11 PM Flash: Putin-Xi Gas Deal Looms as Markets Stall, AI Job Cuts Accelerate, and McDonald's Faces Viral Scandal

Good evening everyone, I'm Miss Vicky with your 11 PM market flash. Wall Street ended the session virtually flat, with the S&P 500 closing at seven thousand four hundred three, down just five points on the day. The VIX eased slightly to seventeen point eight two, down sixty-one cents, signaling continued low levels of fear in the options market.

On the global stage, all eyes are on the upcoming summit between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, where the two leaders are expected to discuss a massive new gas project that could reshape energy flows across Asia and Europe. Meanwhile, the Singapore dollar weakened modestly as investors monitor escalating developments in the Middle East.

In corporate news, Standard Chartered announced plans to cut thousands of jobs as the bank accelerates its use of artificial intelligence across operations. In a separate story making headlines for all the wrong reasons, McDonald's is facing an embarrassing viral scandal after video surfaced of a female worker licking French fries before serving them to a customer.

On a brighter note, one lucky investor discovered a six-figure windfall simply by checking an old brokerage account tied to an early bet on a now-thriving dirt-cheap tech name.

This is Miss Vicky from the Options Desk at VixShield, where it's not news till we talk about it.