Ethereum Gas Fee Continues to Drop, Now at 0.352 Gwei

According to Bitget market data, both U.S. WTI and Brent crude oil closed lower this week: U.S. WTI crude fell 1.32% to $76.35, while Brent crude dropped 1.54% to $81.50. On the news front, U.S. officials said negotiations between Oman and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz have made progress, with an agreement expected soon. Once an accord is announced to restore unimpeded commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. will lift its blockade on Iranian ports. U.S. actions will remain contingent on implementation and tied to Iran’s fulfillment of its commitments. Meanwhile, Hassan Kashkavi, spokesperson for Iran’s Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, stated that Iran and Oman have finalized the overall framework of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to Strait of Hormuz shipping, with the final text and specific details to be released shortly. Earlier on August 6, Iran published details of the preliminary text of its proposed Strait of Hormuz strategic management plan, which includes provisions banning hostile parties from transiting the strait, with violators facing fines of up to 20% of the value of the goods involved.

According to BIT (bit.com) market data, U.S. stocks closed on Friday: the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.28%, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% to hit a new closing high, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.3%. SpaceX (SPCX.O) surged 15.8%, Qualcomm (QCOM.O) rose 4.6%, and NVIDIA (NVDA.O) added 2.2%. Most storage-related concept stocks closed lower: SK Hynix (SKHY.O) fell nearly 4%, Micron Technology (MU.O) dropped 0.4%. The optical communications sector rallied sharply: Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI.O) jumped 9%, Lumentum (LITE.O) rose 6.2%, Corning (GLW.N) gained 5.4%, and Marvell Technology (MRVL.O) added 3.8%.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post: "The employment report released today underestimates the underlying strength of the real economy: U.S. domestic businesses are building, factories are operating, and worker productivity is rising. July marked the fifth consecutive month of job growth in the goods-producing sector. So far this year, the sector has added 105,000 jobs, marking its strongest start to a year since 2023. Additionally, second-quarter productivity growth exceeded expectations by more than double, creating favorable conditions for sustained U.S. economic growth and real wage gains for American workers. Strong third-quarter economic growth projections further signal that the U.S. economy is poised to accelerate. As the U.S. produces more goods and worker productivity continues to rise, the domestic economy will reap benefits: higher wages, stronger businesses, more consumer choices, and economic expansion built on supply-side strength that can reduce inflation, rather than relying on temporary stimulus effects." (Jinshi)

JPMorgan Chase forecasts that this year’s tech-related corporate bond issuance will exceed $500 billion. The bank raised its 2026 debt issuance outlook for the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector from the prior $450 billion to $540 billion, citing that increased spending by large tech firms is driving the artificial intelligence (AI) investment cycle. In a Friday report, a team led by JPMorgan strategist Erika Spear noted that chip-backed financing will become the "next major frontier" supporting AI infrastructure buildout, and its scale could "expand to trillions of dollars" by the end of this decade. JPMorgan has identified seven investment-grade data center financing opportunities, on top of six projects that have already secured financing, with four of these expected to come from Oracle and OpenAI. The bank projects Meta Platforms will return to the bond market after releasing its third-quarter earnings report, while Microsoft is viewed as the "biggest wildcard" and may tap bond investors for funding for the first time since 2017.

According to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, BlackRock (BLK.N) disclosed that as of June 30, it held 51 million Class A common shares of SpaceX (SPCX.O).

According to ABC News, after suffering a setback at the Supreme Court, Donald Trump is still pushing forward with his attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.