Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk.
The Strait of Hormuz remains closed as the US-Iran conflict enters its twelfth week, and markets are feeling it. Indian equities opened lower Wednesday as global bond yields jumped on the tension, with the risk-off move rippling through emerging markets broadly. Energy supply concerns are keeping traders on edge.
Shifting to defense and aerospace, GE Aerospace has secured a US Air Force contract to advance its new GE four-two-six engine, part of Washington's push into medium thrust-class autonomous collaborative platforms. The contract covers preliminary design review, a meaningful step forward for GE's military engine pipeline and a reminder that defense spending remains a durable tailwind for the sector.
On the geopolitical front, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met this week with Xi warning against what he called the law of the jungle in global affairs, a pointed signal days after Trump's Beijing summit. Separately, the EU is weighing whether to appoint either Angela Merkel or Mario Draghi as its own envoy to Putin, as American-led Ukraine negotiations appear to be stalling. Europe is clearly moving to assert its own seat at the table.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
