Finance

U.S. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude futures jumped significantly, closing above $102 and $107 per barrel respectively to reach their highest marks since May. Prolonged geopolitical hostilities between the United States and Iran continue to choke global flows and disrupt the Strait of Hormuz. The ongoing energy shock has simultaneously triggered a spike in national retail gasoline prices, adding to broader macroeconomic pressures.

Government bond markets faced heavy selling pressure, driving the 10-year Treasury yield up to 4.943% and pushing the 30-year yield to its highest point since 2004 at 5.36%. Despite afternoon support from a solid $22 billion long-term bond auction, hawkish investor expectations intensified. Market traders are now pricing in a high probability of a quarter-percentage-point interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve during its upcoming policy meeting.

Spot gold and silver prices tumbled significantly, heading toward multiple weeks of cumulative losses as the U.S. dollar strengthened. Despite traditional safe-haven characteristics, the non-yielding assets were pressured by rising underlying U.S. inflation data and climbing bond yields. Ongoing geopolitical spikes failed to fully reverse the downward momentum, leaving technical gold indicators struggling below key moving averages.