Finance

Crude oil benchmarks fluctuated as initial weekly declines were offset by fresh supply anxieties. Prices stabilized to head toward a 4% weekly gain following explicit U.S. warnings regarding an indefinite naval blockade of Iran and reports of tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz.

Precious metals held solid monthly gains despite a modest bout of profit-taking that pulled spot prices slightly back from a two-month high. The overarching trajectory for bullion remains strongly supported by declining probabilities of near-term interest rate hikes, given that non-yielding gold tends to benefit when tightening expectations cool.

Shares of the social media platform experienced a major double-digit premarket surge following an official announcement that it will join the S&P 500 index next week. Analysts anticipate massive institutional buying volumes from index-tracking funds, which are expected to absorb millions of shares to replicate the benchmark's updated composition.