Good morning and welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on the stories moving markets and policy right now.
On Wall Street, hedge fund manager Thomas Hayes is telling investors they're watching the wrong screen. The Great Hill Capital founder argues that within six months, a monstrous bull market will emerge not from mega-cap tech, but from beneath the surface of the S&P five hundred, driven by names the AI frenzy has largely passed over.
Shifting to geopolitics with real market implications, the Trump administration is defending its decision to waive sanctions and allow imports of Russian diesel. Energy Secretary Chris Wright framed the move not as a concession but as an incentive for Moscow to end its war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy and several lawmakers on Capitol Hill have pushed back sharply.
And on the Treasury market, new data confirm China has cut its US government debt holdings from one trillion dollars down to just five hundred ninety one billion, but analysts suspect Beijing may be quietly routing purchases through Canada, keeping its true exposure deliberately obscured from official tallies.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
