Asian stocks set for steady start; Treasuries slip
Asian stocks looked set for a steady open Friday as traders weighed risks from China to the global recovery. Treasury yields rose and the dollar stayed higher following surprise strength in U.S. retail sales.
Futures edged up in Japan and Hong Kong but dipped in Australia, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts slipped. U.S. stocks closed mostly lower after swinging between gains and losses ahead of Friday's quarterly expiration of options and futures, which can trigger volatility.
U.S. Steel to build $3 billion mill with record rally enduring
US Steel Corp will spend about $3 billion to build a new mill, the latest sign that steelmakers are growing more comfortable that higher prices will last. U.S. Steel's comes as domestic futures prices have more than tripled in the past year.
While this has produced a windfall for domestic suppliers, its driving up the cost of everything from automobiles to wind turbines to kitchen appliances as the world recovers from the pandemic.
Retail sales post surprise gain as consumers show strength despite delta fears
Retail sales posted a surprise gain in August despite fears that escalating Covid cases and supply chain issues would hold back consumers, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
Retail sales rose 0.7% in August versus expectations for a 0.8% decline. Excluding autos, sales increased 1.8% versus the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.1% gain. Weekly jobless claims increased to 332,000 versus the estimate for 320,000.
Rising shipping costs are companies' latest inflation riddle
Transportation costs—typically a fraction of a finished product's price—are emerging as another supply-chain hurdle, overwhelming some companies already paying more for raw materials and labor.
"I think the inflationary pressures are being juiced by the surge in transportation costs," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. Using rough estimates, he said that consumer prices have risen 5.3% in the past year and that transportation costs contributed about 10% of that rise.
Elon Musk's SpaceX launches first all-civilian flight to orbit
Musk's SpaceX on Wednesday evening launched four civilians toward the deepest orbit Americans have traveled to in more than a decade, in another milestone flight for private space travel. The capsule is slated to return to Earth after about three days, splashing down off the coast of Florida.
The space flight Wednesday marks new terrain for a commercial space industry that has attracted entrepreneurs and investors who are betting on an expanding set of business opportunities beyond Earth.
The iPhone 13 is already showing strong early sales in China, local media reports say
More Chinese consumers are rushing to order $Apple(AAPL.US)$’s latest iPhone now than last year, according to a South China Morning Post report published Thursday. More than 2 million pre-orders have been placed for the iPhone 13 through Apple’s official store on $JD.com(JD.US)$, the paper reported. That's compared with last year's 1.5 million pre-orders of the iPhone 12 on the same site, it added.
Goldman follows Cathie Wood's Ark with new tech-focused active ETF
Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs has launched an actively managed equity fund that will bet on emerging technology companies, following a trail blazed by the blockbuster success of Cathie Wood's Ark Invest.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management said on Thursday its $GOLDMAN SACHS FUTURE TECH LEADERS EQUITY ETF(GTEK.US)$ will own 60 to 80 listed global tech names that have a market capitalisation of less than $100bn. The ETF will focus on emerging chipmakers, software, financial technology and cyber security groups.
Big Tech's buyback bonanza demands closer attention
$Microsoft(MSFT.US)$ earmarked $60bn this week to buy back its own stock. The software company's recent repurchases already put it on pace to exhaust the money in little more than two years.
Yet tech's buyback bonanza demands closer attention at a time when big new tech markets have been opening up. Much of corporate America is under fire for diverting its spare cash into share repurchases, rather than increasing investment and risk-taking. For all but the richest tech companies, the same concerns are hard to ignore.
Source: Bloomberg, WSJ,CNBC, Financial Times