Good evening, this is Markets Desk with your end-of-day briefing.
Marine Le Pen is gaining ground in France ahead of next April's presidential election, pulling between thirty-four and thirty-five point five percent of first-round support in the latest polling after appeal judges shortened her previous ban and cleared her to run for a fourth time. That ruling has measurably shifted the political calculus in Paris, and markets will be watching the euro closely as her National Rally lead firms heading into campaign season.
Turning to defense, Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul is making the case that Lockheed Martin stands to benefit directly from allowing Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors domestically. With President Trump having pledged to grant a license for the weapons system, McCaul argues the arrangement serves Lockheed's long-term commercial interests, not just Kyiv's battlefield needs. Defense sector investors will want to track how that licensing framework takes shape.
On housing, Congress passed the twenty-first Century Road to Housing Act on July eleventh in a strong bipartisan vote, representing the most sweeping legislative push to expand housing supply in decades. The bill targets the persistent inventory shortage driving elevated prices and mortgage rates, though analysts caution that construction timelines mean meaningful relief remains years away rather than quarters.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
