Finance

Energy commodity markets remained highly unstable following a surge where Brent crude shot past $100 a barrel earlier in the week due to escalating military tensions and drone strikes involving the U.S. and Iran. Oil prices retreated by nearly 4% on Friday to settle at $96.78 a barrel on rumors that China and Pakistan are exploring diplomatic pathways to resume peace negotiations. However, overall energy sector anxiety continues to strain global equities and stoke fears of prolonged inflation.

Investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence is increasingly turning into concern over massive infrastructure spending and long timelines to achieve profitability. Megacap tech companies collectively shed nearly $800 billion in market value during the week, causing the Nasdaq to significantly lag the broader market. Despite reporting second-quarter financial results that beat expectations, chipmaker Intel saw its stock tumble alongside broader losses across major semiconductor and memory providers like Micron and Broadcom.

The United States officially enacted a broad new tariff framework imposing duties ranging from 10% to 12.5% on 60 prominent trading partners, including China and the European Union. This widespread implementation comes immediately after the expiration of a temporary 10% global tariff and is specifically engineered to withstand domestic legal challenges. Market analysts expect the updated duties to affect 99.4% of total U.S. imports, although certain energy products have been exempt to mitigate immediate inflationary pressures.