Finance

Crude oil prices stabilized below 80 dollars a barrel following comments from U.S. officials indicating potential progress toward a deal to reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz waterway. The anticipated easing of Middle East tensions alleviated immediate inflation worries for market participants. Consequently, benchmark 10-year Treasury yields pulled back from their recent multi-year highs to hover around 4.63%.

Shares of SpaceX fell roughly 10% after its second-quarter earnings report revealed an aggressive increase in capital expenditures allocated to artificial intelligence infrastructure development. Advanced Micro Devices also experienced a notable stock decline despite posting strong quarterly revenue numbers. Market expectations remain exceptionally high for tech-centric firms, where even excellent financial results can trigger selloffs if AI-related costs spike.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that its services purchasing managers index edged up to 54.1 for July, marking over two consecutive years of expansion in the sector. However, the accompanying employment index dropped sharply to its lowest level since March, indicating a pullback in corporate hiring. This trend aligned with separate data from human resources firm ADP, which showed that private sector job growth missed consensus estimates for the month.