Good morning, you're tuned in to Markets Desk, and here's where things stand.
Crude oil is surging today, with September WTI climbing nearly three percent to post a six-week high. Supply risk is driving the move, as geopolitical pressures tighten the outlook for global output. Gasoline is following crude higher, touching a two-month peak, adding further pressure at the pump heading into late summer.
Cocoa is telling a very different story, tumbling more than five and a half percent on both the New York and London exchanges to fresh two-month lows. The European Cocoa Association flagged weak second-quarter demand, and ample supplies are compounding the selling pressure. When both the demand and supply sides move against you simultaneously, the market tends to move fast, and today it did.
In tech, Intel is heading into earnings carrying a complicated setup. The stock has shed twenty-five percent from its June high, though it remains a strong gainer on the year. The central tension is familiar: searing demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure running headlong into a sluggish consumer PC market. Investors will be watching closely to see which force carries more weight in the quarter's numbers.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
