Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and the broader economy.
Natural gas futures closed sharply lower Friday as the July Nymex contract expired, settling down more than three percent. Long liquidation drove the selloff after prices had touched a three-month high earlier in the session — a classic expiration-day unwind as traders roll positions rather than hold through settlement.
Turning to the broader economy, a Nobel laureate economist is raising a pointed warning about artificial intelligence and the labor market. The concern isn't just displacement — it's that widespread fear of an AI jobs apocalypse could itself become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Only sixteen percent of Americans believe AI will have a positive impact over the next twenty years, according to a recent Pew survey, while forty percent expect the opposite. That sentiment gap is a real headwind for adoption.
And on workplace dynamics, new research suggests the return-to-office debate may be shifting. Data now indicates that even partial in-office schedules — a few days a week — deliver measurable benefits to fully remote workers in terms of collaboration, mental health, and career development. As more companies tighten hybrid policies heading into the back half of the year, that finding carries weight.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
