Good evening and welcome to Markets Desk.
Microsoft shares are hovering near a one-year low, and all eyes are on July twenty-ninth when the company reports earnings. The critical variable is Azure — the cloud division needs to deliver a meaningful beat to restore investor confidence and give the stock a credible path back toward its prior range.
Shifting to the AI space, DeepSeek has quietly told prospective backers it is pausing its second fundraising round, verbally informing would-be investors that no agreements will be signed in the near term. The move comes days after comments widely attributed to founder Liang Wenfeng on US-Chinese AI competition went viral, adding a layer of political sensitivity to what was already a high-profile capital raise.
And in the Middle East, the situation around Red Sea shipping lanes is deteriorating further. Yemen's Houthi rebels launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia following Saudi strikes on the port city of Hodeida, while the US military has gone notably silent on its own Iran airstrike posture. With the Strait of Hormuz already contested, any further escalation carries direct implications for global energy flows and freight costs.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
