Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving and why.
Equities are holding modest gains heading into the close, with the S&P five hundred up roughly four-tenths of a percent and the Dow leading the major averages higher by nearly seven-tenths. Stabilizing crude oil prices are giving traders enough confidence to stay long, though the Nasdaq is barely keeping its head above water as tech momentum fades.
Shifting to fixed income, Treasury Secretary Bessent's strategy of leaning into longer-dated bond issuance to calm markets appears to be backfiring. Breakeven inflation rates, the bond market's built-in inflation expectations, have climbed to their highest levels in more than two months, suggesting investors are pricing in more persistent price pressure rather than the stability Bessent was aiming to deliver.
And in equities, Tesla is catching a meaningful bid today after the company confirmed plans to launch its Cybercab robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, while Nevada regulators cleared the automaker to deploy thousands of autonomous vehicles across the state. That regulatory momentum is giving investors a concrete near-term catalyst to reprice the autonomous driving story.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
