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U.S. financial markets will be closed on Thursday in observance of Independence Day.
Stock and bond trading will end early Wednesday afternoon ahead of the July 4 holiday.
Markets will operate on normal hours this Friday. The June jobs report will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Analysts' median forecast expects that 200,000 non-farm payroll jobs were added last month, with unemployment remaining from May levels at 4%.
After this week, there's only one more summer trading holiday: Labor Day, on Monday, Sept. 2.
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Gold Shines So Far In 2024 As Central Banks Invest Heavily
Gold Has Been One Of The Best-perfo...
Investopedia
6 hrs
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Gold has been one of the best-performing global assets of 2024, with central banks driving significant demand.
Central banks, led by those in China, Turkey, and India, added more than 1,000 metric tons of gold in both 2022 and 2023, according to World Gold Council's 2024 Central Bank Gold Reserves report published in June, and they haven’t slowed down so far this year.
Global official gold reserves increased by 290 metric tons in the first quarter of this year, the largest first-quarter increase since at least 2000 and 69% higher than the five-year quarterly average, according to the World Gold Council.
In May, central banks reported buying 10 metric tons of gold, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other sources. What’s more, the 2024 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey, conducted between February and April, found that 29% of central bank respondents planned to increase their gold reserves over the next 12 months.
This plan is driven by “a desire to rebalance to a more preferred strategic level of gold holdings, domestic gold production, and financial market concerns including higher crisis risks and rising inflation,” according to the council.
Beyond central banks, North American professional investors also have upped their gold holdings and reaped rewards from higher prices. A survey of 525 such investors, in a separate World Gold Council report from late June, found that 85% reported an allocation to some type of gold investment in 2023, compared with 69% in 2018 and 76% in 2019. The report didn't include data for 2020 to 2022.
These professional investors "view gold as an excellent portfolio diversifier and inflation hedge, and agree that it reduces portfolio risk,” the council said.
The spot price of gold has increased 12.7% year-to-date in 2024, ranking it among the top-performing assets. As of Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET, the price of gold was roughly $2,324, about 5% below its all-time high set in May.
The World Gold Council said in its midyear report released Tuesday that it believes that the current price “broadly reflects consensus expectations for the second half of the year,” but noted a case for the metal to outperform.
“The global economy, as well as gold, seem to be waiting for a catalyst,” the council said. “For gold, we believe the catalyst could come from falling rates in developed markets, that attract Western investment flows, as well as continued support from global investors looking to hedge bubbling risks amid a complacent equity market and persistent geopolitical tensions.”
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Instablog9ja
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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has declared a state of emergency regarding crude oil production in Nigeria.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, made this known on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, at the inaugural event of the 23rd edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG Energy Week).
He said the company is in possession of the right tools to combat the factors working against oil production in Nigeria and would work with all partners and stakeholders in ensuring the battle is won.
He disclosed that a detailed analysis of assets revealed that Nigeria could conveniently produce two million barrels of crude oil per day without deploying new rigs but identified the major impediment to achieving this as the inability of players to act in a timely manner.
“We have decided to stop the debate. We have declared war on the challenges affecting our crude oil production.
War means war. We have the right tools. We know what to fight. We know what we have to do at the level of assets. We have engaged our partners. And we will work together to improve the situation,” he said.
The “war” will help NNPCL and its partners to speedily clear all identified obstacles to effective and efficient production, such as delays in procurement processes, which have become a challenge in the industry,” Kyari said.
Investopedia
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The Biden administration announced $504 million in funding awards for 12 regional technology hubs on Tuesday, a move the administration said it expects to drive economic growth in underinvested parts of the U.S.
The funding, authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, will benefit industries including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, clean energy, and quantum computing. The 12 winners were selected from 31 tech hubs, designated last year, which each were invited to apply for up to $75 million in funding.
The awards include roughly $40 million for semiconductor manufacturing in New York, $19 million for infrastructure related to the climate crisis in Florida and $41 million for quantum information technology in Colorado and New Mexico.
