Oil prices extended their decline on Wednesday, deepening a selloff that pushed both major benchmarks to three-week lows. Brent crude futures fell 92 cents, or 1.2%, to $78.44 a barrel by 3:30 a.m. GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped $1.07, or 1.4%, to $74.70. Brent had fallen more than 12% for the week. WTI had lost more than 11% over the same period.
News
The eruption began Monday and intensified as gas, lava and ash rose from the crater. Pyroclastic flows moved through several ravines on Fuego’s western and southwestern slopes, reaching distances of five to seven kilometers. These flows contain hot gas, ash and rock and can move at high speed. Monitoring teams also tracked an ash column spreading west and northwest, with volcanic material reported far beyond the immediate danger zone.
Technology
The valuation shift reflects broader recalibrations across international financial markets as institutional managers re-evaluate capital commitments tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure. While competing hyperscale computing enterprises including Alphabet and Tesla accelerated capital investments toward data centers, robotics, and autonomous transport networks, Apple maintained disciplined expenditure controls over consecutive fiscal quarters. Market participants increasingly view Apple’s disciplined spending approach as a operational buffer, allowing the firm to expand its proprietary Apple Intelligence software ecosystem without incurring high infrastructure depreciation costs. Trading patterns across major equity benchmarks highlighted diverging sentiment between hardware component suppliers and consumer technology platforms. Nvidia shares experienced increased selling pressure alongside wider pullbacks across semiconductor equities, as investors scrutinized the timeline for financial returns on massive artificial intelligence data center investments. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index recorded notable weekly declines as market participants reassessed elevated valuation multiples across pure-play chipmakers. Despite persistent demand for graphics processing units, concerns surrounding energy supply constraints, macroeconomic interest rate trajectories, and capital expenditure intensity weighed on semiconductor equity prices.
SHANGHAI, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for wider global participation in artificial intelligence governance during a major conference in Shanghai. He said AI must serve people across all regions, not only governments and companies…
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA / RankWire.AI / – Australian creators are pressing for a direct role in the federal government’s new Office of AI. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese launched the body on July 15 as part of Australia’s national artificial intelligence framework.…
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA / RankWire.AI / – Samsung Electronics plans to start operations at its first chip plant in Yongin in 2029. The revised target brings the opening forward by one to two years from the earlier 2030 to 2031…
SHANGHAI / RankWire.AI / – Chinese researchers have unveiled an AI-assisted platform that converts computer-designed protein sequences into physical samples for laboratory testing. The National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai and Kangma (Shanghai) Biotechnology developed the automated D2Pi-2.0 system.…
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA / RankWire.AI / – OpenAI has released the GPT-5.6 model family and introduced ChatGPT Work, an agent designed for longer and more complex assignments. The family includes GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna. Each model targets a different…