Finance

U.S. government bond yields eased slightly toward the end of the week, with the 10-year Treasury yield pulling back to 5.18% after touching its highest levels since 2007. The bond market selloff paused on mounting expectations that ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran could lead to a phased deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the recent breather, persistent inflationary pressures keep further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes on the table for October.

Global energy benchmarks fell sharply following reports that U.S. and Iranian diplomats are discussing a resolution to reopen key maritime transport routes. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped over 2.3% to settle near $92 a barrel, while Brent crude dropped below the $100 threshold to settle near $104 per barrel. Although prices remain higher compared to earlier in the year due to war-related disruptions, the diplomatic developments have successfully cooled the recent energy shock.

Optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and enterprise technology helped anchor the broader equity market's recovery. Shares of Akamai Technologies jumped more than 3% following the announcement of an $11.6 billion, multiyear agreement with AI developer Anthropic. Meta Platforms also boosted tech-heavy indexes, surging roughly 13% for the week due to rising investor excitement over its new AI capabilities.