Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk.
In the grain pits, wheat is closing out the week on the defensive. Kansas City hard red winter futures are the hardest hit, down seven to eight cents at midday, with Chicago soft red winter off one to three cents and Minneapolis spring wheat shedding two to three cents. Demand concerns and favorable crop weather are keeping bulls on the sideline heading into the weekend.
Shifting to equities, NuScale Power is drawing attention ahead of a potentially pivotal moment for the nuclear energy developer. The company has been building out a portfolio of deals around its small modular reactor technology, and the market is being told to watch August thirty-first as a date that could meaningfully reshape the stock's trajectory and investor thesis.
And in a corner of the market that tends to perform when everything else wobbles, utilities are getting a fresh look. Names like Southern Company are being highlighted as core defensive holdings heading into two thousand twenty six, with analysts pointing to regulated revenue streams, consistent dividends, and insulation from the kind of macro volatility that has rattled growth sectors this year.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
