Finance

Global energy markets saw wild swings after reports of new maritime strikes near the Strait of Hormuz kept international Brent crude tracking above $100 a barrel. However, immediate supply anxieties were partly mitigated by the U.S. administration's promise to avoid military action against Iran prior to the midterms and a newly brokered supply agreement with Russia for diesel distribution.

Mega-cap tech and semiconductor equities mounted a firm recovery, reversing a deep August-style plunge triggered by intense scrutiny over OpenAI's revenue trajectory. Although a prominent cloud firm pulled its planned initial public offering in Australia due to lingering valuation anxieties, investor enthusiasm for sustained artificial intelligence demand kept the broader sector positive at the weekly close.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield stabilized just under 5.25%, remaining remarkably close to a multi-decade high touched earlier in the week. Yields were buoyed by a stronger U.S. dollar index, which logged its fourth consecutive weekly expansion, as investors anticipated a prolonged series of interest rate hikes from the central bank.