Good morning, and welcome to another day on the markets.
I’ll be taking you through the morning before Emily Stewart joins you for the afternoon.
It was a pretty quiet night on Wall Street, with the major themes of recent days dominating — trade talks and discussion over Fed chair Jerome Powell’s future.
On both fronts, the news was seen as mildly positive.
Trade deals have been reached between the US and both Indonesia and the Philippines, according to President Donald Trump, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent raised the possibility that an August 12 deadline to reach a China trade deal could be extended.
Bessent also said the relationship between the US and China was in a “very good place”, while President Trump has indicated he may soon visit China to meet with his counterpart there Xi Jinping.
The US Treasury secretary also stated that Fed chair Jerome Powell should be able to see out his term (which ends in May next year) if he wants to, providing markets further comfort that the administration won’t try to remove him early.
Combined with a slew of company earnings results, the news flow was enough to see the S&P 500 edge 0.1% higher to a fresh record of 6,310 points, although the Nasdaq eased 0.4% to 20,893.
Load up the caffeine, put on some Black Sabbath (vale Ozzy), and let’s…
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