hitting major cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
  • Peace talks between the U.S. and Iran have been paused as Tehran begins days of mourning ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes of the war in late February. A 60-day ceasefire extension signed June 17 remains in place while final terms are negotiated.
  • Federal safety regulators are urging consumers to stop using recalled fireworks ahead of the holiday and return them for a refund.
  • U.S. Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn was charged over vandalism at the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool.
  • Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce donated to 20 local and national charities ahead of their wedding this weekend.
  • At the 2026 World Cup, an NPR weather analysis flagged the July 4th Philadelphia match as likely to be played in dangerous heat conditions.

Markets

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Thursday ahead of the holiday: the Dow climbed 1.14% to a record 52,900.07, while the S&P 500 finished roughly flat and the Nasdaq slipped on tech weakness. A cooler-than-expected June jobs report broke a three-month hot streak, reinforcing bets that the Fed will hold rates steady for now. WTI crude settled near $68.45 a barrel, close to levels last seen before the Middle East conflict erupted, as easing Hormuz Strait supply concerns offset the Khamenei-funeral-related pause in U.S.-Iran talks. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 extended its rally to 69,744.07 (+1.47%), led by semiconductor names, while the dollar traded near ¥161.15.

Stocks in Focus

Japanese chip-related stocks were the standout movers overnight: Kioxia Holdings (285A) extended a sharp rally on rising NAND flash SSD demand tied to Nvidia’s AI GPUs, and SUMCO (3436) jumped over 11% as investors rotated into lagging chip-supply names. In Europe, defense contractor Rheinmetall slid after Germany canceled a major frigate program, even as NATO prepares to announce new industry contracts at next week’s Ankara summit.

This is not investment advice — for information purposes only.

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