Stock futures were edging up Thursday as investors awaited further

inflation data for more clues on the Federal Reserve's interest rates path.

July's producer price index is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, as markets are still digesting last month's consumer price index, which was published on Wednesday.

"U.S. consumer prices increased just 0.1% month-on-month in July, suggesting that inflationary pressure from the earlier energy-price shock is moderating, while recent weakness in the labour market has further reduced the case for immediate tightening," MUFG said. Investors now see a 66% chance that officials hold rates steady when they meet next month, according to CME Group.

"The idea of a delayed Fed rate hike is giving a fresh boost to equity markets, along with a strong positive reaction to neocloud providers' strong revenue growth," Swissquote said.

Oil prices fell Thursday as investors assessed a weaker demand outlook and continued to monitor developments in the Middle East, though talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remain stalled.

Stocks to watch

A.P. Moller-Maersk raised its guidance despite the conflict in the Middle East. Shares were up over 7% in Denmark.

Bending Spoons, Birkenstock, YETI: The companies are all set to report earnings today before the market opens. Chip giant Applied Materials will report after the closing bell.

Cisco posted a jump in net income in the July quarter as it continued to receive billions in orders from AI hyperscalers. Shares edged up premarket.

StubHub tumbled over 13% premarket after the company failed to turn a profit in the second quarter due to climbing costs, despite surging revenue from the World Cup.

Watch For:

U.S. PPI for July; U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims

Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:

- The Jobless Boom Has Arrived

- Chinese Censorship Is Leaking Into Answers From American AI

- Inflation Protection Is on Sale

MARKET WRAPS Forex:

The dollar rose to a two-week high against a basket of currencies. Unexciting U.S. inflation data for July left the dollar with little sense of direction ahead of the Fed's Jackson Hole Symposium on August 27-29, ING said.

The euro traded flat. The currency could strengthen modestly against the dollar by year-end as the Fed is likely to refrain from raising interest rates, ING said.

Sterling fell as concerns about the Middle East conflict overshadowed data showing the U.K. economy grew in line with expectations in the second quarter.

Bonds:

Treasury yields fell after Wednesday's U.S. inflation data showed prices eased in July, in line with forecasts, reducing the likelihood of the Fed raising interest rates next month.

Energy:

In early trading, Brent crude was down 1.5%, while WTI futures declined 1.6%.

The IEA estimates a deficit of 1.8 million barrels a day in the third quarter as higher fuel prices weigh on consumption, while OPEC also cut its demand-growth forecast.

Metals:

Gold prices eased in early trading after rising in the previous session, as U.S. inflation data came in line with expectations, reinforcing bets that the Fed will keep rates on hold in September.

The precious metal was likely to continue serving as a potential hedge against currency weakness and the risks associated with persistently high government debt and fiscal deficits, said T. Rowe Price.

Iron ore

Iron ore prices were flat in early trade. End-user consumption is recovering from low levels, but weak steelmaker profitability is limiting the scope for a meaningful improvement in ore demand, Baocheng Futures said.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Maersk Raises Guidance on Higher Earnings, Increased Visibility

Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk raised its full-year guidance on the back of higher earnings and improved visibility for the rest of the year despite the conflict in the Middle East.

Maersk said it now targets underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization for the year of between $10.5 billion and $12.5 billion, ahead of its previous target range of $8 billion to $10 billion.

Vanguard Conquered the ETF World. Where It's Aiming Next.

When Salim Ramji became CEO two years ago, Vanguard Group had long been one of the investing world's biggest players, with $9 trillion of customer assets. Today, Vanguard has jumped to $13 trillion. Its flagship exchange-traded fund, Vanguard S&P 500 (known by its ticker VOO), recently became the first ETF to hit $1 trillion in assets. And in June, it temporarily surpassed BlackRock's iShares as the largest ETF provider in the U.S. Now the two firms are in a dead heat, each with some $4.7 trillion in ETF assets.

Ramji, who joined from BlackRock, is quick to acknowledge that the foundations of Vanguard's success were laid down by his predecessors, especially Jack Bogle, who founded the company in 1975. Bogle was a tireless advocate for low-cost, passive investing in index funds. That strategy triumphed, and so did Vanguard. Ramji's challenge is very different from Bogle's, but no less formidable: Achieve still further growth while keeping costs low and continuing to put investors first.

Adyen Shares Jump as Earnings Rise and Growth Accelerates

Shares in Adyen jumped after the Amsterdam-based payments provider posted a rise in first-half earnings.

In morning trade shares rose 9.3% to 995.2 euros but remain down nearly 28% over the year to date.

