Finance

The aggressive global selloff in fixed income saw a temporary reprieve at the end of the week, helping to stabilize broader market sentiment. The 10-year Treasury yield cooled slightly to finish around 5.18%, down from intraday peaks, though it still concluded the week near a 19-year closing high. Investors showed relative calm even as Federal Reserve officials maintained data-dependent, hawkish tones and signaled potential further rate hikes.

Geopolitical anxieties in the Middle East eased slightly following emerging reports of active discussions between Washington and Tehran. Negotiators are reportedly trying to structure a phased diplomatic deal aimed at reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic within a week. The prospects of a diplomatic breakthrough served as the primary catalyst behind the sharp reversal in global crude oil benchmarks.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed other major stock indexes with a robust weekly gain exceeding two percent. Optimism surrounding artificial intelligence applications remains a dominant market driver, highlighted by Akamai Technologies securing a multiyear partnership with Anthropic. Additionally, robust demand for adjacent hardware and software applications has pushed multiple prominent semiconductor names near historic market caps.