OPENING CALL
Stock futures were on the rise Wednesday as investors weighed inflation data and awaited further earnings results.
The Nasdaq 100 was leading gains as investors became optimistic about technology stocks again after ASML earnings . The semiconductor-equipment manufacturer lifted its annual sales guidance for the second time as the race to build artificial-intelligence infrastructure turns chips into a hot commodity.
Investors are now awaiting results from Johnson & Johnson, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and United Airlines.
"The environment has shifted and has a renewed focus on cash flow, earnings and company specific execution, rather than multiple expansion and broader AI enthusiasm," said UBS Wealth Management.
Attention is also turning to the June producer price report and the second day of Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh's testimony before Congress after he reiterated his commitment to price stability Tuesday.
Meanwhile, oil prices were up, with Brent crude trading just shy of $86 a barrel after the U.S. reinstated its naval blockade on Iran.
Stocks to watch
ASML Holding climbed after it lifted its sales forecast in a sign of strong AI demand.
Lucid Group slid further in premarket trading, after a report that the company might seek bankruptcy triggered a 15% drop yesterday.
Morgan Stanley, BlackRock: The financial giants are set to report second-quarter earnings this morning. Johnson and Johnson, United Airlines Holdings are also scheduled to report today.
PayPal Holdings surged more than 15% in premarket trading following a Reuters report that payments processor Stripe and private-equity firm Advent offered to buy it for more than $53 billion.
Watch For:
U.S. PPI for June; EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report; Johnson & Johnson 2Q earnings; Morgan Stanley 2Q earnings; Bank of Canada interest-rate announcement; Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams speaks at Partnership for New York City event
Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:
- Two Million Workers Are Locked Out of an Improving Job Market
- Blockbuster Stock Sales Are Threatening to Overwhelm the Bull Market
- Banks Are on a Goldilocks Run. Don't Assume It Will Last.
MARKET WRAPS
Forex:
The dollar remained weaker after Tuesday's lower-than-forecast U.S. inflation data dampened expectations for the Fed to raise interest rates.
The euro rose. The currency's gains against the dollar in response to Tuesday's lower-than-anticipated U.S. inflation data are likely to be limited, ING said.
Bonds:
Treasury yields rose in early trading but remained below Tuesday's high, after the June CPI print missed expectations, pushing yields lower by the end of the day.
Energy:
In early European trading, Brent crude rose 1.2%, while WTI was up 1.1%.
Metals:
Gold edged lower
after climbing more than 2% in the previous session as investors balance a softer-than-expected U.S. inflation print and risks stemming from higher energy prices linked to the Iran war.
Iron
Iron ore strengthens in early trading hours, amid strong demand from China. The ferrous metal is getting a boost from Chinese trade data showing strong demand in the country, ANZ Research said.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Banks Are on a Goldilocks Run. Don't Assume It Will Last.
In the stock market, nobody rings a bell at the top to tell you when the good times have peaked. It's the same in banking, and the times right now are looking awfully sweet for the biggest U.S. behemoths.
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs all reported second-quarter earnings Tuesday. The results were overwhelmingly positive, although their stock-price reactions were mixed.
Chip-Machine Supplier ASML Raises Guidance Again on Unrelenting AI Demand
ASML Holding lifted its annual sales guidance for the second time and said it would boost output of its semiconductor-making machines in the coming years as the race to build artificial-intelligence infrastructure turns chips into a hot commodity.
The Dutch group supplies machines that use light to print tiny patterns that form circuits inside modern semiconductors, making it a go-to for big chip makers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics and Intel as they face growing demand from their own customers.
PayPal Shares Surge Premarket on Reports of $53 Billion Takeover Offer
PayPal shares climbed in premarket trade on reports that payments start-up Stripe and private equity group Advent International jointly offered to buy the company for more than $53 billion.
New York-listed PayPal shares jumped by more than 15% premarket to trade at $54.57.
Richemont's Shares Surge After Sales Beat
Shares in Richemont jumped after the Switzerland-based luxury company reported sales for its fiscal first quarter that came ahead of expectations.
