Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving and why.
Equities are back under pressure, with the S&P five hundred off more than half a percent and the Nasdaq one hundred sliding eight tenths. The selling is concentrated in chipmakers and AI names, suggesting the recent relief rally has run out of conviction as investors reassess valuations in a still-uncertain macro environment.
Geopolitics is adding another layer of unease. President Trump has signaled the United States will strike Iran again today, following renewed military exchanges from both sides. That backdrop is helping cushion crude prices, and separately, reports that oil tankers are increasing so-called dark transits through the Strait of Hormuz — under US air cover — suggests the market is finding workarounds, keeping Brent below one hundred dollars for now.
Meanwhile Amazon is back at the debt window, lining up another seventeen point five billion dollars for AI infrastructure. That brings its external financing this year alone to over eighty billion. The scale of that capital deployment underscores just how committed hyperscalers are to winning the AI buildout — debt pile and all.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
