'We've got a task force for that.' Despite renewed fighting in the Middle East, oil prices fell on Thursday, and all three major indexes posted gains in a broad market rally. Plus, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh announced who will be involved with his task forces aimed at revamping the central bank. More on that below.
The Nasdaq Composite Index led gains today, closing up 1.3%. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% on the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 129 points, or 0.3%.
Tech did much of the heavy lifting, with Meta's gains offsetting other weakness in the sector.
Economic data has largely been on the back-burner this week, but the National Association of Realtors reported today that existing home sales were weaker than expected in June.
The number of existing home sales was just 4.09 million last month, down about 2.4% from May's revised level of 4.19 million , and below economists' expectations of 4.2 million.
The dip shows how "sensitive home buyers are to affordability conditions, " noted Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. The median existing-home sales price rose 1.8% on the month to an all-time high of $440,600 in June, even as 30-year mortgage rates hovered around 6.5% last month.
Inventory conditions do look better than the dramatic shortages experienced in 2022 and 2023, but supply of homes has largely leveled off over the past year, writes Nationwide economist Daniel Vielhaber.
"There is little reason to expect any positive momentum in the housing market through the end of the summer," Vielhaber says
The Hot Stock: Lumentum Holdings +11.1% The Biggest Loser: APA Corp. -5.1%
Best Sector: Information Technology +1.7% Worst Sector: Consumer Staples -1.8%
The Fed Unveils Its New Leadership Task Force
One of the biggest questions coming out of Warsh's first press conference last month was not about rate policy, but rather who the heck would lead the new committees he is putting together to evaluate almost every major aspect of the central bank's operations.
Today we got answers. On Thursday the Fed named the people who will lead the five task forces focused on the bank communications, the balance sheet, economic data, productivity and jobs, and inflation framework.
The Fed said three outside leaders have been selected to lead each committee, which will operate independently from the Federal Open Market Committee, but receive support from the central bank's staff. Those selected, many of whom are considered top experts in their respective fields, span a broad spectrum of expertise and experience.
The productivity and jobs task force will be helmed by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Mark Andreessen, along with the Anthropic Institute's Charles Jones, a professor of economics at Stanford University, and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was tapped to lead the team tasked with improving and expanding economic data sources, a man who happens to have one of the best real-time, nationwide price repositories at his fingertips.
Meanwhile two former central bankers, Arminio Fraga, former president of the Central Bank of Brazil, and Mervyn King, former governor of Bank of England, have been tapped to review Fed communications.
Closer to home, former Fed governor Jeremy Stein (and current economics professor at Harvard University) who left the central bank in 2014 is part of the team that will review the Fed's policies around its balance sheet.
Warsh also leaned into his academic background, tapping a number of the foremost experts on economic theory and modeling. Thomas Sargent, for example, was part of the team that won the Nobel prize in economics in 2011 for his work exploring how people's everyday expectations impact the economy. He'll help lead the team tasked with reviewing inflation frameworks.
Warsh has previously said that he expects to receive recommendations from these committees by the end of the year.
You can see the full list of selected task force leaders here.
The Calendar
Delta Air Lines announces quarterly results tomorrow. Shares of the airline are up 35% this year, and hit a record high this past week.
What We're Reading Today
-- Strategy's Preferred Shares Carry 10%-Plus Yields -- and Lots of Risk -- The Stock Market Faces an Earnings Test It May Not Pass -- Tesla Stock Has 'Immense' AI Potential. Why You Shouldn't Buy It. -- 7 Times Oversubscribed. Why Wall Street Is Wild for SK Hynix. -- AI Was Supposed to Boost Corporate Profits. It Might Destroy Them Instead.
Barron's Live returns on Monday. Barron's Live features timely and actionable insights for investors. We give you behind-the-scenes conversations with the newsroom, connecting you with our editors and reporters covering the markets, the economy, and more.
Sign up here
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 09, 2026 19:55 ET (23:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments