Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on the stories moving markets and the broader economy.
Micron Technology remains one of the more compelling long-term setups in semiconductors. The memory shortage underpinning its recent surge in revenue and earnings shows no sign of letting up, and with AI infrastructure demand pulling hard on high-bandwidth memory, analysts see sustained pricing power well into the back half of this decade.
Shifting to energy markets, Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again, citing Israeli military operations in Lebanon. That corridor handles roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil, and any sustained closure sends immediate shockwaves through crude pricing and shipping costs. Talks between Iranian and American negotiators are set to begin in Switzerland, though Tehran is already downplaying expectations for meaningful progress.
On the nuclear front, Nano Nuclear's construction permit application for its KRONOS micro modular reactor has been formally accepted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That acceptance doesn't greenlight construction, but it does clear the first regulatory gate, signaling the agency considers the application complete and technically sufficient — a meaningful milestone for a company still in its early commercial stages.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
