Good evening, this is Markets Desk with your closing bell briefing.
Equities finished the session in the red as geopolitical pressure reasserted itself across risk assets. The S&P five hundred slipped nearly a fifth of a percent, the Dow shed more than half a percent, and the Nasdaq barely held ground as an early semiconductor rally faded under the weight of escalating tensions in the Middle East, where the United States military carried out its tenth consecutive night of airstrikes on Iran. With the Strait of Hormuz still contested and Iran now striking American allies including Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain, energy markets remain on edge and safe-haven flows are quietly building beneath the surface.
Compounding the macro anxiety, President Trump announced fifty percent tariffs on most Canadian goods, invoking Section three eighty eight of the Tariff Act of nineteen thirty. Energy, potash, and USMCA-compliant goods are carved out, but the breadth of the measure is significant. Ontario Premier Ford called for a dollar-for-dollar response, and analysts are already flagging renewed inflation risk and supply chain disruption across the integrated North American economy.
On the technology side, cheap Chinese AI models are drawing fresh scrutiny but may carry a counterintuitive upside. Moonshot AI's Kimi K three is seen potentially accelerating enterprise AI adoption, which would drive sustained demand for compute infrastructure and provide a longer-term tailwind for names like Nvidia and Micron.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
