Finance

Global oil prices surged significantly after a series of stringent demands from Tehran dimmed hopes for an immediate breakthrough to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. International benchmark Brent crude futures advanced toward $87 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate climbed over 5% to hover near $82 a barrel. The ongoing maritime disruption and compounding regional tensions continue to inject a heavy geopolitical risk premium into the energy markets.

Technology and chipmaker shares weighed heavily on the broader indexes, triggered by a steep 4% drop in Intel after the company initiated a $15 billion common stock offering to fund its artificial intelligence initiatives. Concurrently, Nvidia shares fell nearly 3% following reports detailing a massive $500 billion funding partnership with major asset managers to build out AI infrastructure. The steep capital demands of the ongoing technology build-out have increasingly sparked concerns regarding the prolonged capital-intensive nature of the sector.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed to 4.71%, reversing some of the downward movement triggered by last week's softer-than-expected July payroll numbers. While the weak employment report initially deflated expectations for aggressive monetary tightening, futures markets still reflect a roughly 52% probability that the Federal Reserve could lift interest rates in September. Investors are firmly focused on the upcoming Consumer Price Index data to gauge whether inflation is cooling sufficiently to allow policymakers to hold steady.