Finance

Chip manufacturers suffered steep declines as investors expressed growing apprehension about immense capital expenditures on artificial intelligence without guaranteed near-term returns. Despite delivering a quarterly financial beat, Intel shares plunged roughly 8%, while memory producers like SanDisk sank 11%. This specific weakness in the semiconductor sector dragged heavily on the tech-centric indexes.

Brent crude futures declined nearly 4% to settle below $97 a barrel, backing off from a spike above the $100 mark earlier in the week. The price retreat followed international reports that Pakistan and China are exploring potential pathways to resume peace negotiations between the United States and Iran. This moderate easing of energy costs helped stabilize broader inflation concerns and lowered benchmark Treasury yields from recent highs.

The United States introduced a new tariff regime imposing duties of 10% to 12.5% on over 60 trading partners, which covers approximately 99% of total U.S. imports. This legal framework officially replaced an expiring temporary global tariff that was established following a prior Supreme Court decision. Market participants continue to evaluate how these broad levies might influence long-term inflation and institutional risk appetites.