Global markets fell sharply on Friday as investors confronted the possibility that the Middle East conflict is not a short-term oil shock but a lasting inflationary event with real consequences for interest rates. The S&P 500 dropped 1% and the Nasdaq fell 1.4%. More significantly, the 10-year US Treasury yield jumped 0.1 percentage points to 4.56% — its highest level in almost a year — while the 30-year yield rose to 5.1%. The US government sold 30-year debt at a 5% yield this week for the first time since 2007.

US energy group Caturus on Friday announced funding commitments for Commonwealth LNG, a liquefied natural gas export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, capable of producing 9.5 million tonnes per year. The project has secured $9.75 billion in financing toward a total cost of $13 billion, with equity contributions from Mubadala Energy — a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund — alongside Canada's CPP Investments, BlackRock, Ares Management, and EOC Partners. Caturus itself is backed by US investment group Kimmeridge, whose managing partner Ben Dell chairs the Commonwealth LNG project.

Cerebras Systems priced its IPO at $185 per share on Wednesday, raising $5.5 billion and valuing the Silicon Valley chipmaker at approximately $40 billion. That figure represents a striking jump from the $8.1 billion valuation the company carried in a private financing round just eight months ago in September. Strong investor demand pushed bankers to raise the expected offering price several times before settling on the final number, with the rise ultimately coming in above the $4.8 billion target set earlier in the week.

Shell reported adjusted profits of $6.92 billion for the first quarter of 2025, beating analyst forecasts of $6.36 billion by a significant margin and coming in almost 25% higher than the same period last year. The outperformance was driven largely by Shell's trading division, which capitalised on the price swings and supply disruptions triggered by the Middle East conflict.

The US State Department has sanctioned three Chinese commercial satellite companies for allegedly supplying Iran with imagery that enabled military strikes against American forces during the Middle East conflict. The targeted firms are The Earth Eye, a satellite earth station company; MizarVision, a geospatial intelligence firm; and Chang Guang Satellite Technology, a commercial imagery group. A fourth target, Iran's Ministry of Defence Export Center, was also sanctioned.