Wall Street Today: Friday's jobs report is a wild card

Moomoo Recap US wrote a column · Aug 6, 2021 08:47

Wall Street Today: Friday's jobs report is a wild card

Asia stocks eye climb after U.S. rally on earnings

Asian stocks looked set to follow U.S. equities higher Friday after earnings helped Wall Street to a record close as some of the growth concerns stirred by the delta coronavirus strain eased.

Futures rose in Japan and Hong Kong and were steady in Australia. U.S. contracts fluctuated after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 reached new peaks. A second weekly drop in U.S. jobless claims stoked optimism for a strong payrolls report Friday, which could spark market swings.

Zillow shares jump as hot U.S. housing market drives results

$Zillow-C (Z.US)$ blew past expectations in the second quarter, doubling the number of houses it purchased for its home-flipping business and setting bullish expectations for third-quarter revenue.

The company had adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $183 million, according to a statement Thursday, topping the average analyst estimate of $133 million.

Robinhood stock drops after news of early investors set to sell shares

$Robinhood (HOOD.US)$ shares fell 28% Thursday after a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicated that early investors in the company can sell up to about 98 million shares, currently valued at almost $5 billion, over time.

shares fell 28% Thursday after a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicated that early investors in the company can sell up to about 98 million shares, currently valued at almost $5 billion, over time.

Robinhood closed Thursday at $50.97, still up about 34% from its IPO price of $38.

SPACs target emerging markets as U.S. competition mounts

Blank-check companies are venturing to far-flung locales such as Brazil, Israel and Turkey to find attractive merger targets these days.

Special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, explicitly pursuing companies in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa remain a small part of the overall market. But they are growing at a faster clip than their conventional counterparts, according to The Wall Street Journal's analysis of data from SPAC Research.

Friday's jobs report is a wild card, with economists' estimates all over the map

The economy is expected to have added about 845,000 payrolls in July, according to Dow Jones consensus estimate, as America's workforce gradually rebuilds from its sharp pandemic-induced job losses.

But the uncertainty of Covid — spreading again at a rapid pace — has become a wild card for the labor market, just as it has for the broader economy. The rate of new infections in the U.S. is edging toward 100,000 per day, faster than last summer when there were no widely available vaccines.

Moderna says its Covid vaccine booster produced 'robust' immune response against delta

$Moderna (MRNA.US)$ said its Covid-19 vaccine booster shot produced a "robust" antibody response against the highly contagious delta variant, according to details of a study released Thursday with the company's second-quarter earnings report.

In a phase two trial, Moderna is testing a 50-microgram dose of three vaccine booster candidates in previously vaccinated individuals. The booster shots produced a promising immune response against three variants, including delta, with antibody levels approaching those seen in previously unvaccinated people who received two 100-microgram doses, the company said.

Wall Street urges GM and Ford to keep spending in Tesla 'arms race'

Investors are urging on plans by $General Motors (GM.US)$ and $Forward Industries (FORD.US)$ to spend tens of billions of dollars on electric vehicles, even as the carmakers capitalise on booming revenues from cars and trucks with traditional engines.

GM posted a record $4.1bn in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in the second quarter, with low inventory driving higher pricing on popular — and more profitable — trucks and sport utility vehicles. Chief executive Mary Barra said that with strong demand from customers, low inventory could last until early next year.

Novavax further delays plans to seek Covid vaccine approval

$Novavax (NVAX.US)$ has further delayed the submission of data for its Covid-19 vaccine to the US regulator as the biotechnology company continues to struggle with collating consistent manufacturing information.

Its shares were down as much as 12 percent in after-market trading following the announcement.

Source: Bloomberg, Dow Jones, CNBC, Financial Times

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