Some of the funding is headed to states seen as vital to the outcome of this year's presidential election.
The University of Nevada-Reno will receive $21 million to build a sustainable lithium lifecycle cluster, and BioForward Wisconsin is getting $49 million to develop medical treatments personalized to individual patients’ genetic makeup. Biden won both states in the 2020 election.
Ohio, which former President Donald Trump carried in 2020, will be given $51 million to manufacture sustainable polymers, with the goal of combating the environmental impact of rubber and plastics made from fossil fuels.
The funding announced Tuesday is a fraction of the $10 billion in total technology hub funding authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act. However, only $541 million has been appropriated by lawmakers since its passage.
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Instablog9ja
8 hrs
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BBN’s Tuoyo has given his 2 Kobo on the online fracas between actress Iyabo Ojo and VeryDarkMan
He said this generation lacks so much respect. VeryDarkMan started off well but now lacks vision. He can call out his elders in a polite manner instead of being rud£. Even Bible stated that we should give respect to people older than us.
Click to watch
Investopedia
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Tesla (TSLA) shares are coming off some of their strong Monday gains as the electric vehicle (EV) maker prepares to disclose its highly anticipated second-quarter deliveries numbers; Paramount Global (PARA) shares are rising as billionaire Barry Diller's IAC is reportedly exploring a bid to take control of the entertainment giant; Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak at the ECB Forum on Central Banking; Salesforce (CRM) investors voted against the cloud software firm’s compensation plans for Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Marc Benioff and other executives as shareholder advisory groups decried the high pay levels; and shares of cruise operators Royal Caribbean (RCL), Carnival (CCL), and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) are all extending losses as Beryl becomes the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. U.S. stock futures are falling after the Nasdaq Composite climbed to a record high Monday. Here's what investors need to know today.
Tesla (TSLA) shares are falling almost 2% in premarket trading, giving back some of the gains Monday that took them to their highest level since January. The legacy EV maker is due to report its highly anticipated second-quarter deliveries report today. Visible Alpha's current consensus is for just under 439,000 deliveries after the company reported nearly 387,000 for the first quarter. China EV manufacturers Nio (NIO), Li Auto (LI), and XPeng (XPEV) all posted solid monthly and quarterly delivery gains Monday, with Nio announcing an all-time monthly high for vehicle deliveries in June.
Paramount Global (PARA) shares are rising 3% in premarket trading following a report by that billionaire Barry Diller is exploring a bid to take control of the entertainment giant. In the latest twist in the battle for the owner of CBS and Nickelodeon, the report said that Diller’s digital-media conglomerate, IAC, signed nondisclosure agreements with National Amusements, Paramount’s controlling shareholder. (IAC is the owner of parent Dotdash Meredith.) The nondisclosure agreements were signed sometime after Paramount’s deal with Skydance Media fell apart last month, when National Amusements owner Shari Redstone reportedly called off the monthslong merger talks, the said.
Investors will be looking to two events that may give clues on the Federal Reserve’s plans to cut interest rates. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is speaking at a European Central Bank (ECB) event in Portugal. The central bank has projected one rate cut this year. Also potentially helping determine the Fed’s rate trajectory is the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data due at 10 a.m. ET. The JOLTS data is expected to show that job openings in May dropped to 7.9 million from 8.1 million in April, according to a survey of economists by and .
Salesforce (CRM) investors voted against the cloud software firm’s compensation plans for its top executives, including CEO Marc Benioff, after shareholder advisory groups had complained of how high Benioff’s equity awards were. Benioff earned $39.65 million in total compensation for fiscal 2024, a more than 32% year-over-year jump. The board had urged shareholders to vote in favor of the compensation plan but shareholder advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services reportedly had both recommended that investors vote down the measure. Salesforce shares are down almost 1% in premarket trading.
Shares of cruise operators continue to fall in premarket trading after Beryl was upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane, the earliest such hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. Beryl has forced ships to reroute, heralding a dangerous hurricane season this year. Shares of Royal Caribbean (RCL), Carnival (CCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) are all lower after posting substantial declines Monday.
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