Finance

Technology shares recovered nicely from a sharp selloff triggered earlier in the week by downgraded annualized revenue projections for OpenAI. Despite some lingering caution, exemplified by an Nvidia-backed computing firm abandoning an initial public offering plan in Australia, nine of the eleven primary S&P 500 sectors successfully closed in positive territory.

Crude oil futures dipped slightly, with West Texas Intermediate settling near $91.20 and Brent hovering around $104, after geopolitical tensions temporarily softened. The drop came following comments from President Donald Trump that the US would not target Iran prior to the upcoming midterm elections, which alleviated pressure on benchmark Treasury yields that had previously reached multi-decade highs.

Major financial institutions including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo are scheduled to report corporate profits, signaling the unofficial beginning of the third-quarter earnings cycle. This influx of corporate data arrives as a preliminary University of Michigan report reveals that U.S. consumer sentiment is dropping significantly, with one-year inflation expectations accelerating to 4.7%.