Finance

Oil futures jumped by more than 2%, pushing international benchmark Brent crude to roughly $91 per barrel and WTI crude to over $84 per barrel. The rally was driven by the expiration of the bilateral diplomatic grace period and subsequent threats of a naval blockade in the Persian Gulf. Shippers also faced immediate operational headwinds as traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz dipped below historical averages.

Selling pressure in the fixed-income markets intensified as long-dated U.S. government debt yields marched higher. Driven by safe-haven migration and renewed concerns over energy-induced inflation, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to approximately 4.73%. Concurrently, the 30-year bond yield surged to 5.31%, matching a threshold not witnessed by market participants since mid-2007.

The PHLX Semiconductor Sector defied the broader equity downturn, surging into a new bull market by climbing more than 20% from its recent July lows. Positive forward-looking sales indicators from artificial intelligence developers like Anthropic fueled buying across chipmakers like SanDisk, Marvell Technology, and Micron. Conversely, mega-cap internet and hardware ecosystems faced strong headwinds, with Meta Platforms and Microsoft dragging down the communication and software sectors.