(The opinions expressed here are those of the author.)

By Anna Szymanski

July 13 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global markets

today

By Anna Szymanski, Editor-in-Charge, Reuters Open Interest

Crude oil prices rose on Monday morning after military action

between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the weekend.

In equities, memory chip stocks extended recent losses in Asia

trading, with South Korea's chip-heavy KOSPI index slumping.

Global stocks looked shaky early on Monday, ahead of a packed

week which will bring second-quarter earnings and U.S. June

inflation data.

I'll get into that and more below.

But first, listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily

podcast, where we discuss markets' response to escalating

tensions in the Middle East.

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in markets and finance seven days a week.

CRUDE UP, CHIPS DOWN

U.S. forces conducted another wave of strikes on Iranian targets

on Sunday, with Tehran then targeting U.S. facilities in

Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan on Monday.

Brent crude jumped early on Monday to nearly $80 per barrel

before paring some of those gains to trade around $78/bbl - a

response that, like last week's, seems fairly restrained, with

prices still below levels seen before the shaky interim peace

deal was signed in mid-June.

But chaos and uncertainty are hanging over Hormuz once again

amid conflicting claims around the status of shipping. While

Iran said it had closed the strait, U.S. President Donald Trump

said it remained open.

Tanker traffic data so far appears to align with Tehran's view.

Transits fell dramatically last week as the initial U.S.-Iran

tit-for-tat attacks unfolded, and they have remained low over

the weekend. Only six vessels transited the waterway on Sunday,

the lowest number in five weeks, according to ship-tracking data

from Kpler.

Elsewhere, volatility in semiconductor stocks looked set to

continue as South Korea's chip-heavy KOSPI index closed down

nearly 9% on Monday, dipping under 7,000 for the first time

since early May. It also re-entered bear market territory,

finding itself some 25% below its June 22 peak.

The KOSPI's slide was partly driven by a more than 15% plunge in

memory chipmaker SK Hynix, its biggest one-day decline on

record, which follows a more than 12% jump in its U.S.-listed

shares after their Nasdaq debut last Friday.

Global equities at large looked cautious and bond yields rose on

Monday morning. Wall Street futures were in the red before the

bell and European shares opened lower.

Investor focus will now shift to the second-quarter earnings

season, which gets underway in earnest this week, notably with a

bank earnings bonanza on Tuesday.

Tuesday will also bring U.S. consumer price inflation data

for June, with the core measure, which strips out energy prices,

likely to be watched closely for a read on underlying price

pressures. The release follows a recent hawkish turn at the

Federal Reserve, where new chair Kevin Warsh last month

reaffirmed a commitment to price stability.

Chart of the day

Europe will face a jet fuel supply deficit of nearly 600,000

barrels per day in the third quarter, against surpluses of

116,000 bpd in the U.S. and 425,000 bpd in Asia-Pacific,

according to data from consultancy Energy Aspects.

Inventories stood at 38 million barrels at the start of

June, compared with 99 million in the United States, Energy

Aspects said. That leaves Europe with less than 30 days of

demand cover, Reuters calculations show - the tightest of the

major jet fuel markets.

Today's events to watch

* Fed's Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller speak

* OPEC Monthly Oil Report

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