STOCKS/ECONOMY
-Stock futures are higher after Wednesday's 11-point loss for the Dow, 0.5 percent gain for the S&P 500, and a 0.9 move higher for the Nasdaq. Investors are focusing on the just-released June jobs report and the now-likely passage of the budget bill in Congress later today.
-That June jobs report showed a gain of 147,000 net new jobs. The unemployment rate came in at 4.1 percent, the lowest since February.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is shooting up to 4.34 percent on the jobs news.
-Gold is at the $3,360 per ounce level. Bitcoin is at the $109,600 level.
-Asian markets closed mixed today. The Nikkei finished just above the breakeven mark, the Hang Seng lost 0.6 percent, and the Shenzhen rallied 1.2 percent higher.
OIL/ENERGY
-U.S. crude prices are flat and at the $67 a barrel level.
-Gasoline prices are down to $3.16 a gallon, national average.
CHINA REBOUND
-Apple's (AAPL) quarterly iPhone sales in China rose for the first time in two years. Its shares are still down slightly in the premarket.
CHIP WARS
-The U.S. is rescinding its export restrictions on chip-design software to China as part of the developing trade deal between the two nations. That's big news for chip design giant Siemens, which is a German-based company but would have faced severe U.S. sanctions under those restrictions. Siemens German market traded shares are up 1 percent today. U.S.-based chip designer Synopsys (SNPS) shares are up 4 percent in the premarket.
ACTIVIST ACTION
-Activist investment group Starboard has reportedly taken a 9 percent stake in Tripadvisor (TRIP). Tripadvisor shares are up 10 percent in the premarket.
FRUIT FAIL
-Del Monte Pacific is filing for bankruptcy after the sales boost it enjoyed during the COVID lockdowns disappeared in recent years.
Share this post