Good evening and welcome to Markets Desk.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari shifted his rate outlook this week, now projecting one interest rate hike this year. He cited lingering uncertainty around the US-Iran peace framework and the continued surge in AI infrastructure spending as factors that could keep inflation elevated longer than previously expected.
That AI spending theme is hitting Oracle hard. The company posted its worst weekly stock performance since the dot-com collapse in two thousand one, with investors growing increasingly alarmed over surging capital expenditures, negative free cash flow, and a debt load approaching one hundred thirty billion dollars. The market is asking a pointed question: when does the AI buildout start paying back?
In the soft commodities complex, it was a tale of divergence on Friday. Sugar surged more than three percent in New York and over four percent in London after forecasts showed scant monsoon rainfall across India, threatening supply. Meanwhile cocoa fell nearly three percent on signs of larger global output, and coffee slipped just under one percent as drier weather in Brazil cleared the way for harvest to resume.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
