Bonds & Stocks
Treasuries fell after data showed jobless claims hit the lowest since April, underscoring labor-market strength that’s keeping the Federal Reserve on hold. Stocks hovered near record highs amid a deluge of corporate earnings. Benchmark 10-year yields climbed five basis points to 4.43%.
Economy
US President Donald Trump suggested that he would not go below 15% as he sets so-called reciprocal tariff rates ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline, an indication that the floor for the increased levies was rising. “We’ll have a straight, simple tariff of anywhere between 15% and 50%,” Trump said Wednesday at an AI summit in Washington. “A couple of — we have 50 because we haven’t been getting along with those countries too well.”
World
Britain’s private sector lost momentum in July as the fallout from the Labour government’s first budget and a febrile global backdrop prompted firms to cut jobs and new orders, according to a closely watched survey. S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index slipped to 51 in July from the nine-month high of 52 the previous month. It was slightly worse than the 51.8 reading expected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.