WSJ What’s News - Iran Strikes U.S. Military Base in Qatar. What’s Next?

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

P.M. Edition for June 23. President Trump said the U.S. received advance notice of Iran’s attack and thatno Americans were harmed and little damage was sustained. Trump indicated that he believed the attack wouldn’t escalate the crisis in the region. WSJ national security reporter Lara Seligman joins to discuss how the U.S. might respond. Plus, investors prepare for the possibility that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s main energy shipping artery. We hear from WSJ investing columnist Spencer Jakab what impact this would have on oil prices and inflation. And fewer Chinese companies are listing on U.S. stock exchanges. James Areddy covers Chin a for the Journal and explains how the U.S.-China relationship fits into it. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter.  Sign up for the Markets A.M. Newsletter by Spencer Jakab  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It seems just from looking at the facts that it was a pretty measured, limited response to the strike that the US took over the weekend. Plus, investors braced for the possibility that Iran could close the world's main energy shipping artery, the Strait of Hormuz, and why Chinese stocks are leaving American exchanges. It's Monday, June 23rd. I'm Alex Osila for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Officials said that Iran had launched missiles at the Al-Yudhid airbase in Qatar, where the

U.S. has a large military presence, marking a major escalation in the regional conflict. Several Arab and other officials familiar with the situation said that Iran had warned Qatar before the attack. The U.S. military intercepted the rocket attack and there were no casualties. Iran's military claimed responsibility, saying in a statement by the Secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council that the number of missiles used in the operation mirrored the number of bombs used by the U.S. in its attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. The Iranian regime's clerical leaders now risk widening a war with two militarily superior foes, the U.S. and Israel.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates issued statements condemning Iran's attack. President Trump said the U.S. received advance notice of the attack. Posting on social media, he wrote, quote, perhaps Iran can now proceed to peace and harmony in the region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same. Here to tell us more is national security reporter, Laura Seligman. Laura, it seems like the White House is viewing this as a pretty measured retaliation, right?

It seems just from looking at the facts that it was a pretty measured limited response to the strike that the US took over the weekend. You saw Iran launched, I believe it was the same amount of missiles as the US dropped bombs on the three nuclear sites over the weekend. So 14 missiles that they launched toward Ayudhid Air Base, which is the U.S.'s biggest military base in the Middle East, and it's in Qatar. It could have gone much bigger with this response. It could have targeted other U.S. bases. There was initial reporting that they had also launched missiles at bases in Iraq. It looks like it was just Qatar.

And not to mention the fact that the U.S. military forces, along with the Qatari, has actually shot down all the missiles. None of the missiles impacted. There were no US casualties. And that's a key point because that is an off ramp for President Trump for the US to decide to de-escalate the situation instead of responding. Right.

So how does the U.S. plan to respond? It's not clear fully the scope of the U.S. response yet, but it seems like from rumblings and messages that we're getting that the Trump administration wants the Islamic State to not respond to the attack initially, and President Trump is probably looking to use the situation to get back on track with the talks and negotiations or some kind of deal. That was WSJNational Security reporter Laura Seligman. Thanks Laura. Thanks for having me.

Oil prices fell today as Iran retaliated in a limited fashion against the U.S., easing fears that the conflict in the Middle East would royal energy markets. Investors are quickly analyzing the possibility that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial strip of water that connects the Persian Gulf to global markets and through which roughly 20% of the world's petroleum passes. Yesterday, Iranian state media reported that the country's parliament had approved a closure of the strait, but they added that the ultimate power to do so lay with the regime's top security officials. For more on what this could mean for the US

and the world at large, I'm joined by WSJ investing columnist Spencer Jacob. Spencer, closing the strait would also hurt Iran, which is a major exporter of oil. And of course it risks drawing the US further into the conflict. But if Iran decides to do this, what impact would that have on oil prices?

A closure of the strait is the ultimate nightmare scenario for energy consumers, and especially those consumers in Asia that receive most of the shipments from the Middle East seaborne crude through that waterway. There's already been a partial restriction of trade through the Red Sea, which is the other regional waterway, a little bit less important by the Houthi militia that are armed by Iran. And so they indirectly control both of those choke points.

This morning, President Trump posted on social media that he wants to keep oil prices down. How would that actually work? Well, he does have a few levers to pull, but the main lever that he has to pull is not something of his own doing, which is that the U.S. has become such a big producer of crude today. And it's not just that the U.S. produces a lot, and so that provides a real cushion for the U.S. economy and for U.S. consumers, but also the nature of shale. The fracking technology that has unlocked these vast shale reservoirs works differently. It's more expensive

and it's more labor intensive than a well that might be drilled in the Middle East, but it can be brought online very quickly in a matter of months. So you could, in a relatively short span of time, ramp up U.S. oil production because prices were high. So if prices stayed high for any longer period of time, the private sector would respond. You mentioned concerns for consumers. One of the impacts of higher oil prices would be potentially broader inflation, right? Energy feeds into everything. It feeds into the pump prices and also the cost of getting goods to us by ship, rail, truck, airplane tickets, things like that. So it's a component of inflation, although it's one that central bankers tend to look past. They tend to focus on what's called core inflation. They ignore more volatile elements like food and energy because

energy prices go up and they go down. And it's unlikely that they would stay very high for very long. What we saw in the immediate aftermath of the attack, as soon as oil futures markets began to trade, they were up by 5%, then 3%, then 1%, then not even 1%. So the market calmed down pretty quickly following the attack. That was WSJ investing columnist Spencer Jacob. Thanks, Spencer.

