Good evening, this is Markets Desk with your top stories.
Crude oil climbed to a five-week high Monday as vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slumped sharply following the Trump administration's blockade of Iranian shipping. August West Texas Intermediate settled up nearly one percent, with traders pricing in genuine supply disruption risk across one of the world's most critical energy corridors.
Shifting to the South China Sea, Washington is condemning what it calls dangerous and aggressive Chinese actions after a Philippine sailor was injured at a disputed shoal. Secretary Rubio is expected in Manila shortly for Southeast Asian foreign minister talks, with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi also attending — making the timing of this flare-up particularly pointed for regional diplomacy.
And on the technology and infrastructure front, emergency federal grid orders designed for rare crises are quietly becoming standard operating procedure as data center demand continues to outpace available power supply. What was built as a last resort mechanism is now a routine tool, raising serious questions about long-term grid resilience and the regulatory frameworks governing it.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
