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Asian equities surged Friday after President Trump called off planned military strikes against Iran and claimed a peace deal had been approved. The move sent risk appetite sharply higher overnight, lifting Wall Street and carrying momentum into Asian sessions, with traders reading the de-escalation as a meaningful reduction in geopolitical tail risk for energy markets.
The Iran story carries a harder edge, though. Trump separately stated the United States would, in the not too distant future, take control of Kharg Island and Iranian oil and gas infrastructure. That language is anything but peaceful, and bond markets will be watching closely for whether this so-called deal holds any structural weight or simply delays the next escalation.
Shifting to technology and healthcare, Abridge, the ambient AI startup backed by NVIDIA and now Eli Lilly, is positioning itself as the operating system for modern medicine. The strategic Lilly investment signals that pharma giants are moving beyond drug pipelines and into clinical workflow infrastructure, a convergence of AI and healthcare delivery that carries serious long-term implications for sector valuations.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