Thank you. You can subscribe to Spencer's daily Market's AM Newsletter. We'll leave a link in the show notes. Major US stock indexes rose on news of the Iranian missile launch after a wobbling between small gains and losses in the morning. The Dow ticked up about 0.9 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed roughly 1 percent higher.

The National Association of Realtors said today that U.S. existing home sales rose 0.8 percent in May from the prior month. Sales were better than expected, but held near historically low levels. Homes are sitting on the market longer because buyers are turned off by prices that hover near all-time highs and mortgage rates that have been stuck above 6.5%. Nicole Friedman covers the U.S. housing market

for the Journal. She spoke to our Your Money Briefing podcast about what the wide gap between what is available for sale and what buyers can afford could mean for the journal. She spoke to our Your Money Briefing podcast about what the wide gap between what is available for sale and what buyers can afford could mean for the market. Basic supply and demand would tell you that when there's more sellers than buyers, prices should go down. And so that is the big question right now that everybody is watching is what's going to happen to home prices.

And some economists are saying that they expect by the end of the year a slight decline in prices. Other economists are saying they expect declines in certain regions, definitely in the South and Texas and Florida, but maybe not a national decline. And so that market right now really just needs to find its new equilibrium. What is the price point that would kind of balance buyers and sellers? And this summer and fall is going to be really important to determine where that new normal is.

To hear more from Nicole, listen to today's episode of Your Money Briefing. Coming up, why fewer Chinese companies are going public in the US. That's after the break. Active fixed income ETFs from Hartford Funds. Built to help you navigate complex bond markets with the affordability of an ETF. Actively managing your fixed income is actively managing your client's future. Learn more at HartfordFunds.com slash active. Investing involves risk.

Carefully consider funds investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. Visit HartfordFunds.com to obtain a prospectus containing this and other information. Read it carefully before investing. Alps distributors. A once symbiotic melding of American capital with Chinese growth is unraveling. According to data provider Wind, more than 80 Chinese companies have delisted their shares

from U.S. exchanges since 2019. Around 275 China-based companies now represent less than 2% of the capitalization of shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. James Aradie covers China for the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. James Aradie covers China for the Journal and is here to tell us more. So James, in 2014, Alibaba listed on the New York Stock Exchange. That was such a big moment for Chinese companies on U.S.-based exchanges. What is different now?

The Alibaba listing was almost like China hosting the Olympics. It was a major company coming to the market, and we have a very different environment today where the companies that are coming to the US to be listed tend to be very small. They're just not the best and the brightest the way Alibaba was several years ago. How much of this shift is down to the changing relationship

between the US and China? The US-China relationship is probably the biggest issue here. We've seen the US and China pull away from each other in so many different ways. I mean, these are two major trading countries, but they're also the two superpowers, and they are at loggerheads over so much. And it's just not an environment right now that is very welcoming for Chinese companies. American policymakers are very suspicious

of where the money is going in China. Is this money somehow supporting the Chinese military? At the same time, China is trying to really build up its own markets, especially Hong Kong, when it comes to these bigger companies that would tend to come to the US. As the river of Chinese companies that are listing slows to a trickle, what is the impact on investors?

The biggest impact on US investors is that they don't really have access to the world's second biggest economy. And yes, Chinese economy is far slower than it was many years ago, but investors would like to have growth and there continues to be growth in China. And it also continues to be a place

where new wealth is created. That was WSJ reporter James Errady. What are the other companies doing? Other companies are still going public in the US.S. Amrise, the biggest cement provider and second biggest commercial roofing provider in North America, is making its stock market debut today and is expected to have a market capitalization of $30 billion or more. Amrise is a spinoff of the Swiss building materials company Holsim. The move will offer a new way to invest in the construction business while largely avoiding the Trump administration's tariff threats to the industry.

And we're exclusively reporting that New York intends to build a large nuclear power facility. It's the first major new U.S. plant undertaken in more than 15 years and a big test of President Trump's promise to expedite permitting for such projects. Governor Kathy Hochul said in an interview that she had directed the state's public electric utility to add at least one gigawatt of new nuclear power generation, enough to power about one million homes. The New York Power Authority will determine the reactor's design and may pursue the project alone or in partnership with private entities.

And that's what's news for this Monday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Anthony Bansi with supervising producer Michael Kosmides. Additional support from Coleman Standifer. I'm Alex Osila for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.