Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and why.
The artificial intelligence supply chain is getting a geopolitical backstop. The United States and its allies have signed an accord aimed at shielding AI infrastructure from Chinese access, timed deliberately ahead of Donald Trump's face-to-face with Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shenzhen. The signal to markets is clear: tech sovereignty is now treaty-level policy.
Shifting to semiconductors, and a story that would reshape one of the most valuable companies on earth. Allies of Jensen Huang are reportedly lobbying Nvidia's board to reinstate him as chief executive after he stepped down following an affair with an alleged Chinese spy. Huang built Nvidia into the backbone of the AI boom, and his potential return is the kind of leadership uncertainty that board rooms and institutional investors watch very closely.
And in energy, Fervo Energy had a standout week, with shares surging twenty-nine percent after the geothermal startup reported a growing project backlog and meaningful operational progress at its flagship plant in Utah. Geothermal has long been the quieter corner of the clean energy transition, but execution milestones like these are starting to draw serious capital attention.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
