North American Morning Briefing : Stock Futures Slide on Revived Tariff Threat

OPENING CALL

Stock futures fell after Trump revived the threat of unilateral tariffs.

Late Wednesday, the president noted progress in trade negotiations, but hinted that deals for all of its 150-plus trading partners wouldn't be possible.

"We're going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks, to countries telling them what the deal is, like I did with EU," he said.

Wholesale inflaton data will also be watched Thursday, alongside the Treasury's 30-year bond auction .

Earnings reports are expected from Adobe and RH.

Stocks to Watch

Boeing fell 6% after an Air India plane crash.

GameStop fell 12% after announcing a $1.75 billion convertible note.

Oklo dropped 5.9% after announcing a $400 million stock offering, following a big gain the day before.

Oracle jumped 7.5% after beating earnings and revenue estimates, with strong cloud infrastructure growth.

Oxford Industries slid 13% after cutting its full-year outlook due to $40 million in added tariff costs.

Palantir dipped 0.6% after a recent rally that pushed the stock to a record high.

Voyager Technologies rose 6.8% following a strong trading debut that saw the stock surge 82% on its first day.

Watch For:

Weekly Jobless Claims; PPI for May; World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE)

Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:

- Why Warner Boss Zaslav Is Having to Split Up the Media Empire He Built

- A Walmart Heiress Breaks Ranks and Joins the Anti-Trump Movement

- Supply Chains Become New Battleground in the Global Trade War

MARKET WRAPS

Forex:

The dollar fell to seven-week lows against a basket of currencies and against the euro, extending the previous day's drop after the lower-than-forecast U.S. inflation data.

The figures increase prospects of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates.

Meanwhile, the dollar wasn't benefiting from U.S.-China trade talks or from strong demand at Wednesday's 10-year Treasury auction, ING said.

MUFG said the selloff would likely intensify if the DXY dollar index were to break below the April 21 low of 97.921.

NP Bank added that the tariff debate was weighing heavily on the currency, with investors favoring European markets instead, which is helping the euro.

The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc strengthened against the dollar amid rising geopolitical tensions.

Bonds:

Treasury yields fell.

The downside surprise in U.S. CPI data gave only a small boost, probably because tariff-driven price hikes still look imminent, Capital Economics said.

"We don't expect much upwards pressure on Treasury yields even as the inflationary impact of tariffs eventually feeds into U.S. consumer prices."

The air was getting thinner for long-term eurozone government bond yields to fall as the ECB nears the end of its interest-rate cutting cycle, SALytic Invest said.

"Our interest rate strategy therefore remains defensively oriented towards long maturities."

Commerzbank added that the performance in Bunds may lose steam.

This is due to a lack of catalysts and investor anxiety about the Treasury's 30-year bond auction later Thursday.

Yields on U.K. government bonds slipped after data showed the U.K. economy contracted in April.

Energy:

Oil prices slid after jumping more than 4% in the previous trading session as investors monitor tensions in the Middle East and the latest U.S. trade policy developments.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude-oil inventories fell more than expected last week, though gasoline and distillate fuel stocks climbed.

The crude oil market is set to be in surplus by 4Q, which may extend into 2026, Morgan Stanley said.

Metals:

Gold futures rose on safe-haven demand.

The precious metal has gained after Trump's negative commentary on negotiations with Iran over a nuclear agreement, Pepperstone said.

Dollar weakness and tariff-related market uncertainty have also contributed to gold's gains.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

How Amazon's Nuclear Deal Could Solve a Touchy Political Problem

Amazon.com announced a deal Wednesday to buy enough power from a Pennsylvania nuclear plant to sustain a midsize city for years. The agreement with power producer Talen Energy will help Amazon secure electricity for a massive data center campus, part of a $20 billion data center investment in the state. It also could solve a thorny issue that threatened to hinder Amazon's AI data center expansion: Balancing the tech titan's needs with those of homeowners struggling to pay their power bills.

The deal reworks and expands a controversial 2023 agreement.

ICE Raids Have Sent Latino Shoppers Into Hiding and Big Brands Are Hurting

Coca-Cola has long looked to Hispanic consumers for sales growth-a group the company has said holds an annual $2.1 trillion in spending power.

Now Coke and other brands are discovering what it means to lose them.

