Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk.
The geopolitical temperature dropped a degree overnight as the United States paused strikes on Iran for a second consecutive night, with Oman actively brokering a deal over Hormuz transit rights. Markets are watching closely — any resolution that keeps that strait open is a direct pressure valve for global oil supply chains and energy pricing worldwide.
Turning to equities, the AI infrastructure buildout is rewriting valuation norms in a corner of the market you might not expect. Industrials are now trading at price-to-earnings ratios approaching tech sector levels, as investor capital floods into the companies building the physical backbone of artificial intelligence — power systems, cooling infrastructure, and heavy manufacturing. The rotation is real and the multiples confirm it.
And on the earnings front, the S&P five hundred is heading into its busiest reporting week of the second quarter, and the aggregate growth numbers look extraordinary — though analysts are quick to note that one company is doing an outsized amount of the heavy lifting. Strip out that outlier and the picture is considerably more modest, which is the kind of nuance that separates a headline from a thesis.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
