Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and why.
Crude oil edged higher Friday as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, with July West Texas Intermediate settling up roughly a quarter percent. A US-Iran peace deal is no closer to materializing, and that supply disruption continues to put a floor under prices, even as demand concerns linger globally.
Shifting from energy to tech policy, President Trump pulled back from signing an executive order on artificial intelligence, telling reporters he simply didn't like certain aspects of it. Tech executives were already en route to Washington for the signing when the reversal came. The move reflects the ongoing tension between MAGA-aligned voices who favor AI guardrails and the industry's heaviest hitters who pushed back hard.
And speaking of AI, Meta has quietly reassigned roughly seven thousand employees into a new artificial intelligence unit under Mark Zuckerberg's direct push. Workers describe the move as being drafted, with much of the initial work expected to involve data labeling. Zuckerberg is betting that leveraging his own workforce gives Meta a structural edge in an increasingly expensive AI arms race.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
