Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department's government debt buyback program could surpass the previously announced $4 billion, CNBC reported Thursday, citing an interview with the official.
Bessent also said the US' plans to step up economic pressure on Iran will likely negate the need to wage further military operations, CNBC reported.
Energy stocks were mixed late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.2% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) decreasing 0.3%.The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was down 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was fractionally higher.Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.6% to $85.48 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract advanced 0.3% to $91.26 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were steady at $2.78 per 1 million BTU.In sector news, US crude oil stocks, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 900,000 barrels in the week ended Aug. 14, following an increase of 11.3 million barrels in the week earlier. Excluding SPR inventories, commercial crude oil stocks rose by 4.4 million barrels compared with a 17.4-million-barrel gain in the week prior, and above the 200,000-barrel increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.In corporate news, Sable Offshore (SOC) can continue using an emergency order from the Trump administration as legal authority for the restart of an oil pipeline in Santa Barbara, California, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing a court ruling. Sable shares jumped past 18%.BP (BP) has begun trading Venezuelan oil, with a tanker loading about 400,000 barrels of heavy fuel oil supplied by state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela for delivery to Houston, Bloomberg reported. BP shares rose 0.7%.Energy Fuels (UUUU) shares gained 5.8% after it said Wednesday that terbium oxide produced at the White Mesa Mill in Utah has been qualified for commercial use by one of Japan's largest rare earth permanent magnet manufacturers.FLEX LNG (FLNG) shares climbed 3.9% after it reported higher Q2 adjusted net income and revenue.Shell (SHEL) Lubricants and Hyundai Motor have renewed their global partnership for another five years, the companies said Wednesday. Shell shares were up 0.8%.
Financial stocks were lower in late Wednesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index decreasing 0.7% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) down 0.6%.The Philadelphia Housing Index was climbing 2.4%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was up 0.6%.Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was increasing 5.5% to $68,185, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries fell 5.3 basis points to 4.653%.In economic news, minutes of the July 28-29 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee showed that most participants supported maintaining the federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75%.The US Treasury Department said it was raising the cap on its buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities to at least $4 billion per operation from $2 billion, effective Sept. 9.US mortgage applications fell by 0.4% in the week ended Aug. 14, with an increase in refinancing activity offset by a decline in home purchase applications, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday.In corporate news, Klarna (KLAR) shares fell 2.1% after JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight and cut its price target to $18 per share from $22.Jefferies Financial's (JEF) indirect unit Jefferies Credit Partners is looking to raise about 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) from investors who trade private credit in the secondary market, Bloomberg reported. Jefferies Financial shares were down 0.7%.BlackRock's (BLK) private credit division HPS Investment Partners and Oaktree Capital are among the creditors that seized control of production equipment supplier MBS Group last week, after the latter defaulted on its debt, the Financial Times reported. BlackRock shares were up 0.4%.Progressive (PGR) shares added 4.8% after it reported that net premiums earned in July were $7.36 billion, up from $6.99 billion a year earlier.
Healthcare stocks were higher late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index rising 3.1% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) adding 3.6%.The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) climbed 6.3%.In sector news, President Donald Trump said Wednesday he has nominated Heidi Overton as the US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner. "We need her leadership at the FDA now to ensure that the US remains the WORLD LEADER for Scientific Discovery and CURES," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.In corporate news, Moderna (MRNA) shares surged 167% and Merck (MRK) shares jumped past 12% after the companies said a trial of intismeran autogene plus Keytruda met the primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival and a key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival in people with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma.Twist Bioscience (TWST) shares jumped nearly 20% after the company said Anthropic selected it as an independent evaluator for a multi-arm protein design project using AI.Sight Sciences (SGHT) shares climbed past 3% after the company said that the US Food and Drug Administration has updated the TearCare System's indication to include improving meibomian gland function in adult patients with evaporative dry eye disease caused by meibomian gland dysfunction.Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) shares rose 2.1% after its US affiliate Teva Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday the US Food and Drug Administration has accepted its new drug application for ecopipam to potentially treat children with Tourette syndrome.