Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving and why.
The Federal Reserve held rates steady at its latest meeting, but don't mistake that pause for a pivot. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan is signaling at least fifty basis points in additional hikes ahead, a reminder that the tightening cycle has more runway left and that any talk of cuts remains premature.
Shifting to equities, Alphabet shares are under serious pressure after suffering their worst post-earnings selloff on record. The Google parent dropped twelve percent in a single session following a disappointing third quarter, with investors rattled by the mounting costs of the artificial intelligence buildout. Wall Street analysts are now actively revisiting their price targets.
And speaking of artificial intelligence costs, a new report from Americans for Financial Reform is raising flags about how that infrastructure boom is being financed. Private equity and private credit are increasingly footing the bill for AI data centers, and the report warns that concentration of risk in less regulated corners of the financial system deserves serious scrutiny.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
