Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving and why.
Hedge funds are feeling the squeeze as artificial intelligence stocks continue their slide, with prime brokers issuing margin calls and demanding fresh collateral from funds caught overweight in the trade. The scale of losses over recent weeks has triggered a broader wave of risk aversion on Wall Street, forcing leveraged positions to unwind in a disorderly fashion.
That pressure on the AI trade is showing up in the corporate layer as well. ServiceNow has cut several hundred positions globally in what the company is framing as a streamlining effort, with CEO Bill McDermott pushing for leaner internal workflows. The irony is pointed — a software firm selling efficiency to enterprise customers is now applying that same medicine to its own workforce.
Elsewhere, geopolitical risk is back on the radar after the United States reported that Iran attempted a surprise attack following a brief pause in American strikes. President Trump had warned of escalation if negotiations broke down again, and that warning now appears to be materializing. Markets will be watching closely for any spillover into crude oil, which was already under pressure today, dragging commodity-linked assets including sugar to one-week lows.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
