- Stocks, Bonds Struggle For Momentum Into US Jobs: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks, bonds and major currencies held to tight ranges Friday as traders prepared for US jobs
data that will help determine the size of a Federal Reserve rate cut later this month. Shares in Japan
fluctuated, as the yen stabilized after a rally this week, while those in Australia were little changed. - Dow falls 200 points, S&P 500 posts third straight loss as growth fears plague investors
Stocks struggled Thursday as investors dumped risk assets and concerns mounted over the outlook for the
U.S. economy ahead of Friday’s keynote labor report. The S&P 500 dipped 0.3% to end at 5,503.41, while the
Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 219.22 points, or 0.54%, to settle at 40,755.75. The Nasdaq Composite
gained 0.25% to finish at 17,127.66, after rising as much as 1.2% earlier in the session. - Oil steadies on U.S. crude stock drawdown, OPEC+ output hikes delay
Oil prices edged up in early trading on Friday as investors weighed a big withdrawal from U.S. crude
inventories and a delay to production hikes by OPEC+ producers against mixed U.S. employment data. Brent
crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.26%, to $72.88 at 0010 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude
futures were up 22 cents, or 0.32%, to $69.37. - Gold gains as investors anticipate super-sized Fed rate cut
Gold prices rose to near one-week highs on Thursday, on the back of a weaker U.S. dollar and lower yields
after signs of labour market losing steam led investors to expect a super-sized rate cut from the Federal
Reserve this month. Spot gold was up 0.9% at $2,515.40 per ounce, rising as much as 1.1% earlier in the
session. Prices slightly pared gains after the U.S. services sector data. U.S. gold futures settled 0.7% higher at
$2,543.10. - Paulson Echoes Trump’s Ambitions for US Sovereign Wealth Fund
(Bloomberg) — Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson said the US should build a sovereign wealth fund that
surpasses Norway’s $1.7 trillion money pool, an ambitious if unlikely goal for a country that has struggled to
rein in trillion-dollar deficits. Former President Donald Trump vowed to start such a fund with proceeds from
trade tariffs in a speech on Thursday. - US to Present Gaza Proposal in Coming Days, Blinken Says
(Bloomberg) — The US, Qatar and Egypt will present a new cease-fire proposal to Israel and Hamas in the
coming days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday, as the Biden administration struggles to find a
way to end the war in the Gaza Strip. The top US diplomat said that 90% of the cease-fire deal had been
agreed upon. - Hong Kong Halts Morning Stock Trading as Typhoon Nears China
(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong scrapped morning trading of its $4.9 trillion stock market as the city extends a
storm warning due to Super Typhoon Yagi, which skirted the region overnight as it headed for southern
China. - Union Chief Assails US Steel CEO, Calls Deal for Company Flawed
(Bloomberg) — The head of the United Steelworkers said Nippon Steel Corp. needs to rework its deal for
United States Steel Corp. to win the union’s support and suggested the American company’s board consider
replacing its CEO, as President Joe Biden prepares to block the transaction. - Fed’s Goolsbee says trend of economic data justifies multiple rate cuts, starting soon
In exclusive interview, Goolsbee sees mounting warning signs about outlook of labor market The longer-run
trend of labor-market and inflation data justify the Federal Reserve easing interest-rate policy soon, and then
steadily over the next year, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Thursday, in an exclusive interview
with MarketWatch. - Yellen Says Labor Market Healthy, Amid Unemployment Rise
(Bloomberg) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US job market remains healthy and touted very solid
consumer and investment spending, even as recent data suggest some cooling is taking place. The job market
has become less tight within the last year or so, but the unemployment rate we have today by historical
standards would be considered very low, Yellen told reporters. - US Companies Add Fewest Number of Jobs Since 2021, ADP Data Show
(Bloomberg) — US companies added the fewest jobs last month since the start of 2021, adding to evidence
that the labor market is shifting into a lower gear. Private payrolls increased 99,000 in August and the prior
month’s gain was revised lower, according to the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with Stanford
Digital Economy Lab. - US Services Activity Expands at Modest Pace for Second Month
(Bloomberg) — The US services sector expanded at a modest pace for a second month in August as a measure
of employment effectively stagnated and order backlogs slumped. The Institute for Supply Management’s
index of services was little changed at 51.5. - Trump Vows 15% Corporate Tax and Taps Musk for Federal Audit
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump said he would cut the corporate tax rate, slash regulations and conduct an
audit of the federal government, embracing an idea proposed by billionaire backer Elon Musk, as he pitched
his economic agenda to Wall Street and corporate leaders in New York. - China’s $100 Billion Short Against Dollar Enriches Hedge Funds
(Bloomberg) — China’s embrace of a stealthy strategy to manage its currency is exposing the nation’s banks
to billions of dollars of potential losses, and handing easy profits to investors on the other side of the trade.
