Bonds & Stocks
Wall Street staged a comeback as dip buyers emerged, lifting stocks as chipmakers rebounded while data signaled the economy remains in good shape, but isn’t overheating. Following a drawdown in one of Wall Street’s most-crowded trades, semiconductor giants rallied in early trading. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 1.5%.
Economy
The US economy grew at a weaker-than-expected pace in the second quarter despite a pickup in consumer spending and solid business investment. Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product increased an annualized 1.5% in the period, according to an advance estimate issued Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
World
Investors cheered by early signs of an improving UK equity market will be looking to the Bank of England for evidence that recent gains have scope to build momentum. While it’s been a year of significant underperformance by UK benchmarks, the past month has been more positive. Both the blue-chip FTSE 100 and the mid-cap FTSE 250 are up by around 4%, beating major regional benchmarks in Europe, the US and Japan.