Good morning, you're tuned in to Markets Desk.
Gold is holding its upward momentum this Monday, building on Friday's surge after the latest nonfarm payrolls report reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve may ease policy sooner than previously anticipated. Rising crude prices and a firmer dollar are adding complexity to the picture, but the safe-haven bid remains intact.
Speaking of crude, oil is doing the heavy lifting in energy markets, with West Texas Intermediate climbing more than three and a half percent Friday on renewed Middle East tensions. The breakdown in negotiations between Iran and Oman over reopening key supply corridors has traders pricing in tighter global supply, pushing gasoline to a one-week high in the process.
Meanwhile, on the artificial intelligence financing front, Wall Street is moving in a serious way. Apollo, Blackstone, and Goldman Sachs are among the major players partnering with Nvidia on a five hundred billion dollar capital raise aimed at funding the data center infrastructure boom. It is one of the largest AI-linked financing arrangements ever assembled, and it signals that institutional capital is fully committed to building out the physical backbone of the AI economy.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