At the center of it all are transactions known as foreign-exchange swaps. - US Bank Profits Overcome Drag by Credit Cards, Office Loans
(Bloomberg) — US banks posted stronger profits despite signs of rising stress in credit-card debt and loans
tied to office properties, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in a report that painted a mixed picture of
the industry’s second-quarter performance. Net income for all institutions rose more than 11% from the prior
quarter to $71.5 billion. - Intel Is Said to Explore Sale of Part of Stake in Mobileye
(Bloomberg) — Intel Corp. is considering options for its stake in its struggling automated driving systems
provider Mobileye Global Inc. as part of a major strategy overhaul, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The chipmaker could offload some of its 88% holding in Mobileye on the public market or via a sale to a third
party, according to the people. - Salesforce Agrees to Buy Startup Own for $1.9 Billion
(Bloomberg) — Salesforce Inc. said it was buying data protection and management solutions provider Own for
$1.9 billion, the company’s second acquisition this week. The deal underscores our commitment to providing
secure, end-to-end solutions that protect our customers’ most valuable data, Steve Fisher, a Salesforce
executive focused on data products, said in a statement. - European luxury stocks fell, deepening losses as worries over a slowdown in demand in China grow
following a Bloomberg report that LVMH’s Tiffany jewelry brand is planning to scale back its flagship store
in Shanghai
Tiffany & Co., LVMH’s leading jewelry maker, is planning to downsize a flagship store of more than 12,000
square feet in Shanghai, people familiar with the matter said, as sales of luxury brands plunge in the world’s
second-largest economy. Tiffany, which opened the two-floor store in Shanghai’s Hong Kong Plaza in a high-
profile ceremony in late 2019, has decided to give up about half of the space, said the people, asking not to
be identified because the deal is private. The brand will vacate the space later this month, the people said,
and the landlord is already in talks with potential new tenants. Analysts have also been cutting their earnings
estimates and price targets for luxury stocks recently, with the most recent being Stifel’s Rogerio Fujimori
who lowered Richemont’s PT to CHF150 from CHF158. - Tesla shares rose 4.9% after it said it plans to launch the advanced driver assistance system that it calls
Full Self Driving technology in China and Europe in the first quarter of next year, pending regulatory
approvals
The announcement signals the company is on track to gain permission from authorities in these regions for
the technology, which it sees as a way to boost sales and stay ahead of Chinese rivals who are also working
on similar driver assistance systems. Tesla made big inroads in gaining approval for the China market after it
passed data security assessments and reached a mapping and navigation deal with tech giant Baidu Inc. The
company also got the nod to test FSD technology in Shanghai streets, Bloomberg reported in June. - Broadcom fell 6.7% afterhours after delivering a disappointing sales forecast, hurt by the portion of its
business that isn’t tied to artificial intelligence
Sales will be roughly $14 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, which runs through October, the company said.
Analysts had projected about $14.1 billion. The company is projecting $12 billion of revenue from AI-related
products for the full year, beating the average analyst projection of $11.8 billion. That suggests that the
shortfall in the total quarterly sales forecast came from other areas. Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan said
that most of his non-AI chip businesses are at or through their worst point. Revenue in some of those
markets has begun to grow again sequentially even though it remains well below where it was a year ago.
Bookings, an indicator of future sales, are up 20%, he said. There’s no reason why those markets can’t return
to previously high levels, he said. In aggregate, we have reached bottom in our non-AI markets, and we’re
expecting recovery in the fourth quarter, he said. AI demand remains strong. - Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. slumped 6% after the computer hardware and storage company reported
weaker-than-expected margins. The tech firm raised its annual profit forecast on Wednesday, as demand for
artificial intelligence servers continues to pick up owing to higher investments in AI infrastructure by
businesses. - ChargePoint Holdings Inc
ChargePoint Holdings Inc shares dropped 17.75% as the operator of the largest electric vehicle charging
network in the US planned to cut 15% of its workforce and slashed earnings estimate for its next fiscal
quarter. The company’s Q3 revenue forecast was $85 million to $95 million compared to estimate of $136.9
million. - Volvo AB
Volvo AB shares fell 1.34%. The Swedish automaker slashed its margin and revenue ambitions for a second
time in a year, a day after it abandoned its EV-only target by 2030, citing the impact of tariffs and a decrease
in demand for electric vehicles.
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