Good morning and welcome to Markets Desk, your end-of-week read on the stories moving markets right now.
Wheat is surging across all three major exchanges after Russia rejected Ukraine's latest Black Sea proposal, reigniting supply corridor fears. Kansas City hard red winter contracts are leading the move, up thirty-five to thirty-six cents, with Chicago soft red winter not far behind, gaining twenty-three to twenty-five cents on the session.
Shifting to soft commodities, cotton is posting solid gains heading into the weekend, with most active contracts trading ninety-six to one hundred thirty-three points higher. A weaker dollar, down roughly a third of a point on the index, and firmer crude oil are providing the tailwind, while export sales data showing two thousand twenty-five through twenty-six accumulated business at one hundred seven percent of pace is adding fundamental support.
On the macro side, a top economist is projecting GDP growth accelerating to a blistering four point three percent, citing tariff refunds as an unexpected growth catalyst. The Trump administration has returned more than one hundred billion dollars to importers, with forty S and P five hundred companies booking nine point six billion in gains — Apple alone claiming nearly two point two billion of that total.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
