Welcome to Markets Desk, your morning read on the stories moving money and markets.
In energy, China's role in stabilizing oil prices since the Iran war erupted in late February is coming into sharper focus. Beijing's early crude stockpiling absorbed supply shocks, and its subsequent pullback on purchases helped cool prices, effectively acting as a pressure valve that kept a deeper global energy crisis at bay.
Shifting to macro, European equities are set to open mixed this morning as traders brace for a pivotal European Central Bank rate decision and the release of U.S. August Producer Price Index data later in the session. Both readings carry significant weight for rate expectations on either side of the Atlantic, keeping desks cautious ahead of the open.
And in Washington, President Trump used the Republican midterm convention to pitch what he's calling a Trump dividend — a five thousand dollar payment to every adult American citizen, contingent on Republicans winning Congress in two thousand twenty six. He offered no mechanism for funding it, which means bond markets and fiscal hawks will have plenty to say before this one gets anywhere near a floor vote.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