Lenovo's Revenue Beats Expectations on Robust AI Demand

Lenovo Group kicked off its fiscal year on a strong note with record-high revenue thanks to robust artificial-intelligence infrastructure demand and its resilient personal-computer business.

The world's largest personal-computer maker is increasingly being viewed as both an AI infrastructure and AI device play as it branches out beyond computers.

Inflation Protection Is on Sale

Investors are getting paid what seems like a lot to buy inflation protection for decades ahead. But longer-term bonds also come with longer-term risks.

Treasury inflation-protected securities, or TIPS, are government-issued bonds that in the simplest terms pay a yield on top of the rate of inflation. In effect, they offer the protection that an investor's money can at least keep up with inflation, plus some extra.

Tariff Refunds Are Here-and Turbocharging Earnings

Tariff refunds have begun rolling in to big U.S. companies-in some cases providing a solid boost to earnings.

Contrary to warnings that the refund process could prove slow and messy, many companies appear to have received the money with remarkable speed. So far, over 40 S&P 500 companies have reported some $9.6 billion in refunds in the past quarter or so, including at least $2.1 billion in cash already received.

U.K. Economy Continues Robust Performance in Second Quarter

The British economy continued its resilient start to the year in the second quarter, growing faster than the U.S. despite the jump in energy prices and heightened uncertainty provoked by the war in the Middle East.

Gross domestic product growth was 0.4% in the three months through June, the U.K.'s statistics agency said Thursday, matching a consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

Trump Says Hormuz Is Under U.S. Control. Few Ships Are Listening.

President Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. has total control of the Strait of Hormuz. The reality on the water tells a different story.

Ship-tracking data shows that just 14 vessels on Tuesday crossed a waterway that routinely handled more than 130 a day before the war. Eleven of those ships took the route administered by Iran. Traffic was slow throughout July, with an average of 26 crossings a day, and in June, with 33 a day, as renewed Iranian attacks on ships cut short a deal to open the strait.

Every Day in Cuba Presents a New Challenge for Its Impoverished Residents

From one end of their 800-mile-long, crocodile-shaped Caribbean island to the other, Cubans are suffering through hot, sleepless nights and trudging through exhaustion and hunger by day.

Never before has the Communist island been so cut off from the world, strangled by a U.S. fuel blockade, more American sanctions and a government unable to keep the lights on. Food, water, medicine and other basics are difficult to access. Mountains of uncollected trash fill the streets of the crumbling capital, Havana.

What We Learned Tracing North Korea's Hidden Workforce Inside American Companies

North Korea has built a secret workforce inside American companies. Using stolen identities, AI tools and U.S. accomplices, its operatives have cheated their way into remote jobs in an effort to earn money for Kim Jong Un's regime. The FBI says there are thousands of them applying for jobs across America.

The Wall Street Journal's documentary, "Infiltrated: North Korea's Secret U.S. Workforce," follows a single cell of these operatives. Drawn from a trove of leaked data-browser history, emails, calendars and screen recordings pulled from the team's own computers-our yearlong investigation offers a rare look at how North Korea's undercover workers get hired.

How Trump's Ruse to Evade an Iranian Threat Unfolded on the Tarmac in Turkey

WASHINGTON-As President Trump's motorcade rushed through Turkey's capital to the airport, his security team had an urgent decision to make.

U.S. and Israeli intelligence in July had uncovered a threat by Iranian proxies to launch a lightweight, shoulder-fired missile at Trump's plane as he departed Ankara, according to U.S. and Middle East officials. In a worst-case scenario, a militant would evade tight security at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, stand about a half-mile away from the airport, and use a man-portable air-defense system, or Manpad, to strike the jet, said officials who have seen or been briefed on the intelligence.

Write to priscila.barrera@wsj.com

TODAY IN CANADA Earnings:

Alithya Grp 1Q Aya Gold&Silv 2Q Brookfield Corp 2Q Calian Grp 3Q CanadianTire Corp 2Q Canadian Tire 2Q Collectv Min 2Q Discovery Min 2Q High Liner Fds 2Q KP Tissue Inc. 2Q Lithium Amer 2Q Telesat Corp. 2Q TerraVest Ind 3Q VertScope Hldg 2Q Wesdome Gold 2Q

Economic Indicators $(ET)$:

Nothing major scheduled. Stocks to Watch:

AbCellera Biologics Announces Pricing of Oversubscribed $200M Public Offering of Common Shares, Pre-Funded Warrants; Prices 17.4M Public Offering Shares at $9.75 Each; Prices Pre-Funded Warrants to Buy Up to 3.1M Shares at $9.74999/Pre-Funded Warrant; Expects Offering to Close Aug. 14; Plans To Use Net Proceeds From Offering to Fund Continued Research, Development and Clinical Advancement of Its Internal Pipeline; Also Plans to Use Proceeds for Working Capital, Other General Corporate Purposes

