Good morning, you're tuned in to Markets Desk.
Iran's rial is in freefall this session as the United States blockades Iranian ports and targets critical infrastructure, applying maximum pressure over Tehran's posture in the Strait of Hormuz. The move rattles energy markets directly, given that roughly a fifth of global oil supply transits that chokepoint daily, and traders are watching crude closely.
Staying in defense, Lockheed Martin has unveiled what it's calling the MORFIUS X-Rotor, an airborne high-power microwave counter-drone system capable of neutralizing fifty unmanned aircraft in a single flight. The announcement underscores how seriously the Pentagon is treating drone swarm threats, and for Lockheed shareholders, it signals another potential revenue line in an already robust defense cycle.
On the inflation front, June's consumer price data came in softer than expected, and that's doing real work across asset classes. Bond yields are easing at the margin, equities are finding support, and crypto markets are catching a bid as well, with traders recalibrating rate cut expectations and appetite for risk assets rising in tandem with the cooler print.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
