Finance

Efforts by the Treasury Department to contain borrowing costs through expanded long-dated debt buybacks briefly lowered yields earlier in the week. However, the relief was short-lived as investor concerns over inflation, the expanding federal deficit, and total national debt pushed yields back near their multi-decade highs.

The cryptocurrency market witnessed significant upward momentum, with Bitcoin climbing above $77,000 to notch its strongest weekly performance in two years. Digital assets have found considerable tailwinds from robust fund inflows, short covering, and recent public support for crypto-friendly legislation.

The retail giant experienced a sharp drop in its stock price after failing to meet analyst consensus for domestic comparable sales growth and average ticket sizes. The company also issued cautious forward-looking guidance for its full-year earnings, clouding previous expectations regarding the resilience of trade-down consumer behavior.