Good evening and welcome to Markets Desk.
China's export machine is running hot again. Beijing's customs data shows exports surging nearly nineteen and a half percent year-on-year in May, blowing past April's already strong fourteen percent gain. Imports climbed even faster at twenty-seven percent, suggesting domestic demand is holding up despite the broader trade war. The numbers signal that tariff pressure from Washington has yet to meaningfully dent Chinese trade flows.
Shifting to Russia, Goldman Sachs is drawing a sharp distinction between fiscal health and economic vitality in Moscow. Higher oil prices are padding Kremlin revenues and swelling export receipts, but that cash isn't translating into growth. Labor shortages and weak productivity have the Russian economy grinding along below one percent expansion, suggesting sanctions may be winning the long game even as energy windfalls soften the near-term blow.
And in the prediction markets space, Kalshi is tightening its compliance posture ahead of intensifying congressional scrutiny. The platform will now require users to disclose their employer before placing bets, a direct response to insider trading concerns. It's a meaningful shift for a market that has grown quickly and is now operating under a regulatory spotlight that shows no sign of dimming.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
