Good evening, and welcome to Markets Desk.
Ukraine launched one of its largest drone strikes on Moscow over the weekend, killing at least four people and sending debris onto Russia's largest airport. President Zelenskyy called the strikes entirely justified, as the conflict continues to escalate beyond its eastern front lines and deepen geopolitical uncertainty across global markets.
That instability is already rippling into the Gulf, where a drone struck the United Arab Emirates' sole nuclear power plant, sparking a perimeter fire with no reported injuries or radiological release. No group claimed responsibility, but the attack underscores how fragile the Iran ceasefire remains, and how quickly energy infrastructure risk can reprice across commodity markets.
Closer to home, all eyes are on Walmart and Target this week as both retailers prepare to report earnings against a backdrop of shifting consumer behavior tied to the Iran war. Walmart has previously noted that customers begin pulling back discretionary spending when gas prices reach four dollars and fifty cents to five dollars a gallon, a threshold that matters enormously for reading the health of the American consumer right now.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
