I'll gather today's top business and market headlines for you.
Today's Top Business / Market Headlines - Friday, September 12:
Based on latest available market reporting for September 12:
U.S. Markets - Mixed Close With Nasdaq Record:
•U.S. stock futures were taking a breather early Friday after all three indexes closed at fresh record highs. Futures for the S&P 500 down less than 0.1% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 0.1% after the index ended Thursday above 46000 for the first time. Nasdaq stock futures were up a touch.
•The U.S. equities market are now closed. The Nasdaq (+0.44%) set its fifth consecutive record and was the best-performing index today, closing at 22,141.10. The S&P 500 (-0.05%), Dow (-0.59%), and Russell 2000 (-0.90%) declined.
•Stocks ended mixed Friday, with the Dow industrials falling and the Nasdaq composite ending with another record high. All three major U.S. indexes ended the week with gains.
Fed In Focus:
•The Federal Reserve is widely expected to resume cutting interest rates on Wednesday by a quarter percentage point. Labor-market readings continue to indicate weakness and that means the Federal Reserve is all but nailed-on to cut rates next Wednesday.
Economy - Consumer Sentiment Miss:
•Consumer sentiment hits four-month low in September as lower- and middle-income Americans worry about jobs. Consumers were worried about rising risks to business conditions and labor markets, as well as increasing inflation.
•University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment for September will indicate how well sentiment is holding up. In the preliminary results from September, the index landed at 55.4 (vs. 58.2 last month).
Global Markets & Commodities:
•Asian shares closed mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei registering another record gain to close 0.9% higher.
•European indexes were up modestly in early trade, between 0.1% and 0.3%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.3%, hitting a fresh record high.
•Bitcoin was up again, rising 0.8% to $115,320 after reaching a nearly three-week high of $116,314 overnight.
•U.S. Treasury yields rose late in Asian trade; the 10-year yield was up 2.3 basis points at 4.033%.
•Oil prices fell, extending the previous session's losses as concerns over a looming oversupply and softening U.S demand overshadow geopolitical risks. Brent crude slipped 0.6% to $65.95 a barrel, while WTI was down 0.7% to $61.95 a barrel.
Corporate / Deal Headlines:
•IPOs pop: Gemini Space Station GEMI (+23%) [was +45%], Black Rock Coffee Bar BRCB(+38.1%), Legence LGN(+2.9%) and Via Transportation (+0.84%) all trading with big first-day pops.
•Movers: Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) (+18.5%) is back atop the index today, joined by prospective buyer Paramount Skydance (PSKY) (+3.78%). Moderna (MRNA) (-6.9%) among top losers as Trump Administration plans to link 25 childhood deaths to Covid vaccines, pushing down shares of Moderna (-5%), BioNTech (-12%), and Pfizer (-3%).
•Energy M&A: ConocoPhillips is exploring a sale of some of its Permian Basin assets as part of a broader streamlining of its portfolio, Bloomberg News reported on Friday - deal worth $2 Billion.
Other Top Dow Jones Headlines circulating:
•U.S. Jobless Claims Fall / Unchanged - among top market headlines at 9 AM ET
•Texas Stock Exchange Is Close to Winning Its First Major Listing From New York
•Beijing to Inject Billions Into Banks, Insurers to Boost Growth
•Unilever to Combine Foods Business With McCormick