Finance

Global energy benchmarks cooled down on Friday, providing a brief relief to broader markets after a prolonged multi-day surge. Brent crude futures slumped nearly 4% to settle around $96.78 a barrel after pushing past the $100 milestone earlier in the week, sparked by news that Pakistan and China are attempting to facilitate new negotiations between the United States and Iran. Despite the Friday correction, energy commodities concluded the weekly session substantially higher on the back of persistent Persian Gulf shipping disruptions.

The broader technology sector suffered significant hits, led by steep declines across major semiconductor and memory manufacturers. Intel shares tumbled nearly 8% despite the company beating quarterly expectations with its strongest server revenue performance in 17 years. Furthermore, capital expenditure adjustments related to artificial intelligence architecture sparked a broader chip selloff, dragging down component manufacturers like Sandisk and Micron Technology.

Digital assets faced downward pressure as macroeconomic adjustments and geopolitical headlines weighed on risk sentiment. Bitcoin drifted lower to consolidate around the $64,000 threshold, while Ethereum registered parallel percentage losses after a weeklong streak of net inflows for spot exchange-traded funds was disrupted by notable capital outflows. Market analysts suggest that digital currency volatility remains tightly correlated with long-term Treasury yields and incoming updates from the Federal Reserve.