Big Rock Brewery 2Q Loss/Shr C$0.03; 2Q Loss C$622,000; 2Q Rev C$13.9M; Appoints President, CEO David Kinder to Company's Board of Directors Effective Aug. 12

Bird Construction 2Q Adj EBITDA CAD 73.9M; 2Q EPS CAD 0.55; 2Q Net Income CAD 30.3M; 2Q Adj EPS CAD 0.70; FactSet Est. CAD 0.59; 2Q Construction Revenue CAD 1.04B; 2Q Adj EPS Beats Estimates; Demand Remains Robust Across Bird's Ten Key Strategic Sectors; 2Q Construction Rev of $1.043B

BSR REIT 2Q Adj FFO Per Share $0.15; 2Q Adj FFO $5.9M; 2Q Net Asset Value Per Share $16.56; 2Q FFO Per Share $0.18; 2Q FFO $7.1M; 2Q FFO Per Share Misses Estimates

CAE Inc 1Q Adj EPS C$0.26; 1Q Net C$31M; 1Q Rev C$1.17B; 1Q Revenue CAD 1.17B; FactSet Est. CAD 1.13B; 1Q Operating Income CAD 86.8M; 1Q Adj Operating Income CAD 156.6M; 1Q EPS CAD 0.10; FactSet Est. CAD 0.12 (1 Est.); 1Q Adj EPS Beats Estimates; Fiscal 2027 Outlook Unchanged; On Track for Transformation Targets, Including C$125 M to C$150 M Annual Transformation Run-Rate Savings by FY30; Total Cost of Transformation Plan Is Anticipated to Be C$200 M to C$250 M; Sees Low-single Digit Percentage Growth for Revenue in FY27; Sees FY27 Adj EPS C$1.21-Adj EPS C$1.28

Carbon Streaming 2Q Operating Loss $2.5M; Reports 2Q Operating Loss of $2.5 Million

CCL Industries 2Q Basic EPS C$1.31; 2Q Sales C$2.11B; 2Q Adjusted Basic EPS C$1.35

Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund 2Q Adj EBITDA CAD 127.3M; 2Q Revenue CAD 578.7M; FactSet Est. CAD 537.7M; 2Q Net Income CAD 42.9M; 2Q Revenue Beats Estimates

D-BOX Technologies And Malco Theatres Announce First Agreement for 13-Auditorium Launch Across Four Locations; To Bring D-BOX Premium Haptic and Motion Seating to 13 Auditoriums Across 4 Malco Theatres in Tennessee and Arkansas

Diversified Royalty 2Q Rev C$21.7M

DRI Healthcare Trust 2Q Net Income $6.02M; 2Q Adj EPS $0.56; 2Q Adj EBITDA $42.6M; 2Q Adj EBITDA Margin 92%; Reports 2Q Adj EPS of $0.56; 2Q EPS 11c; 2Q Adj EPS 56c

Enthusiast Gaming 2Q Adj EBITDA CAD 0.7M; 2Q Net Income CAD 0.3M; 2Q Revenue CAD 6.9M; 2Q Gross Profit CAD 6.2M; Reports 2Q Revenue of CAD 6.9 Million

Epsilon Energy 2Q EPS 23c; 2Q Rev $18.3M; Expects FY Oil Production of About 1,800 Barrels Per Day at Midpoint of Guidance; Sees 3Q Oil Production Growth of Over 25% Sequentially at Midpoint; Correct: 2Q Adjusted Loss per Share 3c, Not Adjusted EPS 5c G Mining Ventures 2Q Rev $157.1M

Liberty Gold 2Q Net $41.9M; 2Q EPS 7c

Magellan Aerospace 2Q Revenue CAD 305.6M; FactSet Est. CAD 289.5M (2 Est.); 2Q Net Income CAD 19.8M; 2Q Gross Profit CAD 47.1M; 2Q Adj EBITDA CAD 43M; 2Q EPS CAD 0.35; FactSet Est. CAD 0.35 (2 Est.); 2Q Revenue Beats Estimates; 2Q Rev C$305.6M

Magna Mining 2Q Rev C$29.7M; 2Q Loss/Shr C$0.03; 2Q Adj Loss/Shr C$0.03

Mattr 2Q Revenue CAD 396.2M; FactSet Est. CAD 376.6M; 2Q Operating Income CAD 39.6M; 2Q Adj EBITDA CAD 62.8M; 2Q Net Income CAD 19.8M; 2Q Revenue Beats Estimates; 2Q EPS C$0.32