Airbus Expects 3.6% Annual Air Traffic Growth to Fuel Demand for New Planes

Airbus said it expects passenger traffic to grow 3.6% annually over the long term, led by growth in domestic India flights and across Asia.

The plane manufacturer said that the growth in air travel will require 43,400 new passenger and freighter aircraft deliveries over the next 20 years. Around 34,250 will be single aisle and 9,170 will be widebodies, it said.

At Home, Facing Debt and Tariffs, Plans to Close Some Stores in Bankruptcy

At Home Group is preparing to file for bankruptcy within days and plans to close a slice of its store locations to weather trade tensions and mounting debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Texas-based home-goods retailer could file for court protection as early as Sunday, the people said. At Home is planning to close roughly 20 stores initially as part of the bankruptcy case, the people said. The company operates more than 250 stores across 40 states. The timing of the chapter 11 filing could change as final details are ironed out, they said.

Saudi Arabia Is Grabbing Oil-Market Share, but It Can Open the Tap Only So Far

Why is Saudi Arabia pumping more oil into an already-full market?

Riyadh looks fed up with propping up the oil price and losing market share. But launching price wars is becoming more painful.

More Financial Advisers Are Outsourcing Investment Decisions

A growing share of financial advisers are outsourcing their investment management to third parties.

Assets following model portfolios-preset investment templates designed by money managers-rose to a record $7.96 trillion in April, up from $6.44 trillion a year earlier, according to the data firm Broadridge Financial Solutions. More than eight in 10 fee-based advisers in the U.S. are now using models for at least some of their client assets.

China Puts Six-Month Limit on Its Ease of Rare-Earth Export Licenses

China is putting a six-month limit on rare-earth export licenses for U.S. automakers and manufacturers, according to people familiar with the matter, giving Beijing leverage if trade tensions flare up again while adding to uncertainty for American industry.

Beijing's agreement to temporarily restore rare-earth licenses was one of the key breakthroughs in the latest round of intense trade talks in London, but the six-month limit illustrated how each side is retaining the tools to easily escalate tensions again.

Iran Says It Will Scale Up Nuclear Work After U.N. Atomic Agency Vote

Iran said it would open a new uranium enrichment facility and increase its production of highly enriched fissile material after the U.N. atomic agency member states declared Tehran had failed to comply with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, casting a fresh shadow over struggling U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.

Iran's announcement comes ahead of a sixth round of nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran expected on Sunday. President Trump said on Monday he had grown less confident about striking a deal with Tehran.

U.S. Moves to Withdraw Some Middle East Personnel as Iran Tensions Rise

The U.S. is moving to draw down its presence in parts of the Middle East to essential personnel, the State Department and Pentagon said Wednesday, as tensions in the region rise, sending oil prices higher.

The State Department said that it ordered the departure of all nonessential personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and authorized the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait.

Texas Governor to Deploy National Guard as Anti-ICE Protests Spread

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he would deploy the National Guard across parts of the state as protests against ICE raids have gripped Los Angeles and resulted in hundreds of arrests spread across the country.

"Texas is a law and order state, and we will use every tool that we can to ensure order across our state," Abbott said. He declined to comment on where the troops would be stationed in Texas and how many would be deployed.

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Earnings:

Alithya Grp 4Q

Transat A.T. Inc. 2Q

Economic Indicators (ET):

Nothing expected.

Stocks to Watch:

Largo Announces $10 Million Factoring Facility to Accelerate Receivables and Support Working Capital

Nuveen Receives Commitment of Over A$650M From CPP Investments as Strategic Partner for Australian Real Estate Debt Strategy

Xtract One Technologies Inc. Announces C$7M Bought Deal Public Offering; Agrees to Sell 18M Units for C$0.39 Each

Expected Major Events for Thursday

06:00/UK: Apr Index of Production

06:00/UK: Apr UK trade

06:00/UK: Apr Index of services

06:00/UK: Apr Monthly GDP estimates

08:00/ITA: 1Q Labour Cost Index

08:30/GER: ifo Economic Forecast

10:00/FRA: Apr OECD Harmonised Unemployment Rates

11:30/UK: May NIESR Monthly GDP Tracker

12:30/US: May PPI

12:30/US: 06/07 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims

12:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales

(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

06-12-25 0615ET