Oil prices continued their gains during Tuesday's session, with renewed concerns about the volume of supplies from the world's main crude oil production region, with the resumption of mutual attacks between the United States and Iran in the Middle East.
Brent crude oil recorded an increase of 3.2 percent, reaching $92.13 per barrel, at 10:20 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 3.5 percent, reaching $87.76 per barrel.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump threatened to launch more strikes on Iran following the first exchange of direct attacks between the two countries since late July, which increased tension in a conflict that recently turned into an economic confrontation.
Amid fears of escalation, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that his country would immediately respond in kind if the United States returned to its obligations under the interim peace agreement signed in June.
Efforts by mediators - including Qatar and Oman, to broker a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of the world's oil supplies before the outbreak of war in late February - have so far failed. The number of ships crossing the strait is still very small.
The reserves of the global oil market, on which the market depends, began to deplete. US inventories are near their lowest levels, while China's ability to keep its imports low will be tested as seasonal demand increases.
Analysts polled by Reuters in August expect oil prices to remain above $80 a barrel in 2026 as shipping disruptions continue.
Shein began its first day of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under clear pressure, after its shares fell by about 4 percent, an indication that investors are still skeptical about the ability of the fast fashion giant to restore the high growth rates that raised its market value four years ago to nearly $100 billion.
The stock reached about 46.62 Hong Kong dollars during the mid-session, compared to the subscription price of 48.56 dollars, after it had previously fallen by up to 10 percent. This gives the company a market value of approximately $25.3 billion only, equivalent to about a quarter of its peak in 2022.
This decline does not merely reflect fluctuations related to the listing day, but rather a deeper shift in investors’ perception of Shein’s business model. The company, which built its global reach on selling very cheap products and shipping them directly to consumers, today faces a more difficult commercial and regulatory environment, after the customs advantages that helped this model succeed have declined.
Last year, the United States canceled the customs exemption for small commercial shipments worth less than $800, which directly harmed Shein's ability to send low-value packages to the American market at a limited cost. The European Union has also taken similar steps by imposing fees on low-value parcels.
These changes were not marginal. The company's net income decreased by 39 percent last year, and SheIn turned to a net loss in the first quarter, while the company expected that the operating margin in the first half of the year would be slightly lower than its level in the first quarter due to higher fees, taxes, shipping costs, and logistics services in Europe and the Middle East.
Josh Gilbert, chief Asia Pacific analyst at eToro, said that the number of daily active users in Europe has fallen by about 45 percent since the abolition of the customs exemption on small packages, adding that a large part of the loyalty of Shein customers was linked to the price as much as it was linked to the brand itself.
The main challenge for the company is whether it can maintain the customer base; If you lose the advantage of very low price. The interest in the IPO itself showed a degree of caution. The individual investor segment was covered 5.63 times, while the international segment was covered only 2.59 times, which are modest levels compared to prominent IPOs in the artificial intelligence and robotics sectors, which witnessed coverage hundreds of times in some cases.
Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, said that the poor performance on the first day indicates that investors do not see the stock as cheap even after the significant valuation cut.
According to its estimates, Shein is trading at about 15 times future profits, that is, more than double the multiple of BDD, which owns the competing Temo platform, although Shein faces a less clear vision for growth and high regulatory and commercial risks. However, the IPO retained the support of prominent investors. The Welt Advisors office of billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the French investor
The offered shares represent about 6.6 percent of the company's capital after the expansion, while the main investors acquired about one-fifth of the subscription with a six-month sale ban period, which means that the shares available for free trading do not exceed approximately 5 percent of the total capital.
This structure may reduce supply in the market, but it does not solve the problem of valuation or slow growth. That's why Shein is trying to reformulate its business model. It has expanded its platform to include third-party sellers, and no longer relies solely on its own brand of ultra-cheap fashion. In May, it acquired the American clothing brand Everlane, in a move that reflects an attempt to move to a more diversified model in terms of products, brands and markets.
