Welcome to Markets Desk, here's what's moving the tape this hour.
Nvidia is bracing for a tougher Washington, and CEO Jensen Huang's personal rapport with President Trump may not be enough to shield the company. Semafor reports the post-election environment is turning more adversarial toward the chipmaker, raising fresh questions about export controls, regulatory scrutiny, and the broader geopolitical pressures bearing down on the semiconductor sector.
Shifting to soft commodities, the cocoa and coffee markets are telling two very different stories today. ICE cocoa inventories are building, and that supply relief is pressing December New York cocoa contracts down over one percent to fresh five-week lows. Meanwhile arabica coffee is catching a bid, rebounding from its own five-week low as ICE arabica inventories remain historically tight, keeping upward pressure on prices.
And in crypto enforcement, the Treasury Department has moved to cut off MEXC Global from the United States financial system, alleging the exchange facilitated sixteen billion dollars in transactions tied to Iran, North Korea, and Russia. It is a significant action, underscoring Washington's continued willingness to use sanctions as a hard stop against offshore crypto platforms with alleged illicit finance exposure.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
