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Stocks Mostly Down Pre-Bell as Investors Await Key Jobs Report

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Stocks Mostly Down Pre-Bell as Investors Await Key Jobs Report

The benchmark US stock measures were mostly tracking in the red before the open Friday as traders await a key employment report for May.

The S&P 500 decreased 0.5% and the Nasdaq was off 1% in premarket activity, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1%. The indexes finished the previous trading session mostly up, with the Dow recording a fresh closing high.

The nonfarm payrolls report for last month is scheduled to be released at 8:30 am ET. Government data is expected to show that the US economy added 85,000 jobs in May, compared with a 115,000 gain reported for the month prior, according to a Bloomberg poll.

Job cut announcements in May hit the highest for the month since 2020, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday, while US weekly applications for unemployment insurance rose unexpectedly. Earlier in the week, ADP (ADP) reported stronger-than-expected private-sector hiring for May.

Treasury yields were down in premarket action, with the two-year rate retreating 0.4 basis points to 4.05% and the 10-year rate declining 0.2 basis points to 4.48%.

Friday's economic calendar also has the weekly Baker Hughes oil-and-gas rig count at 1 pm.

President Donald Trump reportedly said Thursday he'd be "honored" to meet Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei if a peace deal is agreed between Washington and Tehran. Mojtaba Khamenei was named the supreme leader in Iran after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in strikes by the US and Israel in late February.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped 0.2% to $92.87 a barrel before the opening bell, while Brent nudged 0.1% lower to $94.90.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Thursday rejected a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon. The two countries agreed to the truce, subject to Iran-backed Hezbollah ending all fire and evacuating its operatives from the South Litani Sector, according to a joint statement from the US, Israel and Lebanon released Wednesday.

But just hours after the deal, Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters launched strikes, CNN reported Thursday.

Shares of Lululemon Athletica (LULU) dropped 13% pre-bell after the athletic apparel retailer lowered its full-year outlook amid certain headwinds and deteriorating sales trends. Micron Technology (MU) declined 3.3% after closing the previous session down 7.7%.

ABM Industries (ABM) and G-III Apparel (GIII) report their latest financial results before the bell, among others.

Gold decreased 0.3% to $4,491 per troy ounce, while bitcoin slid 1.6% to $62,671.

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Philippine consumer prices rose 6.8% in May from a year earlier, easing from April's three-year high of 7.2%, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority on Friday.The latest print came in below the floor of what Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas had projected, even as the economy deals with oil price hikes driven by the Middle East conflict.The BSP had expected May inflation to range between 7.1% and 7.9%, driven by rising prices of rice, vegetables, and meat, alongside a weakening peso.The year-to-date average now stands at 4.5%, still above the BSP's 2% to 4% target.The main driver of the slowdown was transport inflation, which decelerated to 16.2% in May from 21.4% in April. Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation also cooled to 5.7% from 6%, while the prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels collectively rose at a softer rate of 7.8% from 8.2% previously.Vegetable costs also drove food inflation lower, with the prices of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses rising at 6.2% in May, versus 10.4% in April.Rice inflation, however, accelerated to 15.6% from 13.7%, while corn inflation surged to 25.2% from 21%.Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, came in at 4.1%, up from 3.9% in April. However, the print missed the consensus forecast of 4.2%, according to Investing.com.Ahead of the latest data, HSBC said a 50-basis-point hike is likely in June and August, while MUFG senior currency analyst Michael Wan said the BSP will likely hike rates further by about 75 to 100 basis points this year."[W]e will not be surprised if there is an off-cycle meeting to do so coupled with perhaps some chance of a jumbo 50bps rate hike moving forward," Wan said in a note last month.In MUFG's latest note on Friday, analyst Lloyd Chan said, "With oil prices remaining elevated, inflation risks are skewed to the upside, which could reinforce the case for further policy tightening to contain price pressures and support the PHP."

$^PSEi
Dow Logs New High Even as Tech Underperforms
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Murphy Oil's (MUR) cash flow stands to benefit from higher crude prices, with no end to the Middle East conflict in sight yet, KeyBanc Capital Markets said in a note emailed Thursday.The brokerage has upgraded the West Texas Intermediate outlook to $85 a barrel for this year from $65 at the start of 2026. That should generate incremental cash flows of $666 million for Murphy, which is expected to produce 33.3 million barrels in 2026.None of that production is hedged, which means the oil exploration and production company can sell output at prevailing rates."Profound (cash flow) uplift from unhedged production stream is gamechanger for balance sheet and cash return optionality," KeyBanc analyst Tim Rezvan said.KeyBanc upgraded Murphy's stock to overweight from sector weight, with a $48 price target.The US and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February, resulting in the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. While there have been a series of talks following ceasefire deals, the parties are yet to finalize a framework for a long-lasting peace."The growing attacks in Lebanon by Israel appear to be a clear obstacle to a peace deal," Rezvan said. "We strenuously disagree with the view that an imminent agreement between the US and Iran will remove the risk premium that we believe should remain embedded in oil prices for the foreseeable future."Shares of Murphy closed 2% higher on Thursday, and have gained 28% year to date.The company's stock has pulled back 8% from its year-to-date high in April, creating an attractive entry point for investors ahead of second-quarter results, Rezvan said."As physical inventories dwindle and Israel continues attacks in Lebanon, we see upside risks to oil," he said.Price: $40.31, Change: $+1.14, Percent Change: +2.91%

$MUR