Stocks have been lower since the open following a stronger than expected jobs report, which is being read as lowering the chances of the Federal Reserve taking more dramatic action at its next rate setting meeting. The implied odds of the central bank making a 50 basis point cut in July have fallen to zero following the strong jobs growth reported by the government for June, according to Bloomberg data.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., nonfarm payrolls jumped 224,000 in June, which was stronger than the 160,000 job additions that were expected. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7% from the 49-year low of 3.6% reported in May. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% month-over-month and 3.1% year-over-year. While Fed funds futures have tumbled, the market has merely taken out the chances for an aggressive 50 basis point cut at the upcoming FOMC meeting and remains fully priced for a 25 basis point easing.
TOP NEWS: On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Amazon (AMZN), the company got a mild dose of bad news as the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority announced it is investigating the acquisition by the e-commerce giant of certain rights and a minority shareholding in Roofoods, trading as Deliveroo.
Garth Ritchie, President of Deutsche Bank and Head of the Corporate & Investment Bank, is leaving the bank by mutual agreement, the bank announced this morning. Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing will assume responsibility for the Corporate & Investment Bank on the Management Board. Meanwhile, Financial Times reported that Sewing is expected to ask his supervisory board this weekend to authorize a "radical restructuring" of the bank after five years of continuous decline in the group's investment banking business.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was DBV Technologies (DBVT), which rose 13% after Bloomberg said there are expectations that the company will submit another biologic license application for its Viaskin Peanuts allergy patch to the FDA sometime during Q3. Also higher was GOL Linhas (GOL), which gained 19% in New York after reporting preliminary air traffic figures for the month of June.
Among the notable losers was Electronic Arts (EA), which slid 5% following this week's launch of Season 2 of "Apex Legends." Also lower was Nvidia (NVDA), which fell 3% after Forbes contributor Jason Evangelho said that the pricing for AMD's (AMD) Navi-based RX 5700 and RX 5700XT could "seriously disrupt" Nvidia's competitive plans.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 121.50, or 0.45%, to 26,844.50, the Nasdaq was down 52.44, or 0.64%, to 8,117.79, and the S&P 500 was down 18.46, or 0.62%, to 2,977.36.
