US Markets U.S. markets were up in early morning trading on Thursday, with energy stocks leading the rise. - Chevron is up 2.5%, while Exxon is up 3%.
- Commodity stocks are also seeing significant gains, with Freeport-McMoRan up 6.6% and Nucor up 5%.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.00380%
| Dow Jones | 31,312.12 | 0.88% | | S&P 500 | 3,891.92 | 1.22% | | Nasdaq | 11,570.38 | 1.84% | | Russell 2000 | 1,766.43 | 2.25% | *Stock Market data as of the last closing bell. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services. Do you not understand any of these figures? Check out our explainer.
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Canadian Markets The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) predicts that the Canadian economy will enter a recession in 2023. - According to the bank's latest forecast, Canada's GDP will contract by 0.5% in both Q2 and Q3 of 2023, before growing 0.2% in Q4 2023.
- The contraction will be caused by rampant inflation, high-interest rates, and labor market constraints, RBC said.
- The unemployment rate will rise to 6.6% this time next year, up from 5.1%, RBC forecasts.
*Canadian stock prices are as of the last close. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services
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European Markets European markets are up today, continuing the positive momentum they saw yesterday. - The Stoxx 600 gained 2%, led by a 5.6% increase in mining stocks.
- Food and beverage stocks lost 0.1% and were the only sector that ended the day in the red.
- Chr.Hansen, a manufacturer of ingredients for the dairy industry, was the worst-performing stock, losing 9.8% after it published lower-than-expected quarterly earnings.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 3,490.68 | 2.01% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,189.08 | 1.14% | | Germany (DAX) | 12,843.22 | 1.97% | | France (CAC 40) | 6,006.70 | 1.60% | *European stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services.
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Asian Markets Stocks in Asia were also up as the positive investor sentiment has impacted all major markets. - South Korea saw a significant rise, with Samsung shares gaining 3.19% after the company announced that its operating profit had increased.
- Stocks in Australia were up 0.81% on the day.
- Beijing announced that proof of Covid vaccination will be required to enter all sports centers and entertainment venues.
| S&P Asia 50 | 4,751.80 | 1.44% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 26,490.53 | 1.47% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,334.27 | 1.84% | | China (Hang Seng) | 21,643.58 | 0.26% | | India (SENSEX) | 54,178.46 | 0.80% | *Asian stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services.
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Commodities Oil prices are increasing significantly this morning as investors seem to have shrugged off concerns about a potential recession that would lower oil demand. - Brent crude is up 4.1% this morning, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude has gained 4.68%.
- Data released on Wednesday shows that U.S. crude inventories were up 3.8 million barrels last week.
- U.S. gasoline inventories were down 1.8 million barrels last week.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 32.85 | 5.46% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 162.20 | 0.03% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 17.75 | 0.34% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 24.15 | 1.73% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 74.80 | 1.55% | *Commodity prices are as of 7 am ET. Data from MarketWatch. To understand why investors track the prices of these commodities, click here.
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Stocks Making Moves Here are some stocks to keep an eye on in the second half of today's trading session: - Gamestop is up 8% this morning after announcing a 4-for-1 stock split.
- Virgin Galactic rose 13% after announcing a partnership with Aurora Flight Sciences to build additional spacecraft.
- Bed Bath & Beyond gained 27% following reports of insider buying from CEO Sue Gove and other board members.
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Currency Exchange Rates The U.S. Dollar is mostly flat today after falling slightly on Wednesday as investors await employment data due on Friday. - The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates at its next meeting on July 26-27.
- The Atlanta Fed estimates that the U.S. economy contracted by 2.1% last quarter.
- Implied volatility is at 11.2%, similar to the levels seen at the start of the pandemic.
| UK(GBP) | £0.83 | -0.72% | | Europe (EURO) | €0.98 | 0.19% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.30 | -0.43% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥135.95 | -0.02% | *Exchange rates as of 7 am ET. Data from Morningstar Financial Research. To understand why we track these currencies and the differences between them, click here.
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 |  | Liam Gill is a founder, lawyer and investor.
He previously founded Fumarii Technologies, which became a top 20 ranked cloud computing service (Yahoo Finance! 2019) valued at over $30M. He holds an LLB Laws (UK), MSc Management and Master of Laws and currently practices law at Zargar Lawyers + Business Strategists in Vancouver, Canada.
|   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
