Finance

Global energy benchmarks fell sharply, with Brent and WTI crude sliding between 6% and 8% to settle well below recent peaks. The drastic drop was triggered by an unexpected suspension of military operations between the United States and Iran, mitigating severe supply disruption anxieties. This decline in energy costs has also helped calm near-term macro inflation fears for market participants.

Apple shares surged to push the company's valuation to $4.95 trillion, overtaking Nvidia as the most valuable publicly traded U.S. firm. Conversely, semiconductor manufacturers suffered steep losses, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sliding over 4%. The chip slump was fueled by competitive pressures out of China, including a major rival memory-maker's public listing and manufacturing developments.

Major enterprise software companies including Workday, ServiceNow, and Salesforce posted significant gains, reversing some of their year-to-date underperformance. This rally provided a defensive offset to the broader tech sector, which has faced a wave of skepticism regarding the massive capital expenditures required for artificial intelligence. Investors remain highly sensitive to infrastructure cash burn following recent capital budgets outlined by other megacap tech giants.