Finance

Crude oil benchmarks jumped sharply on Monday due to escalating uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the critical Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, Iranian officials issued a strict list of geopolitical demands, while a missile strike on a commercial vessel further frayed diplomatic progress. Consequently, front-month Brent crude futures advanced roughly 5% to settle at $87.72 a barrel.

The broader cryptocurrency market remained relatively resilient, with Bitcoin holding steady above the $64,000 threshold and hitting a high past $65,000. Digital asset valuations have drawn support from a disappointing U.S. employment report, which dampened market expectations for an aggressive September interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve. Spot Bitcoin ETFs also injected positive momentum into the market, securing over $853 million in net inflows during their strongest weekly performance since April.

Shares of Intel plunged more than 4% on Monday after the semiconductor giant revealed proposals to raise $15 billion by selling equity. The move triggered shareholder dilution concerns but is intended to aggressively expand the firm's contract manufacturing infrastructure to capitalize on structural AI demand. The announcement comes alongside broader capital expenditure targets from major international chipmakers, underscoring a continuous buildout in computing hardware.