Global markets trended higher as reports of potential U.S.-Iran negotiations and stabilization in the Strait of Hormuz provided a reprieve from energy price volatility, though the regional security situation remains fraught with continued ship attacks in the Red Sea and Iranian leadership activity in Baghdad. Against this geopolitical backdrop, investors leaned into a wave of massive AI-driven capital allocation and defense technology integration. Major developments included a $9.1 billion data center agreement between Riot Platforms and Anthropic, Joby Aviation’s $500 million acquisition of Resonant Sciences to bolster stealth capabilities, and Nvidia’s release of the open-source Nemotron 3.5 Lightning model, which accompanies a broader industry pivot—exemplified by IBM, Rackspace, and startup River AI—toward aggressive, customized AI infrastructure. While tech-focused growth remains robust, market caution persists in specific segments, notably within private credit where lenders are reducing loan flexibility over shadow default concerns, and in the gig economy, where Upwork faced its sharpest decline in months due to traffic headwinds. On the regulatory and legal front, federal activity was marked by the Department of Justice issuing guidance on child-focused Trump Accounts, the Supreme Court’s split ruling on transgender athletes in sports, and FBI Director Kash Patel’s launch of operations to dismantle Southeast Asian scam compounds.