June jobs report, UK election results: Morning Brief
On today's episode of Morning Brief, Brian Sozzi and Brad Smith break down the market open and some of the biggest stories from the trading day, from June's jobs report to the results of the UK general election. US equity markets (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC) opened Friday's session largely flat, coming off the July 4th holiday and June's jobs data. Nonfarm payrolls rose above expectations for the month of June as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 206,000 new jobs added compared to economist estimates of 190,000. The US unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%, while many experts were originally forecasting it to hold at 4.0%. A meriprise Financial Vice President of Equity Research Justin Burgin characterizes the data positively, highlighting the job additions and the unemployment numbers and noting that "it beats what we got last month." Acting US Secretary of Labor Julie Su joins The Morning Brief to discuss the employment growth seen under the Biden administration, saying, "If you recall, on this day in 2020, under the last administration, the unemployment rate was nearly 12%, and there was no national strategy to address the economy or the global pandemic." Secretary Su adds, "President Biden came in with a national strategy, we've been implementing it, and of course there's more work to do." Collapsed bitcoin (BTC-USD) exchange Mt. Gox is reportedly beginning to pay back the nearly $9 billion in bitcoin it owes to customers from its 2014 bankruptcy. With the influx of the cryptocurrency into crypto markets, investors are concerned that customers might sell off the coins quickly. Token Bay Capital Founder and Managing Partner Lucy Gazmararian notes that the Mt. Gox repayment event has been "tracked quite thoroughly in Bitcoin circles" and was largely "anticipated." She suggests that "any selling [in bitcoin] is likely to be staggered" rather than occurring all at once. Moreover, she questions whether significant selling will materialize at all, stating, "people are likely to hold bitcoin for the longer term." Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to a landslide victory in Britain's July 4th election. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Akiko Fujita analyzes the British pound's reaction to these headlines and Goldman Sachs' current outlook on Britain's economic growth as Starmer shifts into his new leadership role as UK prime minister. Over in the US, President Joe Biden is under pressure from key Democratic donors — like Disney (DIS) heiress Abigail Disney — who are withholding their money until he steps aside as the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential election. On the tech front, Nvidia (NVDA) shares dipped in pre-market trading after New Street Research downgraded the chipmaker's stock to a Neutral rating. On the other hand, shares of Samsung (005930.KS) have jumped to their highest level since January 2021 after the company posted its fastest pace of sales and profit growth in several years. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
