Good evening, this is Markets Desk with your closing brief.
The utility sector is writing one of the biggest deals of the year. NextEra Energy has agreed to acquire Dominion Energy in a sixty-six point eight billion dollar transaction that would create the largest electric utility in the United States. The driver is not residential demand — it is artificial intelligence. Data centers are consuming power at a scale that has turned regulated utilities into genuine growth stories on Wall Street, with customers likely absorbing a meaningful share of the cost.
On the exchange side, Cboe Global Markets is moving aggressively into prediction markets, launching its first products in the space as it looks to build on the explosive growth it has seen in zero-day options. The company that owns the VIX is now betting that structured event contracts can become a mainstream financial product — though regulators and researchers remain sharply divided on the integrity risks those markets carry.
And in quantum computing, President Trump publicly acknowledged that selling his IBM position was a mistake, as the administration deepens its support for domestic quantum initiatives. IBM now sits at the center of that policy push, giving the stock a dual tailwind from both Washington's industrial agenda and renewed investor interest in the sector.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
