Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving money and markets.
The S&P five hundred's May rally has been anything but quiet, with artificial intelligence names leading the charge across sectors. Even beleaguered software stocks have caught fire, as investors rotate back into growth on the belief that AI-driven productivity gains are real and durable — not just a narrative.
Staying in the AI lane, Asana just made its first acquisition in eighteen years, snapping up Stack AI, a no-code agent builder, for seventy-five million dollars. The workplace software company has shed roughly half its market value since the AI boom began, and this deal is a clear signal that management is betting its recovery on humans and AI agents working side by side — not one replacing the other.
Meanwhile, a structural shift is underway in crypto markets. Kalshi and Coinbase have both received CFTC clearance to offer perpetual futures to U.S.-based investors. Perps are among the most traded instruments globally in crypto, and bringing them onshore under regulatory oversight marks a genuine maturation moment for the asset class here at home.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
