Investor Optimism Over Reopening Lifts Markets Ahead of Jobs Report

A broad rally in markets showed investor optimism was building even as the latest unemployment data from the U.S. was expected to show that serious pain for workers continued last month. 


 
Unemployment Expected to Hit New Postwar High

The U.S. jobless rate likely soared in May, though there are signs the labor market is slowly mending from the coronavirus pandemic and related shutdowns. 


 
Stocks Are Rallying Despite Nationwide Protests. That's Typical.

U.S. stocks have been on a tear, with investors seemingly looking past everything from rising tensions with China to the toll of a pandemic that has brought the global economy to a standstill. 


 
The Bulls Have Taken Back the Stock Market

The S&P 500 is up nearly 40% in just the past 50 trading days, the largest such rally since 1957. 


 
German Industry Orders Plummet

German manufacturing orders fell almost 26% in April, suffering their largest drop on record due to the coronavirus. 


 
UK Consumer Confidence Lowest in Over a Decade

Consumer confidence in the U.K. fell to its lowest level in more than a decade at the end of May, even as the country's coronavirus lockdown began to ease. 


 
U.S. Business Bankruptcies Rose 48% in May

Corporate bankruptcies spiked during May as the coronavirus pandemic slammed the U.S. economy, pushing the number of filings to levels recorded in the wake of the 2007-09 recession. 


 
Alaska Permanent Fund Braces for Modest Near-Term Write-Downs

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. is bracing for declines in its private-equity portfolio over the next two quarters, but the damage might not be as severe as one would expect. 


 
Oil Prices Finish Higher

Signs of discord over supply cuts among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers weighed on crude prices earlier in the session.