Hannah Aaron Lang

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark for oil prices, climbed 8.8% this week, and U.S.

stocks ended down for the week.

The Dow and the Nasdaq each fell 2.1%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.9%.

Gold has literally been a hot commodity recently.

But now the precious metal is losing its luster.

Gold logged its worst week since 2011.

One reason has to do with interest rates.

Gold is typically a haven that investors flock to during tumultuous periods for the market.

But it also thrives when rates are lower.

When interest rates are higher, investors tend to ditch the metal in favor of other assets like bonds that can offer a steady income and maybe a more attractive return on investment.

U.S.

and European central banks this week indicated that rate reductions might not come as quickly as hoped.

The energy shock from the war in the Middle East has investors and central bankers worried that inflation could accelerate and economic growth could slow.

Gold has fallen seven of the past eight sessions and ended the week down 9.5%.

On the AI front, Blockbuster earnings late Wednesday failed to pump up Micron technology investors this week.

The memory chip maker's second quarter results were pretty much a blowout.

Revenue nearly tripled year over year, while the company's adjusted operating earnings topped Wall Street's estimates by 33%.

Micron forecasts stronger revenue growth for the next quarter and expects to earn 81 cents in gross profits for every dollar of revenue, a gross margin that is pretty eye-popping for the semiconductor industry.

But that might be the problem.

Wall Street is growing more cautious about the AI trade, and business is so good at Micron that there are concerns that profitability is at or near its peak.