Stock Market News: ADP job growth surges, Meta’s Threads takes on Twitter, BlackRock CEO on Bitcoin
ADP’s private sector job report jumped by 497,000, a positive pre-cursor ahead of Friday’s monthly report, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta launches Threads taking on Elon Musk’s Twitter, UPS and Teamsters talks remain on ice and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in China. FOX Business is providing real-time updates on the markets, commodities and all the most active stocks on the move.
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Traders on the floor of the NYSE. REUTERS.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| SP500 | $4,411.59 | -35.23 | -0.79 |
Wall Street's main indexes ended lower on Thursday in a broad selloff after data showing a strong labor market boosted bond yields and fanned fears the Federal Reserve will be aggressive in raising U.S. interest rates.
Private payrolls surged far more than expected in June, data showed, suggesting the labor market remained on solid ground despite growing risks of a recession. A separate report showed U.S. job openings dropped in May, but remained at higher levels.
A day before the monthly U.S employment report, evidence of a solid labor market spurred expectations the Fed will keep interest rates higher for longer to tame inflation that remains above its target.
“We don’t see any softening in the labor market,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network. “The Fed doesn’t have to worry about the jobs market. When you look at their mandate, they have no reason not to keep hiking and to keep hiking for a while.”
A Twitter logo hangs outside the company's offices in San Francisco, Dec. 19, 2022. Elon Musk said Thursday, May 11, 2023, that he has found a new CEO for Twitter, or X Corp. as it is now called.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| META | $294.58 | 0.21 | 0.07 |
Twitter is threatening legal action against Meta Platforms over its new Threads platform, Semafor reported on Thursday, citing a letter sent to the Facebook parent's CEO Mark Zuckerberg by Twitter's lawyer Alex Spiro.
"Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information," Spiro wrote in the letter.
Meta launched Threads on Wednesday as the social media firm looks to take on Elon Musk's Twitter by taking advantage of Instagram's billions of users.
Semiconductor chips are seen on a circuit board of a computer in this illustration picture taken February 25, 2022. Reuters/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
The United States "firmly" opposes export controls announced by China on gallium and germanium, metals needed to produce semiconductors and other electronics, a U.S. Commerce Department spokesperson said on Wednesday, adding that Washington will consult its partners and allies to address the issue.
Earlier this week, China put export controls on gallium and germanium products, used in electric vehicles (EVs) and fiber optic cables. The abrupt announcement of controls from Aug. 1 has sent companies scrambling to secure supplies and bumped up prices.
Germanium is used in high-speed computer chips, plastics and in military applications such as night-vision devices, as well as satellite imagery sensors. Gallium is used in radar and radio communication devices, satellites and LEDs.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| AXP | $169.05 | -5.92 | -3.38 |
| CRM | $208.50 | -5.35 | -2.50 |
| UNH | $470.36 | -0.81 | -0.17 |
| WMT | $157.74 | -0.37 | -0.23 |
U.S. stocks fell across the board after the stronger-than-expected ADP jobs data which showed the addition of 497,000 roles. Additionally, the latest job openings, via the JOLTS report, remained elevated at 9.8 million vs. 10.1 million. Both reports reinforce the Federal Reserve's path to more rate hikes this year and possibly next.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 400 points with American Express and Salesforce.com as the biggest drags, while United Health and Walmart fell the least.
Volkswagen ID.4 is an electric vehicle produced in Germany. Courtesy of Volkswagen
Volkswagen said on Thursday that it plans to launch autonomous, or self-driving, vehicles for ride hailing and goods delivery services in Austin, Texas by 2026.
The German automaker, which had previously made a costly bet on Ford's now closed self-driving car unit, Argo, has been partnering with supplier Mobileye, in a strategic shift.
This year, Volkswagen plans to test 10 ID Buzz electric vehicles retrofitted with Mobileye's autonomous driving platform with safety drivers on board in limited areas of Austin, including downtown.
A Ford sign is shown at a dealership in Springfield, Pa., Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Ford reports their earnings on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| F | $15.24 | -0.12 | -0.76 |
Ford Motor Co on Thursday reported a near 10% rise in second-quarter U.S. auto sales, helped by strong demand for personal vehicles and easing supply chain disruptions.
The U.S. automaker's quarterly sales rose to 531,662 vehicles from 483,688 vehicles a year earlier.
Ford joins global rivals in reporting a rise in U.S. sales, as a steady jobs market despite the Federal Reserve's hawkish monetary policy boosted demand.
The announcement of the social media app 'Threads' is displayed in Apple's US App Store seen on the screen of a smartphone in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Meta is poised to launch a new app that appears to mimic Twitter in a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk. A listing for the app, called Threads, appeared on Apple’s App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. (Christoph Dernbach/dpa via AP)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| META | $294.37 | 8.35 | 2.92 |
Facebook parent Meta Platforms launch its new social media site "Threads" on Wednesday, and it swiftly took off with more than 5 million sign-ups within just a few hours of its launch, according to its CEO.
Lorie Logan, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, attends a dinner program at Grand Teton National Park where financial leaders from around the world are gathering for the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium outside Jackson, Wyoming, on Aug. 25, 2022. REUTERS
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan said Thursday that there was a case for a rate rise at the June policy meeting, in comments that affirmed her view that more rate increases will be needed to cool off a still strong economy.
“It would have been entirely appropriate to raise the federal funds target range at the (Federal Open Market Committee)’s June meeting, consistent with the data we had seen in recent months and the Fed’s dual-mandate goals,” Logan said. But noting “a challenging and uncertain environment,” Logan said “it can make sense to skip a meeting and move more gradually.”
Logan noted that forecasts released at the June FOMC meeting showed an expectation of more increases, and said "it is important for the FOMC to follow through on the signal we sent in June,” adding “two-thirds of FOMC participants projected at least two more rate increases this year.”
“I remain very concerned about whether inflation will return to target in a sustainable and timely way,” Logan said, adding “the continuing outlook for above-target inflation and a stronger-than-expected labor market calls for more-restrictive monetary policy,” the policymaker said.
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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink makes the case on why the world needs a Bitcoin ETF and why the asset class can more and more be compared to a digital version of gold.
His comments come as the firm awaits a decision from the Securities and Exchange Commission on whether their spot Bitcoin ETF deserves approval, a move the SEC has yet to do for any financial institution.
Meanwhile Bitcoin remains above the $30,000 level.
ADP reported private sector employers added a stunning 497,000 jobs last month, in what may be a positive pre-cursor for Friday's employment report which is expected to show the creation of 339,000 positions with the unemployment rate ticking up to 3.7% vs. 3.6%.
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