Welcome to Markets Desk, here's what's moving this hour.
In European fintech, TrueLayer has closed a twenty-seven million dollar funding round led by Italy's CDP Venture Capital, pushing its Pay by Bank network toward broader scale across the continent. The raise signals continued institutional appetite for open banking infrastructure, even as the broader venture climate remains selective and capital-conscious.
Shifting to the labor picture, the latest data shows layoffs running at their lowest levels since the nineteen sixties, which sounds like unambiguously good news — but there's a catch. Hiring has slowed sharply alongside it, meaning the market is essentially frozen in place. Workers who have jobs feel secure, but anyone on the outside looking in is finding the door nearly shut.
In the commodities complex, lean hog futures came under pressure Wednesday, falling between one and two dollars forty-two cents at the close, with the USDA's national base hog price dropping three dollars thirty from the prior session. Meanwhile, cotton is attempting a recovery, bouncing sixty-two to sixty-eight points in early Thursday trade after posting losses the day before, as dollar strength and crude softness continue to shape the soft commodities landscape.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
