Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving and why.
The Iran conflict hits its one hundredth day this week with peace negotiations still unresolved, and global markets are feeling the weight. Energy prices remain elevated, shipping routes through the region carry a persistent risk premium, and sovereign debt in emerging markets has repriced sharply as investors demand more compensation for uncertainty.
Shifting to domestic equity, the expiration of federal EV tax credits at the start of this year has taken a real bite out of the sector. U S electric vehicle sales dropped twenty seven percent in the first quarter, and while Tesla has enough brand loyalty and margin cushion to weather that, Rivian and Lucid are facing a much harder investor conversation about their paths to profitability without subsidy support.
And looking further out, the speculation around SpaceX and a potential public listing is gaining serious traction. Analysts are now projecting that once the company enters the S and P five hundred and Nasdaq one hundred, it could represent as much as nineteen percent of certain broad Vanguard index funds by end of two thousand twenty six, which would make it one of the most concentrated passive-weight stories in recent memory.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
