Category: 3. Business

(Bloomberg) — US stock futures drifted as earnings from the nation’s biggest retailers kicked off on Tuesday, putting the focus on the strength of American consumers as markets hover near record highs.

S&P 500 contracts dropped less than 0.1%. Intel Corp. advanced more than 5% in early trading, with the Trump administration in talks to take a stake of about 10%. Home Depot Inc. fluctuated as consumers avoided big-ticket purchases last quarter. With Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. also set to report this week, traders will parse the results for clues on consumer sentiment and tariff effects.

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Europe’s Stoxx 600 rose 0.5% as signs of progress toward a peace settlement in Ukraine lifted sentiment. A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. basket of European defense stocks dropped as much as 5.7%, with the move amplified by Hamas’s agreement to a truce proposal in Gaza. The euro rose 0.2%.

Treasuries eked out gains after S&P Global Ratings affirmed its AA+ long-term rating for the US, with the 10-year rate falling less than one basis point to 4.33%. The dollar was little changed.

Traders will turn their gaze later this week on the Federal Reserve, with Chair Jerome Powell set to unveil a new policy framework at the Jackson Hole gathering on the central bank’s inflation and employment goals.

Money markets are currently betting the Fed will deliver its first rate cut for the year in September, as labor-market weakness outweighs inflation risks, with another move expected before year-end.

“With much of it priced in already, equities may need a new catalyst,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. “August through October is seasonally soft, and rising long-term bond yields could tempt investors to pocket recent gains.”

Oil slipped as traders weighed the outlook for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and a potential future supply increase of Russian crude. Brent fell below $66 a barrel, remaining within the narrow band seen for the last two weeks.

“Even if the US were to ease restrictions, Moscow would remain heavily reliant on buyers like India and China to absorb the majority of its crude exports,” cautioned Ole Hvalbye, an analyst at SEB AB. “Any unwind would likely be gradual and uneven.”

What Bloomberg Strategists Say…

“We have moved closer to a Ukraine peace deal in the past 24 hours — but only marginally so. And almost certainly not enough to offer any lasting support to European stocks which are running into technical resistance that capped gains earlier this year.”

—Conor Cooper, Macro Strategist. Click here for the full analysis.

Corporate News:

Anglo American Plc suffered a major setback to its restructuring plans after Peabody Energy Corp. decided to walk away from a $3.8 billion deal to buy its steelmaking coal business following a fire at an Australian mine. A key Home Depot Inc. sales metric disappointed in the latest quarter, a sign that consumers are staying away from big purchases as interest rates remain high and inflation uncertainties linger. SoftBank Group Corp. agreed to buy $2 billion of Intel Corp. stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. BHP Group’s full-year underlying profit fell by more than a quarter to its lowest level since the pandemic, broadly in line with market expectations, as prices of its key earners — iron ore and coking coal — came under pressure from softer Chinese demand. Nvidia Corp. is developing an AI chip specifically for China which will be more powerful than the H20 model, Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Shein Group Ltd. has considered moving its base back to China in the hopes that it would help sway Beijing authorities to sign off on the fast-fashion retailer’s plans to go public in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple Inc. is expanding iPhone production in India at five factories, including a pair of recently opened plants, as it seeks to lessen its reliance on China for US-bound models. An increasing number of Mediobanca SpA shareholders are taking up Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA’s hostile takeover offer, providing a tailwind ahead of the bid’s end on Sept. 8. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% as of 7:40 a.m. New York time Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were unchanged The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5% The MSCI World Index was little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1683 The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3519 The Japanese yen was little changed at 147.77 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.8% to $115,546.69 Ether fell 0.7% to $4,302.02 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.33% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.76% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.74% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.3% to $62.62 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.2% to $3,340.78 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Volatility in benchmark Indian bonds jumped to a three-year high, as a plan to cut consumption taxes stoked concerns that the government may sell more debt to make up for any revenue shortfall.

A Bloomberg gauge of swings in India’s 10-year bonds reached the highest since October 2022 on Tuesday, after recent ructions in the nation’s debt. Benchmark bonds suffered the biggest selloff in almost two years this week, reversing a rally Thursday that was triggered by a rare sovereign rating upgrade.

Flight crew at Air Canada have ended a dispute with the airline which had grounded flights and stranded thousands of passengers since Saturday.

A tentative agreement was announced by the union representing flight attendants and confirmed by the airline, which said flights will resume later on Tuesday.

More than 10,000 staff had walked out in protest at pay and scheduling. The deal approved by the union has not been disclosed – it will now be presented to members to be ratified.

The breakthrough came nine hours after talks began with the help of an approved mediator appointed by the government.

The dispute had escalated when the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) rejected an order to return to work issued by the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.

After Tuesday morning’s news, the airline said the first flights would restart on Tuesday evening but it may take days to return to a full service because aircraft and crew are out of position.

It added that it would not comment on the terms of the agreed deal until it had been ratified.

In contract negotiations, Air Canada said it had offered flight attendants a 38% increase in total compensation over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year.

CUPE said the offer was “below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage” and would still leave flight attendants unpaid for some hours of work, including boarding and waiting at airports ahead of flights.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over the performance of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the benchmark KSE-100 Index surged past the historic 150,000-point milestone.

In a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, Shehbaz Sharif said the bullish trend in the stock market was a strong reflection of investor confidence in the government’s economic policies.

By the grace of Allah, economic improvement has restored the confidence of investors and the business community, the prime minister said adding that the country was on the path to progress. However, he stressed that more hard work was required.

He said the economic team worked tirelessly day and night to steer the economy out of difficulties.

The investors and business community continued economic activities in Pakistan even during tough times, which is commendable, PM Shehbaz added.

He hoped that with the growth of business and increase in investment in the country, more employment opportunities would also be created.

Snapchat has launched “Buddy Passes” for members to boost the Snapchat+ subscription. This feature will allow subscribers to gift a free one-week trial of Snapchat+ to their friends.

It’s a great strategic move by Snapchat to ramp up its membership by allowing potential members to glimpse what the subscription plan offers without any cost.

The platform explained to the users, “If you’re a Snapchat+ subscriber, you can give your friends free access to Snapchat+ using a buddy pass. On the first day of each month (on an annual plan or the first day of each billing cycle (on a monthly plan), you’ll get three Buddy Passes to give to friends that will allow them to use Snapchat+ for free for 7 days.”

Currently, the app has over 15 million Snapchat+ members, and the new feature Buddy Passes could bring 45 million new users to try out premium features, with a possibility that they will convert to paying subscribers.

Of course, not everyone is going to use all passes; therefore, it’s a good promotion as an option for Snapchat users.

The social media platform is good at outperforming the competitors who are offering similar packages, such as Meta Verified and X Premium.

The service is particularly appealing to a younger audience, offering them add-on enhancements, exclusive features, and early access to experimental tools.

Subscribers can send Buddy passes from the Snapchat+ management pages within the app. Follow the process given by the app:

1. “Go to your Snapchat+ management page
2. Tap ‘Send Buddy Passes’
3. Select three friends who aren’t already Snapchat+ subscribers
4. Send them your Buddy Passes!”

Remember! Once a Buddy is sent, it would be impossible to take it back. The Snapchat support team does not help in this regard.

Is Snapchat bigger than Instagram?

No, Instagram has a significantly bigger number of users than Snapchat.