Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving money and markets.
All eyes are on the Federal Reserve today as traders price in a roughly ninety-two percent probability of a twenty-five basis point rate hike, following a string of hotter-than-expected inflation readings. European equities opened modestly higher ahead of the decision, with investors cautious but not panicked, waiting on Fed Chair guidance for what comes next.
That caution has a backdrop, and it's the bond market. The ten-year Treasury yield has climbed to its highest level since two thousand seven, flirting with five percent — a threshold that historically tightens financial conditions hard and fast. Analysts warn the system can absorb it for now, but vulnerabilities in leveraged credit and commercial real estate are beginning to show stress fractures the longer yields stay elevated.
Elsewhere in markets, Axon Enterprise priced a one billion dollar convertible notes offering at zero percent, due in two thousand thirty one. A zero-coupon deal of this size signals strong investor demand for Axon's equity upside story, effectively letting the company raise capital at no interest cost in exchange for conversion optionality — a bold but telling move in a high-rate environment.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
