Global Markets React to Surging Oil Prices, Geopolitical Tensions, and Tech Sector Shifts

Asia has plenty to chew on this Friday. Brent crude settled above $100 a barrel Thursday for the first time since late May, after Yemen's Houthis claimed strikes on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea — opening a second chokepoint in a war that has already throttled the Strait of Hormuz.

With the inflation genie rattling the bottle, bonds sold off. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to its highest since January 2025, and equities — already nursing a roughly $500 billion loss from Tesla and Alphabet's AI spending plans — logged their worst session in a month.

After Yemen's Houthis said they hit two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, President Donald Trump said the U.S. will hold Iran responsible for any further attacks, warning of "major military punishment" as American forces completed a 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran.

Separately, the president said under the landmark nuclear deal signed this week, Saudi Arabia will not enrich uranium and that it is contingent on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords and normalizing ties with Israel.

Congress on Thursday split on advancing a pair of war powers resolutions aimed at forcing Trump to abandon his war with Iran. The House voted 214-208 to direct Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran; hours later, the Senate rejected its version 49-47.

Brent crude futures crossed the $100 per barrel mark for the first time since May 26, gaining about 7% to settle at $100.69. West Texas Intermediate crude edged up about 0.11% to $92.28 per barrel during Asia trading hours.

The reignited inflation fears sent the 10-year Treasury yield up more than 4 basis points to around 4.7%, its highest level since January 2025. The 30-year, at 5.17%, is in its longest stretch above 5% since 2007.

Stocks, however, are steadying, with futures for three major U.S. indexes little changed after a bruising session. In regular trading, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had their worst one-day performances since June 23, dropping 1.2% and 2.2%, respectively. The Dow dropped around 1% for its fifth negative day in six.

The European Central Bank kept rates unchanged, but traders are already anticipating a rate hike in September, as ECB president Christine Lagarde warned renewed Middle East hostilities and the resultant rebound in oil prices pose upside risk to the euro zone inflation outlook.

Japan's core inflation rate in June crept up from a four-year low as higher oil prices bite.

The Trump administration will impose new tariffs, set between 10% and 12.5%, to take effect just after midnight ET on Friday on dozens of countries over alleged forced-labor violations, timed to the expiry of Trump's temporary 10% global tariffs.

Investors' reckoning around the massive AI spending continued. Shares of Alphabet and Tesla pulled back sharply on Thursday after both companies' signals of increased AI spending unnerved investors. Stocks recovered in after-hours trade.

Meanwhile, Intel posted 25% revenue growth — its fastest since 2011 — sending shares up over 4% after hours. Google Cloud's revenue also surged, with its cloud chief Thomas Kurian saying customers are spending 50% more.

Brussels, however, was less charitable with EU regulators slapping a fine of 890 million euros ($1 billion) on Google, its first penalty under the Digital Markets Act, for favoring its own services.

Oracle won a 10-year software contract with the Pentagon worth up to $7 billion, driving stocks higher in extended trading.