Finance

Major memory chipmakers and software companies experienced notable stock declines after their forward-looking guidance failed to satisfy lofty investor expectations. Both SanDisk and Western Digital dropped significantly, demonstrating that positive backward-looking quarterly results are currently insufficient to maintain momentum in the cooling artificial intelligence sector.

U.S. Treasury yields pushed higher as a renewed climb in crude oil prices sparked fresh inflation worries among bond traders. The market remains sensitive to ongoing negotiations surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, with higher energy costs feeding investor concerns that the Federal Reserve may be forced to hike interest rates.

Financial markets are closely watching for the upcoming release of the nonfarm payrolls report to assess the health of the U.S. labor market. Investors are bracing for the data to gauge how the Federal Reserve will lean on its interest rate path following a recent uptick in initial jobless claims.