Stocks were rising during the pre-market session as President Donald Trump tweeted that Mario Draghi "announced more stimulus could come, which immediately dropped the Euro against the Dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA." Later in the morning, just following the market open in the U.S., Trump tweeted that he had "a very good telephone conversation with President Xi of China" ahead of an "extended meeting" planned for next week at the G-20 in Japan. The EU easing signals, paired with the Trump tweet on the China trade talks, cemented the move higher for the major averages, which have been holding with gains of 1% to 1.5%.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., housing starts fell 0.9% to a 1.27M rate in May. Building permits rose 0.3% to a rate of 1.29M.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Facebook (FB) started the day higher after the company shared its plans for Calibra, a recently formed subsidiary that will introduce a digital wallet for Libra, a new global currency powered by blockchain technology. Commenting on the news, DA Davidson analyst Alan Gould told investors that Facebook's crypto-coin service "completes the loop" from customer acquisition to private B2C communications to enabling secure transactions and that he sees the business as a "large global opportunity." Also commenting on the news, RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney said he views Facebook's introduction of the Libra currency as a "potential watershed moment" for the company and global adoption of crypto. However, near noon, Facebook shares have reversed and are now fractionally lower.
Meanwhile, an old-school money transfer name is getting a big boost from a link to a cryptocurrency player, as MoneyGram (MGI) shares have spiked after the company entered into a strategic agreement with Ripple. The pact will enable MoneyGram to utilize Ripple's xRapid product, "leveraging XRP in foreign exchange settlement as part of MoneyGram's cross-border payment process," according to an announcement made last night. Ripple will also invest in MoneyGram.
After Boeing (BA) spent the first day of the Paris Air Show without announcing an order, the company changed that this morning with order confirmations from Korean Air and Air Lease (AL) as well as a letter of intent from International Airlines Group (ICAGY) for 200 737-8 and 737-10 aircraft.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was G1 Therapeutics (GTHX), which rose 36% after announcing preliminary overall survival results from a randomized Phase 2 trial, which demonstrated that women with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer lived significantly longer when receiving trilaciclib and chemotherapy compared with women receiving chemotherapy alone. Also higher was SunPower (SPWR), which gained 21% after Goldman Sachs upgrdaed the stock to Buy from Neutral.
Among the notable losers was GCP Applied Technologies (GCP), which slid 14% after it issued an open letter to shareholders saying it plans to pursue a standalone strategic plan. Also lower was Unity Biotechnology (UBX), which fell 7% after announcing results from its first-in-human Phase 1 study of UBX0101 in patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 327.38, or 1.25%, to 26,439.91, the Nasdaq was up 117.22, or 1.49%, to 7,962.24, and the S&P 500 was up 29.44, or 1.02%, to 2,919.11.
Ticker changed to META
+0.15 (+0.08%)
MoneyGram
+1.61 (+111.81%)
IAG
+ (+0.00%)
G1 Therapeutics
+6.88 (+34.82%)
SunPower
+1.63 (+19.71%)
GCP Applied Technologies
-3.575 (-13.56%)
Unity Biotechnology
-0.77 (-8.38%)