US stocks rebound

If you're looking for work, you have plenty of options.

The United States had 9.2 million job openings in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' job openings and labor turnover survey, showing that America's pandemic-era worker shortage stuck around through the late spring. A total of 5.9 million workers were hired in May, leaving a big gap between labor demand and supply.

The May data was little changed from April, which was revised down to 9.2 million available jobs from the 9.3 million reported initially.

Job openings in services and education rose, but the number of jobs available in entertainment and recreation actually fell by 80,000.

Meanwhile, the number of separations — including workers voluntary quitting as well as those laid off — fell by nearly half a million in May.

Shares of Amazon (AMZN) spiked Wednesday to a new all-time high as investors continued to celebrate good news for the company from Washington.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that a controversial $10 billion cloud computing contract that was surprisingly awarded to Microsoft (MSFT) during the Trump administration was being scrapped and that bidding for a new Defense Department deal would begin.

Amazon, which owns leading cloud company Amazon Web Services (AWS), was once considered a frontrunner for the DoD deal. But Trump's well-publicized dislike for Jeff Bezos due to the critical coverage of the White House by the Bezos-owned Washington Post was believed to be a reason Amazon did not win the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract. 

Bezos is no longer Amazon CEO, having handed over the reins to AWS chief Andy Jassy earlier this week. So the Amazon stock spike and potential for new revenue from a Pentagon cloud deal is a good start to Jassy's tenure. Amazon is now worth nearly $1.9 trillion.

But don't shed any tears for Microsoft. Its stock rose too Wednesday and the company's market value is now $2.1 trillion, trailing only Apple (AAPL), which has a market cap of $2.4 trillion.

So much for investors being nervous about the economy overheating and leading to runaway inflation? The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond slid to about 1.31% Wednesday morning. That's the lowest level since February and is well below the 52-week peak of about 1.77% in March as inflation fears ran rampant.

The jobs figures for June that were released Friday have certainly helped soothe the market's nerves about inflation. Wage growth slowed from prior months, which could be a sign that businesses don't feel as much pressure to offer bigger salaries to attract workers on the sidelines back in the labor force.

To be sure, there are still concerns about the rising prices of many consumer goods, which is in part due to higher demand but appears to be more about well-publicized global supply shortages from things ranging from semiconductors to chicken wings.

But worries about supermarket sticker shock may be waning...at least for investors. The bond market now seems willing to believe that Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell may be right after all with his constant refrains about inflation pressures being just "transitory."

US stocks were mixed at Wednesday’s market open.

While the Dow kicked off flat but in the red, the S&P 500 recovered from its setback in the prior session and opened 0.2% higher. Tuesday’s losses snapped a seven-day record streak for the S&P.

The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, opened 0.6% higher, putting it on track for another all-time high following Tuesday’s record.

Investors are watching the May JOLTS report due at 10 am ET as another data point about how the labor market recovery came along in the early summer.

The biggest data release of the day is JOLTS, showing how many open jobs America had in May. And it looks like we're ripe for another record as the worker shortage continues to weigh on US employers.

Economists polled by Refinitiv predict 9.4 million positions were waiting to be filled in May, more than the whopping 9.3 million from April, which marked a record high in the data series that started in 2000.

While the job openings data lags a lot of other measures of the labor market, such as the monthly jobs report, economists have been paying close attention to it because it's telling us how the jobs recovery is going. Businesses are keen to reopen to pre-pandemic capacities but various factors, including child care, are keeping workers at home, leading to a mismatch of labor supply and demand.

The May JOTLS data is released at 10 am ET.

Greek yogurt maker Chobani has confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering.

In a short release, the company didn't disclose the number of shares of stock that will be sold, the price range or what exchange it will trade on. It expects to begin trading following the regulatory approval process.

Chobani is mostly known for its yogurt, but has expanded beyond that recently including coffee.

Authentic Brands Group, the parent company of several well-known consumer brands including Aeropostale, Barney's New York, Forever 21 and even Sports Illustrated, has filed to go public.

Its revenue grew nearly 2% compared to the year prior to $489 million in 2020, which the company said in a regulatory filing that its business model has "been resilient throughout the Covid-19 pandemic."

Other financial details, including the number of shares its planning to sell, weren't revealed. However, it plans to trade under the symbol "AUTH" on the New York Stock Exchange.

Authentic Brands Group was founded by CEO Jamie Salter in 2010. 

US stock futures were slightly lower after pointing higher after a rough start to the week Tuesday. Tech stocks continued to lead the way, with the Nasdaq pointing to a fourth-straight session of gains – and inching toward a record high.

Stocks gained as bond yields continued to fall and investors remained optimistic that the Federal Reserve’s minutes, due to be released at 2 pm ET, wouldn’t be quite as hawkish as some had feared. 

The S&P 500's streak of record closes ended at seven on Tuesday as US markets finished mostly lower.

Here's where things stand as of 6:00 am ET:

Didi shares plunged almost 20% Tuesday in New York as fallout continued over news of the company's troubles in China.

The company's stock, which made its US debut only last week, closed down 19.6% on Tuesday at $12.49, well below its closing price of $15.53 on Friday.

Tuesday was the first trading day in the United States since Chinese regulators banned Didi's ride-hailing platform from app stores in the country over the weekend. US markets were closed on Monday for the 4th of July holiday.

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