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Firming Interest Rates, Higher Oil Dents Wall Street Pre-Bell; Asia Up, Europe Off

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Wall Street futures inched lower Thursday pre-bell as interest rates on government debt again crept up, after easing on Wednesday following the US Treasury announcement that it would boost its bond-buying program.

In the futures, the S&P 500 was down 0.1%, the Nasdaq fell 0.2% and the Dow Jones was off 0.3%.

Yields on 10-year US Treasuries touched 4.69% in morning hours, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures traded up 3% to $86.93.

Walmart (WMT) traded down 6.5% pre-bell after the retail colossus reported Q2 earnings and revenue above expectations and boosted guidance, but also logged relatively soft same-store comparable sales.

Asian exchanges traded mostly higher overnight, while European bourses edged south midday on the continent.

Nordson (NDSN) rose 5.9% pre-bell after the maker of adhesive-dispensing equipment reported fiscal Q3 earnings and revenue above estimates and boosted guidance late Wednesday.

On the economic calendar are the weekly jobless claims report and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for August, at 8:30 am ET.

The Conference Board leading indicators bulletin for July logs at 10 am, and the weekly EIA natural gas report files at 10:30 am.

In pre-market action, Bitcoin traded at $71,780. Spot gold commanded $4,489 an ounce.

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US Equity Indexes Rise After Most FOMC Participants Support Rate Hold, Treasury Boosts Buybacks

US equity indexes rose on Wednesday after most Federal Open Market Committee participants agreed to maintain the federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75%, and the US Treasury said it would ramp up buybacks of long-dated government debt to at least $4 billion per operation in September.The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to 26,331.09, and the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 7,707.98. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.2% to 53,463.05. Health and consumer discretionary led the gainers, while industrials and technology sectors led the decliners.The yield on 30-year Treasuries fell 10.1 basis points to 5.18%, while the 10-year yield fell 6.7 basis points to 4.64%.Gold futures gained 3.3% to $4,566.6 per ounce, and silver futures rose 3.8% to $66.475.While FOMC participants acknowledged that inflation remained elevated, most of them expected it to simmer over the remainder of the year as the effects of tariffs and earlier energy price hikes fade. They also observed that economic activity continued to expand at a solid pace while labor market conditions appeared stable.President Donald Trump also paused tariffs on certain Canadian goods in a Truth Social post. He also said the Keystone XL Pipeline, which was canceled in 2021, may be revived. The tariff play comes ahead of negotiations for the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement.In economic news, US crude oil stocks, including those in 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 prior week.The US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract rose 0.8% to $85.63 per barrel.US mortgage applications fell by 0.4% in the week ended Aug. 14, with an increase in refinancing activity offset by declining home purchase applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association."In addition to the economic uncertainty, affordability difficulties have reemerged as a reason for homebuyers to delay purchase decisions given the impact of higher mortgage rates on monthly mortgage payments," said MBA deputy chief economist Joel Kan.In company news, Moderna (MRNA) shares climbed 177%, and Merck (MRK) shares gained 12.6% after the companies said a trial of intismeran autogene combined with Keytruda met the primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival and a key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival in patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma.Target (TGT) shares rose 4.3% after the company posted higher-than-expected fiscal Q2 results and lifted its 2026 guidance. The company reported fiscal Q2 adjusted earnings of $4.11 per diluted share, up from $2.05 a year earlier and above FactSet consensus of $2.34. Fiscal Q2 net sales were $26.54 billion, up from $25.21 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $26.13 billion. For fiscal 2026, the company lifted its adjusted EPS guidance to between $9.90 and $10.90 from $7.50 to $8.50 earlier, compared with FactSet estimates of $8.52.

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Asia Markets

US Equity Indexes Rise as Bond Yields Ease After Treasury Raises Buyback Cap, Trump Pauses Canada Tariffs

US equity indexes rose after midday Wednesday after the Treasury Department said it would increase buybacks of long-dated government debt to at least $4 billion per operation in September from $2 billion, and President Donald Trump paused tariffs on certain Canadian goods in a late Tuesday Truth Social post.The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to 26,343.5, and the S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 7,716.1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.2% to 53,456.1. Health and materials led the gainers, while technology and industrials led the decliners.The yield on 30-year Treasuries fell 7 basis points to 5.215%, while the 10-year yield fell 3 basis points to 4.677%.Trump also said the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, which was canceled in 2021, may be revived. The tariff play comes ahead of negotiations for the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement.Gold futures gained 3% to $4,553.5 per ounce, and silver futures rose 3% to $65.95.In economic news, US crude oil stocks, including those in 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 prior week.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 the 200,000-barrel increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.The US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract rose 2.4% to $86.99 per barrel.US mortgage applications fell by 0.4% in the week ended Aug. 14, with an increase in refinancing activity offset by declining home purchase applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association."In addition to the economic uncertainty, affordability difficulties have reemerged as a reason for homebuyers to delay purchase decisions given the impact of higher mortgage rates on monthly mortgage payments," said MBA deputy chief economist Joel Kan.In company news, Moderna (MRNA) shares climbed 150%, and Merck (MRK) shares gained 11.5% after the companies said a trial of intismeran autogene combined with Keytruda met the primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival and a key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival in patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma.Target (TGT) shares rose 5.8% after the company posted higher-than-expected fiscal Q2 results and boosted its 2026 guidance. The company reported fiscal Q2 adjusted earnings of $4.11 per diluted share, up from $2.05 a year earlier and above FactSet consensus of $2.34. Fiscal Q2 net sales were $26.54 billion, up from $25.21 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $26.13 billion. For fiscal 2026, the company lifted its adjusted EPS guidance to between $9.90 and $10.90 from $7.50 to $8.50 earlier, compared with FactSet estimates of $8.52.

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Asia Markets

Exchange-Traded Funds Higher as US Equities Gain After Midday

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Dow Jones^EEM^EXI^FAS^FAZ^GLD^IBB^IGM^IGV^IPK^IVV^IWMNasdaq Composite^IYE^IYH^IYJ^IYK^IYW^PMR^QQQ^RTH^SOXXS&P 500^SPY^UNG^USO^VDC^VHT^VIS^XLE^XLF^XLI^XLK^XLP^XLV^XRT^XSD$BETH$BITO$EETH$MRK$MRNA