Finance

Crude oil benchmarks edged lower following announcements regarding international supply dynamics and conflict pauses. President Trump stated that no military actions against Iran would occur before the upcoming midterm elections, while also revealing a deal with Russia to supply diesel to global markets. International benchmark Brent crude adjusted lower to settle around $103 to $104 per barrel, though prices remain elevated due to regional shipping vulnerabilities.

The 10-year Treasury yield hovered just below 5.25% after pulling back from a 24-year high of nearly 5.37% hit earlier in the week. Fixed-income stabilization occurred alongside new consumer sentiment data from the University of Michigan, which showed Americans scaling up their one-year inflation expectations to 4.7%. Despite these elevated financing costs, stock markets managed to hold onto record levels ahead of the upcoming bank earnings season.

Technology markets navigated mixed signals after conflicting data emerged regarding major artificial intelligence initiatives. Jitters initially intensified following a report hinting at lower annualized revenue for OpenAI, prompting the cancellation of a high-profile cloud computing initial public offering in Australia. However, subsequent projections putting the frontier AI model back on track helped trigger a relief rally, pushing nine out of eleven S&P sectors into positive territory.