Finance

Brent crude futures declined nearly 4% to settle below $97 a barrel, backing down from a spike past the $100 threshold earlier in the week. The price cooling followed reports that Pakistan, with backing from China, is encouraging fresh diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Iran to de-escalate Middle East friction. Despite the daily decline, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures posted significant gains for the full week.

Semiconductor and hardware manufacturers faced intense selling pressure, highlighted by an 11% drop in Sandisk Corporation and a 7% slide for Micron Technology. The broader iShares Semiconductor ETF dropped around 4.5% as investors cooled on the hardware sector, and Intel saw a decline of nearly 8% despite surpassing quarterly earnings expectations.

President Trump's temporary 10% global tariff expired and was substituted by a revamped import regime featuring rates of 10% to 12.5% targeting major international trade allies. The updated Section 301 duties are structured to better withstand legal pushback following previous regulatory overrides by the Supreme Court.