Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and why.
The bond market is sending a message Washington may not want to hear. With the national debt sitting at thirty-nine trillion dollars, traders are watching the Federal Reserve closely after the central bank held rates at three point five to three point seven five percent but left the door open to a hike later this year. That signal alone is enough to keep long-duration yields elevated and pressure on fiscal credibility real.
Turning to commodities, grain markets caught a strong bid into Thursday's close on weather concerns. Corn futures finished up as much as eight and a half cents, with the national cash price touching three dollars and eighty-seven cents. Soybeans outperformed, rallying as much as twenty-two cents on drier forecasts heading into early July across key growing states in the northern plains.
And in tech and energy, Oklo is drawing fresh attention from investors as the small modular reactor company leans into artificial intelligence to accelerate reactor design timelines. With power-hungry AI data centers desperate for clean baseload energy, the strategic fit is hard to ignore, and some analysts are arguing the stock deserves a closer look at current levels.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
