Finance

Crude oil benchmarks, including Brent and West Texas Intermediate, experienced erratic price swings amid ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran regarding the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway. Geopolitical uncertainties briefly pushed Brent crude above ninety dollars per barrel before it settled lower, heavily dictating current broader market sentiment and fuel costs.

Intel expanded its previously announced stock sale to twenty billion dollars, up from fifteen billion, pricing the massive chunk of new shares slightly below market close. The company intends to channel the multi-billion dollar windfall into capital expenditures and artificial intelligence manufacturing infrastructure to satisfy surging hardware demand.

Digital assets saw downward pressure as Bitcoin fell back below the sixty-four thousand dollar threshold and Ethereum slipped toward eighteen hundred dollars. Crypto investors are scaling back risk exposure and showing cautious positioning ahead of critical U.S. inflation data that could heavily dictate the Federal Reserve's monetary strategy.