The global tech selloff eased in Asia and Europe after a sharp Wall Street decline, while Brent crude climbed to a five-month high of $115 a barrel. Treasury yields remained just below 5%, and markets pared back expectations for interest-rate hikes.
Asian markets steadied and European shares were 0.5% lower ahead of Wall Street’s open, as the tech selloff eased. Nasdaq futures fell 0.5% and S&P 500 futures slipped 0.25% after the Nasdaq dropped 2.6% on Thursday. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had fallen almost 7%.
Brent crude reached $115 a barrel, a five-month high, following Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and reports that the US and Israel had drawn up plans for renewed strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections. European natural gas prices rose another 4%, leaving them almost 30% higher so far this month.
US Treasury yields edged higher but stayed below 5%, after a Thursday flight to safety drove their biggest one-day drop since March 2023. Markets reduced expectations for rate hikes: the implied probability of a December Fed hike fell to 85%, while the chance of an ECB hike declined to 69% from 90% earlier in the week. French yields fell 4 basis points to 5.05%, though they were up nearly 27 basis points on the week.
