The Closer
Published
The session closed with markets split cleanly along geopolitical risk lines: energy higher as the Hormuz crisis deepened, technology hit hard in the risk-off rotation. That divide carried into the evening, with the broader tape quiet but pockets of stress visible beneath the surface.
Crypto extended its slide after hours, with Bitcoin falling another 1.97% to $81,384.86 and Ether down 3.8% to $2,422.91. Strategy Inc, the Bitcoin proxy, fell 2.2% in sympathy. Reddit dropped 2.5% and Sandisk slid 2.2%, while Incyte extended its Health Care weakness from earlier in the day to close down 2.9%. On the other side, thematic AI and infrastructure names held up, with the WisdomTree Quantum Computing Fund up 2.3% and the VanEck Data Center Supply Chain ETF up 2.1%.
Diplomacy around Ukraine took a new turn. Envoys Witkoff and Kushner floated a U.S.-Russia diesel deal, letting Moscow export more than 2.25 million barrels, as a potential lever to soften Russia's stance and revive talks, while pressing Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian refineries. A Kremlin-linked source said Putin won't negotiate until Russia secures the remaining 11% of Donbas, underscoring how far apart the two sides remain despite Trump's public optimism.
Elsewhere, Kroger said it will cut about 3,000 corporate jobs, over 37% of its corporate workforce, as it absorbs the fallout from Albertsons' $8 billion demand following their collapsed merger. United Airlines raised nearly all domestic fares by $10 each way across more than 2 million listings, a move JPMorgan flagged as a possible confidence signal, though rivals haven't followed yet. In credit markets, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs pulled back their exposure to Volta Infrastructure's $5 billion AI data center loan, underwriting only $1.3 billion of it, with the unrated remainder marketed at roughly 11% yield, a sign that financing risk in AI infrastructure deals is becoming harder to ignore.
Natural gas fell 1.7% to $3.167/Mmbtu as Gulf production recovered from Hurricane Isaias and warmer forecasts eased heating demand expectations, a rare pocket of easing supply pressure in an otherwise tight energy picture.