Finance

Data-storage and semiconductor giants Western Digital and SanDisk suffered sharp declines in trading value despite forecasting revenues above consensus estimates. The selloff, which trickled into peripheral chipmakers like Micron and Intel, highlights growing investor fatigue with rapidly increasing capital expenditure demands in the artificial intelligence sector.

SpaceX shares dropped over 13% after the rocket manufacturing enterprise revealed its first quarterly financial report since debuting on the public market. Despite narrower operating losses and booming revenue fueled by Starlink, investors remain concerned over long-term capital spending. Market volatility is expected to continue as an early investor share lockup involving over 900 million shares expires.

Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate futures held relatively steady as geopolitical discussions progressed between Iran and Oman to reopen the crucial shipping lane. Investors are gradually pricing out the high war premium that dominated energy markets during July. The potential easing of geopolitical friction has also reduced investor bets on aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve at its upcoming September policy meeting.