Global Markets

Canada

Canada’s main stock index rose on Monday.  The TSX Composite Index climb, was supported by gains in financial and industrial sectors, as oil dropped significantly and gold traded flat.

USA

American stocks bounced back from last Friday’s significant sell-off, caused by Crowdstrike’s outage.  Optimism was fueled by a more positive sentiment with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite all posted gains. This recovery was largely attributed to investors regaining confidence and a positive outlook on the economic data expected later in the week.

European Markets

European shares also made a strong comeback, rebounding from significant losses in the previous session. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose, led by gains in tech and banking stocks. Investor sentiment improved as fears over economic slowdowns eased and corporate earnings reports began to trickle in, showing resilience in various sectors.

Japan

Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended at a three-week low, marking its fourth consecutive session of declines. The index was dragged down primarily by chip-related stocks, which tumbled after their Wall Street counterparts closed sharply lower in the previous session. Companies like Tokyo Electron and Advantest saw significant losses, reflecting the broader tech sector’s volatility.

Currency and Commodity Markets

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar eased slightly against a basket of currencies, providing some relief to emerging markets and commodities priced in the greenback. The dollar’s slight decline was influenced by investor expectations of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decisions and mixed economic data.

Oil prices lost ground as concerns over global demand outweighed supply constraints. Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) both saw declines, reflecting the cautious sentiment in the energy markets. Traders remain wary of the potential impacts of economic slowdowns in major markets and the ongoing geopolitical tensions that could affect supply routes.

Corporate Stock News

• Air Canada Lowers Profit Forecast: Air Canada revised its full-year core profit forecast downward due to over-capacity in certain markets and competition on international routes.
• Airbus Expands in Defence and Space: Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury announced the company is exploring growth opportunities in defence, space, and particularly satellite markets.
• Bank of Canada Expected Rate Cut: The Bank of Canada is likely to cut its key overnight rate on Wednesday for the second time in two months due to easing inflation, restrained spending, and a bleak economic outlook.
• Berkshire Hathaway Sells Bank of America Shares: Berkshire Hathaway sold approximately 33.9 million shares of Bank of America for around $1.48 billion.
• Boeing Increases Jetliner Forecast: Boeing raised its 20-year forecast for new jetliner deliveries by 3% to 43,975 due to strong passenger demand and airline competition.
• Clearwater Paper Sells Tissue Business: Clearwater Paper Corp agreed to sell its tissue business to Sofidel America for $1.06 billion, expecting net proceeds of about $850 million.
• CrowdStrike and Microsoft Outage: A global tech outage due to a software update by CrowdStrike affected nearly 8.5 million Microsoft devices. Most of the impacted devices are now back online.
• Delta Air Lines Struggles Post-Outage: Delta Air Lines faced significant operational disruptions after a global cyber outage, canceling 1,250 flights beyond the 3,500 already scrapped.
• Disney Board Member Departs: Oracle CEO Safra Catz is leaving Disney’s board after six years. Additionally, India’s antitrust body is scrutinizing Disney’s $8.5 billion merger with Reliance Industries.
• Eve Holding Showcases Flying Taxi Prototype: Eve Holding unveiled the full-scale prototype of its “flying taxi,” aiming for certification and service entry by 2026.
• ExxonMobil Transfers Malaysian Operations: ExxonMobil will transfer operations of its Malaysian assets to Petronas but will retain its working interest in the production-sharing contracts.
• FTC Investigates Oil Firms: The FTC is investigating executives from Hess Corp, Occidental Petroleum, and Diamondback Energy over their communications with OPEC officials for potential collusion.
• Goodyear Sells Off-the-Road Tire Business: Goodyear will sell its Off-the-Road equipment tire business to Japan’s Yokohama Rubber for $905 million in cash, expecting the deal to close by early 2025.
• JPMorgan ATM Outage: JPMorgan Chase is working to restore service to ATMs affected by a global digital outage, though most ATMs are operating normally.
• Kroger Implements Ocado Technology: Kroger has ordered new automated technologies from Ocado for its warehouses, enhancing its automated customer fulfillment centers.
• Ryanair’s Profit Slump: Ryanair reported a nearly 50% drop in profit for the April-June quarter, missing analysts’ expectations, as fares dropped 15%.
• Tesla’s Humanoid Robots: Tesla plans to have humanoid robots in low production for internal use by next year, with high production for other companies anticipated by 2026.
• Verizon’s Subscriber Growth: Verizon added 148,000 net monthly bill-paying wireless phone subscribers in Q2, beating analysts’ estimates and recovering from a loss of 68,000 subscribers in the prior quarter.
• Vista Outdoor Sells Ammunition Business: Vista Outdoor announced that Czechoslovak Group raised the purchase price for its ammunition business, Kinetic Group, to $2.15 billion.
• Varta and Porsche Discuss Stake Acquisition: German battery maker Varta is considering two restructuring scenarios, potentially leading to luxury sportscar maker Porsche acquiring a stake.
• Wipro Shares Drop: Wipro shares fell sharply after reporting poor growth compared to rivals, leading to multiple analysts cutting their ratings and target prices.
• Woodside Energy Acquires Tellurian: Australia’s Woodside Energy agreed to buy U.S. LNG developer Tellurian, including its Driftwood LNG export project, for $1.2 billion.