The group, which houses high-end brands including Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels said Wednesday that it made sales of 6.33 billion euros ($7.23 billion) for the quarter ended June 30. The result came ahead of Visible Alpha consensus of 5.89 billion euros.
U.S. Stock Futures Higher as Inflation Data Boost Sentiment
U.S. stock futures were largely higher in early European trade, as positive market sentiment following lower-than-expected inflation data buoyed risk assets.
Oil prices remained elevated after a seven-hour round of American attacks on Iran, as the U.S. reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports. Brent crude oil rose above $86 a barrel.
Eurozone Industrial Production Fell Unexpectedly in May
Eurozone industrial output fell unexpectedly in May, snapping a three-month streak of resilient activity in the face of higher energy costs following the conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
Industrial production fell 0.2% from the previous month, compared with an upwardly revised 0.3% rise in April, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday.
Blockbuster Stock Sales Are Threatening to Overwhelm the Bull Market
The rush for cash by some of the world's largest companies is putting the long bull market at risk.
SpaceX's record $75 billion public offering. Alphabet's $85 billion equity raise. A $26 billion-plus sale of American depository receipts from the South Korean chip-making company SK Hynix.
China's Economy Grows at Weakest Pace Since 2022
China's growth slowed in the second quarter of the year to the weakest pace in more than three years, as surging exports buoyed by the AI boom failed to compensate for a weak domestic economy and sluggish consumer spending.
China's gross domestic product expanded 4.3% in April to June from a year ago, according to official data released Wednesday, down from 5.0% in the first quarter of the year. This marks the slowest growth since the end of 2022, when the country was grappling with the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
China Aggressively Patrols Disputed Waters. Now the U.S. Coast Guard Is Moving In.
SINGAPORE-U.S. Coast Guard ships previously deployed in the Middle East are now operating out of Singapore and the Philippines to help challenge China's assertion of power in the Pacific.
The six 154-foot fast-response cutters are part of the Coast Guard's reimagined "expeditionary cutter squadron," which can be sent anywhere in the world. Their first deployment is the western Pacific, where tensions have run high for years as China escalated a so-called gray-zone campaign to project control around Taiwan and the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
The U.S. and Iran Reckon With Shrinking Options to End the War
WASHINGTON-With the U.S. and Iran slugging it out over the Strait of Hormuz again, each nation is running out of time to achieve its goals. The question is whose clock expires first.
President Trump would prefer a resolution before the November midterm elections and before oil prices surge back to painful levels for Americans. Tehran is hoping it can outlast Trump before a reimposed U.S. naval blockade cripples its already reeling economy-and without provoking another large-scale American and Israeli attack aimed at toppling the Islamic government.
Pressure Builds Over Israel's Treatment of Palestinian Prisoners
As Hamas fighters swarmed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the power suddenly went out in a remote prison in the Negev Desert.
When the lights briefly came back on a few hours later, a new era of hard-line policies had begun. In the wake of Hamas's attack-which left some 1,200 in Israel dead and around 250 as hostages-the thousands of Palestinians held at Lavi prison in the Negev and other prisons across Israel now faced harsher conditions. Thousands more joined them, swept up in raids amid the ensuing war.
Ukraine Sea Drone Sinks Russian Ship Near Compound Said to Be Linked to Putin
Ukraine said one of its naval drones on Tuesday sank a Russian patrol ship docked in the Black Sea resort town of Gelendzhik, close to a luxurious compound allegedly linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At least one domestically produced Sargan-3000 sea drone struck a ship called the Emerald, killing some crew members and injuring others, Ukraine's navy said in a post on social media.
Write to priscila.barrera@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
Economic Indicators $(ET)$:
0830 May Wholesale trade
0830 May Monthly Survey of Manufacturing
0830 May New motor vehicle sales
0945 Bank of Canada interest rate announcement
Stocks to Watch:
Bird Construction Gets Awards, Agreements Across Canada for Aggregate Value of About C$1B
Cameco Cigar Lake Mine in Northern Saskatchewan Resumes Production; Cigar Lake 2026 Production Outlook Hasn't Been Affected by Temporary Suspension
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
July 15, 2026 06:01 ET (10:01 GMT)
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