Good evening, you're listening to Markets Desk, and here are the stories moving the needle right now.
The United States has resumed military strikes against Iran following a surprise Iranian missile attack, plunging both sides back into open conflict after what had been a brief pause in hostilities. The development rattled risk assets and sent crude oil surging more than five dollars a barrel, a reminder that geopolitical escalation still has an immediate and direct transmission mechanism into energy markets and broader sentiment.
Turning to earnings, Microsoft delivered better-than-expected results after Wednesday's close, continuing a streak that has kept the mega-cap technology complex broadly supported. Investors will be watching closely for guidance around cloud growth and artificial intelligence monetization, both of which remain the key valuation drivers for the stock heading into the back half of the year.
And speaking of artificial intelligence, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg addressed a tension investors have been pressing him on — how much of the company's AI infrastructure capacity gets sold externally versus retained to power Meta's own products. Zuckerberg framed it plainly as a trade-off, and that candor matters, because the answer shapes whether Meta's enormous capital expenditure becomes a profit center or simply a cost.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
