Finance

Crude oil futures dipped slightly, with West Texas Intermediate settling near $91.20 a barrel and Brent crude slipping to $104 per barrel. Energy prices moderated after announcements clarified that no U.S. military strikes on Iran would take place prior to next month's midterm elections. Additionally, sentiment was bolstered by a newly disclosed agreement securing Russian diesel supplies for domestic and global markets.

Fixed-income markets saw some relief as long-dated Treasury yields pulled back from their highest marks in over two decades. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield cooled to approximately 5.24% after peaking near 5.37% earlier in the week. Despite the slight retraction, borrowing costs remain deeply elevated on the heels of the Federal Reserve's recent unanimous decision to raise interest rates.

Technology sector equities steadied as prior anxieties over an artificial intelligence valuation bubble began to subside. Jitters had mounted earlier in the week after scrutiny over OpenAI's revenue outlook triggered a sharp 1.3% drop in the Nasdaq. Although broader market tech shares managed to recover, residual pressure was felt by individual names like Nvidia and an associated cloud provider that pulled its planned initial public offering.