Finance

Crude oil benchmarks recorded minor losses at the end of the week but remained on track to lock in an approximate 20% gain for the month of July. This monthly performance comes as the ongoing military conflict between the United States and Iran intensifies following retaliatory military actions.

On the final day of July, major digital assets diverged from roaring global equity markets as Bitcoin slid below $64,000 and Ether dropped nearly 2%. Despite the downturn for top-tier digital assets, the broader CoinDesk 20 Index remains on track to secure its most significant monthly advance in a year.

Fresh economic data revealed that the United States gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 1.5% in the second quarter, missing the 1.8% projections from economists. Meanwhile, the personal consumption expenditures price index fell 0.1% for the month, keeping annual inflation at 3.7% and leaving the Federal Reserve facing a delicate policy balance.