North American Construction 2Q Adj Net Income CAD 8.53M; 2Q Adj EPS CAD 0.32; FactSet Est. CAD 0.45; 2Q Adj EBITDA CAD 93.5M; 2Q Gross Profit CAD 43.4M; 2Q Revenue CAD 401M; FactSet Est. CAD 350.4M; 2Q Operating Income CAD 20.5M; 2Q Adj EPS Misses Estimates; 2Q Rev C$401M; 2Q EPS C$0.34; Raises 2026 View To Rev C$1.6B-C$1.8B

Northland Power 2Q Operating Income CAD 119.9M; Reports 2Q Operating Income of CAD 119.9 Million; 2Q Rev C$509.9M

Northview Residential REIT 2Q Rev C$69.2M

Pan American Silver 2Q Dividend $0.184; 2Q Net Income $305M; 2Q Revenue $1.1B; Reports 2Q Revenue of $1.1 Billion; 2Q Basic EPS 72c; 2Q Basic Adj EPS 73c; Produced 6.47 M Ounces of Silver in 2Q; Reiterates 2026 Oper Outlook for Silver and Gold Production; Expects FY26 Gold Production to Be at Low End of 700 to 750 Thousand Ounces; Sees 3Q Gold Production to Be Three to Six Thousand Ounces Below Low End of 178.5 to 192.0 Thousand Ounces Range

Pollard Banknote 2Q Gross Profit CAD 28M; 2Q Operating Income CAD 15.5M; 2Q Pretax Profit CAD 12.4M; 2Q EPS CAD 0.32; 2Q Adj EBITDA CAD 31.1M; 2Q Sales CAD 154.8M; FactSet Est. CAD 152.9M; 2Q Net Income CAD 8.7M

Pro REIT 2Q Net C$2.02M

Sagicor Financial 2Q Net $86.6M

Sherritt International 2Q Adj Net Loss CAD 24.8M; 2Q Net Loss CAD 71.1M; 2Q Loss/Shr CAD 0.10; 2Q Adj EBITDA Loss CAD 2M; 2Q Adj Loss/Shr CAD 0.04; Reports 2Q Adj Loss/Shr of CAD 0.04; 2Q Rev C$59.3M; 2Q Cont Ops Loss/Shr C$0.10

SIR Royalty Income Fund 2Q EPS C$0.34; 2Q Pooled Revenue CAD 77.5M; 2Q Net Income CAD 2.89M; 2Q Earnings Per Fund Unit CAD 0.34; Reports 2Q Earnings Per Fund Unit of CAD 0.34

Stantec 2Q Order Backlog CAD 9.2B; FY Outlook Adj EBITDA Margin 17.8% 18.3%; 2Q Adj EPS CAD 1.61; FactSet Est. CAD 1.58; 2Q Adj EBITDA CAD 332.9M; 2Q Revenue CAD 1.8B; FactSet Est. CAD 1.79B; 2Q EPS CAD 1.32; FactSet Est. CAD 1.40 (1 Est.); FY Outlook Adj EPS Growth 15% - 18%; FY Outlook Revenue Growth 8.5% - 11.5%

TeraGo 2Q Loss/Shr C$0.10; 2Q Loss C$3.82M

Total Energy Services 2Q EPS C$0.72; 2Q Rev C$328.9M; Board Approved an Increase to Co's 2026 Cap Expenditure Budget to C$120.1M

Vale Base Metals To Proceed With Coarse Particle Flotation at Salobo Increasing and Accelerating Projected Copper Production

Vital Infrastructure 2Q Adj FFO Per Share CAD 0.11; 2Q Adj FFO CAD 26.4M; Reports 2Q Adj FFO of CAD 26.4 Million

Expected Major Events for Thursday 06:00/UK: 2Q Business investment in the UK: provisional results

06:00/UK: Jun Index of Production

06:00/UK: Jun UK trade

06:00/UK: Jun Index of services

06:00/UK: 2Q First quarterly estimate of GDP

06:00/UK: Jun Monthly GDP estimates

08:30/UK: 2Q Mortgage and landlord possession statistics

08:30/UK: 2Q Mortgage Arrears and Possessions data

11:30/UK: Jul NIESR Monthly GDP Tracker

12:30/US: Jul PPI

12:30/US: 08/08 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims

12:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales

13:00/RUS: Weekly International Reserves

14:30/US: 08/07 EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report

20:30/US: Federal Discount Window Borrowings

20:30/US: Foreign Central Bank Holdings

23:01/UK: Jul Scottish Retail Sales Monitor

All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.

