Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday look at what's moving markets.
Crude oil took a sharp hit Monday, with September WTI settling down more than five percent after diplomatic signals suggested progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Easing Middle East tensions pulled the risk premium out of the market fast, and gasoline futures fell to a three-week low alongside.
Shifting to fixed income, the question heading into two thousand twenty six is whether ETF investors are better served by municipal bonds or Treasuries. The iShares National Muni Bond ETF carries a meaningfully lower expense ratio than its Treasury counterpart, and with tax considerations in play, munis are drawing fresh attention from cost-conscious allocators watching the yield landscape closely.
And in the energy complex, natural gas bucked the broader commodity selloff, with September Nymex futures closing up about one and a quarter percent. The driver was straightforward — LNG flows to export terminals hit eighteen billion cubic feet per day, the highest in five days, tightening domestic supply and giving prices room to climb.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
