Finance

Global energy markets continue to experience volatility amidst the ongoing five-month conflict between the United States and Iran. Brent crude futures moved dynamically before closing near $83.55 a barrel, as market participants closely monitored diplomatic discussions between Iran and Oman aimed at reopening the economically vital Strait of Hormuz. Despite the recent weekly drop in crude, elevated oil prices from earlier in the conflict remain a primary driver of sticky inflationary metrics.

Digital currencies reacted favorably to the cooling macroeconomic indicators, with Bitcoin pushing past $65,000 and Ethereum hovering around $1,910. The asset class drew support from the softer labor data, which lowered the market-implied probability of a September interest rate increase. Concurrently, data tracking showed significant accumulation by large-scale Bitcoin whales, who acquired over $1.2 billion in tokens as institutional ETFs maintained steady inflows.

Shares of Space Exploration Technologies jumped 15.8% to finish at $133.11 in heavily elevated trading volume. The surge followed the company's strong second-quarter revenue beat and positive forward-looking updates regarding its collaborative industrial initiatives with Tesla. The rally also reflected a broader wave of strong corporate earnings, with nearly 90% of S&P 500 firms reporting results and pushing aggregate profit growth toward its highest levels since 2021.