Good afternoon, this is Markets Desk with your midday briefing.
The dominant macro story right now is the dollar, which gave back early gains on Wednesday, the DXY finishing down fractionally after stocks clawed back from session lows. The initial dollar bid came on surging crude, but as equities steadied, that safe-haven liquidity demand faded. Notably, investor positioning on the greenback is the most bullish it has been in a decade, a crowded trade that now hinges heavily on whether oil's latest spike has staying power.
That oil move is directly tied to what is driving risk sentiment globally: the United States has launched a second day of strikes against Iran, hours after President Trump told a NATO summit that the ceasefire with Tehran is, in his words, over. Markets are absorbing the geopolitical premium carefully, with inflation expectations ticking higher and traders reassessing Federal Reserve rate cut timelines if energy prices remain elevated.
Closer to home, a story worth watching in the electricity sector: residential customers in deregulated, so-called retail choice markets are paying significantly more than those in regulated markets. As energy costs become a front-burner political and economic issue, this structural pricing gap is drawing renewed scrutiny from policymakers and consumer advocates alike.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
