Markets are on edge as investors digest a slew of geopolitical events, corporate earnings, and economic data in this final session of July, which promises to be highly volatile ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Geopolitical Tensions Flare Up In Middle East, BoJ Moves, US Data Disappoint The situation in the Middle East reached a critical turning point after the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed by Israeli forces in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday morning. Reuters reported that Hamas’ armed wing stated Haniyeh’s killing would “take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions,” while Iran declared three days of national mourning and vowed to retaliate, potentially leading to a dangerous escalation in the region. This incident followed another assassination on Tuesday in Beirut, where Israeli forces killed Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah's most senior military commander and Hassan Nasrallah's right-hand man. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, Shukr was responsible for the death of 12 children in a soccer field on Saturday and had orchestrated 30 years of Hezbollah terrorist attacks. On the macroeconomic front, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) increased interest rates by 0.15 percentage ...