Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and the headlines behind them.
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack is keeping the pressure on, saying now is the time to act on raising interest rates. Hammack remains firmly in the hawkish camp, arguing inflation is still squeezing household budgets hard enough to justify tightening. Her comments reinforce that not everyone at the Fed is ready to pivot.
Shifting to New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has finally unveiled his business advisory council, drawing from Wall Street, real estate, and fashion to fill the seats. The group will convene quarterly to advise on economic development. After weeks of criticism over the delay in naming economic advisors, Mamdani is signaling he intends to govern from a more pragmatic center than his campaign suggested.
And in a story with implications well beyond European football, UEFA is preparing a criminal complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, while simultaneously seeking documents from Joshua Kushner's investment firm. The move represents a dramatic escalation in the governance war between football's two most powerful bodies, with financial relationships now squarely under scrutiny.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