But commercial expansion is being met with increasing regulatory pressure. The company has revealed an ongoing investigation from the US Federal Trade Commission related to consumer protection that could lead to significant penalties, while the European Commission is examining issues including illegal products, platform design that may encourage excessive use, and the transparency of recommendation systems.
The Hong Kong listing itself came after four years of unsuccessful attempts in New York and London, where the company faced intense political and regulatory scrutiny related to business practices, governance and supply chains... This history explains part of the “risk discount” that investors currently place on the stock.
From a financial standpoint, the IPO is not just a fundraising exercise. The company agreed to pay about $3.5 billion in cash to some early investors, along with adjustments to the stakes of preferred shareholders who entered the company when its valuations were much higher.
Jianggan Li, CEO of Momentum Works, said that the IPO “is not just a fundraising event, but also a capital restructuring event,” a phrase that sums up an important aspect of the current listing.
For Shein, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange provides a permanent outlet for liquidity and allows the rights of old investors to be rearranged after years of faltering listing attempts. But in return, it puts the company to the test of daily pricing in the public market for the first time. The question over the coming months will be less about SheIn's ability to sell $5 T-shirts, and more about its ability to protect margins, adapt to the end of the era of ultra-cheap international shipping, expand beyond ultra-discount fashion, and manage regulatory risks.
The current market capitalization of around $25 billion reflects a huge loss in confidence compared to its 2022 peak, but it does not necessarily mean that the stock has become a cheap bargain. Investors now want proof that the company can achieve growth and profitability in an environment radically different from the one that created its initial rise.
US stock index futures fell on Tuesday, continuing their weak performance, in light of the rise in bond yields and oil prices. This prompted investors to refrain from taking risks at the beginning of a month that is historically considered one of the weakest months of the year for stocks.
The sharp increase in expectations for raising interest rates led to a deterioration in investor sentiment during recent sessions, while renewed clashes in the Middle East raised concerns about the possible need to raise borrowing costs to contain price pressures, according to Reuters.
The sell-off in US Treasury bonds also pushed yields to their highest levels in several months, further weakening investors' appetite for risk. Rising yields on Treasury bonds, which are considered risk-free assets, make investing in stocks less attractive given the additional risks associated with them.
“Yields may not jump to crisis levels, but the era of low interest rates is unlikely to return soon,” said Richard de Chazelle, a macroeconomic analyst at William Blair.
He added: “The risk balance still indicates that returns will remain high.”
Investors are also facing the usual seasonal weakness. Since 1926, the Standard & Poor's 500 has fallen an average of 0.7 percent in September, making it the weakest month for stocks and the only month in which the index records a negative average return, according to Fisher Investments, citing FinOne data.
But Anthony Saglimbini, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, said historical trends may not be enough reason to stay away from stocks.
He added: “The fundamentals that support stocks and the economy are solid. We believe that it is better for investors to remain in the market during seasonal fluctuations, rather than trying to time market movements.”
By 4:46 a.m. EST, Dow Jones futures were down 251 points, or 0.48 percent, while Standard & Poor's 500 futures were down 37 points, or 0.48 percent, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 244 points, or 0.83 percent.
Later in the session, attention turns to the Department of Labor's Jobs and Labor Turnover (GOLT) report, ahead of the more important non-farm payrolls data on Friday.
The data is expected to be closely followed in search of indicators of the strength of the labor market, after Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said that curbing inflation is the central bank’s main priority.
“The Fed remains firmly focused on inflation,” Glenmede investment strategists wrote. “If the jobs data comes in close to expectations, it will reinforce the view that the timing of any future shift in monetary policy will depend more on the path of price pressures than on the pace of job growth.”
Among the most prominent moving stocks in pre-market trading was Robinhood stock, which rose 2.5 percent after Morgan Stanley raised the stock's rating.
Hut 8 shares also rose by 1.77 percent after Reuters and other media reported that the digital infrastructure company will develop a data center as part of a cloud computing deal between Anthropic and Lambda.
Shares of energy companies rose after Brent crude rose 1.86 percent, with shares of “Exxon Mobil” and “Devon Energy” rising by more than 1 percent each.
