Finance

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index suffered a dramatic 21% loss in July, marking its steepest monthly decline since October 2008. Intense intraday volatility has reflected deep investor anxiety regarding the sustainability of artificial intelligence infrastructure spending and new market pressures from foreign competitors.

Oil prices fell by more than 4% following a statement from the U.S. executive administration indicating that a planned military strike on Iran had been suspended. This development comes after a period of heightened geopolitical tensions and supply shocks that had previously driven severe volatility and robust gains in energy-centric exchange-traded funds.

The U.S. Treasury Department collaborated with Japanese authorities last week to intervene in the currency markets and stabilize the weakening yen. The joint operation was implemented to counteract excessive volatility that had recently pushed the yen to its lowest exchange rate against the U.S. dollar since the early 1980s.