Expected Earnings for Thursday Abeona Therapeutics Inc (ABEO) is expected to report $-0.23 for 2Q.

Advanced Flower Capital Inc (AFCG) is expected to report $0.18 for 2Q.

American Shared Hospital Services (AMS) is expected to report for 2Q.

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc (AVAH) is expected to report $0.16 for 2Q.

BK Technologies Corp $(BKTI)$ is expected to report for 2Q.

Beyond Air Inc (XAIR) is expected to report for 1Q.

Brookfield Corp (BN,BN.T) is expected to report $0.65 for 2Q.

Cabaletta Bio Inc (CABA) is expected to report $-0.46 for 2Q.

Calian Group Ltd (CGY.T) is expected to report $0.22 for 3Q.

Canadian Tire Corp Ltd - Class A (CTC.A.T,CTC.T) is expected to report $3.91 for 2Q.

Clene Inc (CLNN) is expected to report for 2Q.

CorMedix Inc $(CRMD)$ is expected to report $0.26 for 2Q.

Cumulus Media Inc (CMLS) is expected to report for 2Q.

Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Corp (FC.T) is expected to report for 2Q.

Global Water Resources Inc (GWR-T,GWRS) is expected to report $0.03 for 2Q.

Innovative Solutions & Support Inc $(ISSC)$ is expected to report $0.20 for 3Q.

Intuitive Machines Inc (LUNR) is expected to report $-0.09 for 2Q.

KP Tissue Inc (KPT.T) is expected to report for 2Q.

Koil Energy Solutions Inc (KLNG) is expected to report for 2Q.

Kolibri Global Energy Inc (KEI.T) is expected to report $0.25 for 2Q.

Lifeway Foods Inc $(LWAY)$ is expected to report $0.27 for 2Q.

Live Ventures Inc (LIVE) is expected to report for 3Q.

Lucid Diagnostics Inc (LUCD) is expected to report $-0.07 for 2Q.

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp $(MSGS)$ is expected to report $0.64 for 4Q.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd - ADR $(MLCO)$ is expected to report $0.06 for 2Q.

Ondas Inc $(ONDS)$ is expected to report $-0.13 for 2Q.

Onex Corp (Canada) (ONEX.T) is expected to report for 2Q.

Orbit International Corp (ORBT) is expected to report for 2Q.

PMV Pharmaceuticals Inc (PMVP) is expected to report $-0.38 for 2Q.

Quarterhill Inc (QTRH,QTRH.T) is expected to report for 2Q.

RCM Technologies Inc (RCMT) is expected to report $0.52 for 2Q.

Replimune Group Inc $(REPL)$ is expected to report $-0.66 for 1Q.

Rockwell Medical Inc (RMTI) is expected to report for 2Q.

SBC Medical Group Holdings Inc $(SBC)$ is expected to report $0.11 for 2Q.

Saga Communications $(SGA)$ is expected to report for 2Q.

Solo Brands Inc (SBDS) is expected to report for 2Q.

Telesat Corp $(TSAT)$ is expected to report $-0.86 for 2Q.

Upland Software Inc $(UPLD)$ is expected to report for 2Q.

Wolverine World Wide Inc $(WWW)$ is expected to report $0.39 for 2Q.

YETI Holdings Inc $(YETI)$ is expected to report $0.43 for 2Q.

Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.

ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS Alico Raised to Buy From Hold by Freedom Broker

Amerant Bancorp Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Stephens & Co.

Apogee Therapeutics Cut to Neutral From Buy by BTIG

AtaiBeckley Cut to Hold From Buy by Deutsche Bank

Cardiff Oncology Cut to Market Perform From Outperform by William Blair

Entegris Raised to Buy From Hold by Deutsche Bank

Gap Inc Cut to Hold From Buy by Jefferies

GrowGeneration Raised to Buy From Neutral by Alliance Global Partners

IDEX Raised to Outperform From Neutral by Mizuho

Intuitive Surgical Raised to Outperform From Perform by Oppenheimer

Legend Biotech Cut to Perform From Outperform by Oppenheimer

Liquidia Cut to Market Perform From Outperform by LifeSci Capital

MarineMax Cut to Hold From Buy by Truist Securities

Merck Raised to Outperform From Neutral by Daiwa Capital

Okta Raised to Market Outperform From Market Perform by Citizens

Summit Therapeutics Raised to Market Perform From Underperform by Leerink Partners

Willis Lease Finance Raised to Buy From Hold by Freedom Broker

WSFS Financial Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Stephens & Co.

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.