U.S. Plans Action Targeting Allies’ Chip Plants in China
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Here's your midday brief for Friday, June 20th. I'm Zoe Kolkin for The Wall Street Journal.

Oil prices eased after President Trump held off on taking action against Iran. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, fell below $77 a barrel. U.S. stocks were mixed after futures sold off over the Juneteenth holiday. Meanwhile, European foreign ministers are meeting with Iranian officials in Geneva today to press them to de-escalate and to offer a rollback of Tehran's nuclear activities. And as the conflict entered its second week, Israel and Iran were continuing to exchange fire.

Israel said it hit missile manufacturing sites in Iran overnight. And a projectile landed in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, injuring 21 people.

We're exclusively reporting that a U.S. official told top global semiconductor makers he wanted to revoke the waivers that have allowed them to access American technology in China. The move would make the licensing for chip equipment similar to what China currently has in place for rare earth materials and constrain relations with South Korea and Taiwan, whose companies would be most affected by the change.

Supermarket chain Kroger's profit and sales decreased in the latest quarter, but its adjusted per-share earnings exceeded analyst expectations. Despite closures of 60 stores, Kroger raised its 2025 same-store sales outlook, driven by pharmacy, e-commerce, and fresh food sales.

And we're exclusively reporting that Home Depot has made an undisclosed offer for building products distributor GMS, kicking off a potential bidding war between the home improvement giant and serial dealmaker Brad Jacobs, whose QXO made an unsolicited proposal to buy GMS for about $5 billion earlier this week.

We'll have more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.