Good morning, you're tuned in to Markets Desk.
Private equity is struggling to shake its multi-year malaise. PitchBook data shows deal value fell fourteen point one percent in the third quarter, and analysts say the recovery narrative keeps getting recycled — promised in twenty twenty three, again in twenty twenty four, and now cautiously floated once more heading into twenty twenty five. The denominator problem and tight credit conditions continue to weigh.
Turning to biotech, Oppenheimer has put a price target of one hundred twenty dollars on Viking Therapeutics, anchored to the commercial potential of their weight loss and type two diabetes candidate VK two seven three five. The call is decidedly bullish, though analyst estimates across the street vary widely, reflecting genuine uncertainty around how competitive the GLP-one space ultimately becomes.
And on the geopolitical front, Russia continued striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure despite the Trump administration's ceasefire announcement, hitting gas facilities, a power plant, and a substation. Washington is simultaneously pressuring Kyiv to halt its own strikes on Russian refineries, a dynamic that creates real asymmetry in the negotiating posture and keeps energy risk premiums elevated across European markets.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
