MARKET WRAPS

STOCKS: Stocks rose as war fears subsided and semiconductor makers continued to rebound.

TREASURYS: Treasury yields fell as inflation fears diminished.

FOREX: The U.S. dollar ticked down against rivals as traders awaited developments in renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran.

COMMODITIES: Oil futures retreated on hopes the U.S. and Iran could go back to talks after the current flare-up and exchange of strikes.

HEADLINES

Fed Names Leaders of Warsh's Task Forces

The Federal Reserve named more than a dozen external advisers to lead five task forces that will re-examine how the central bank operates, drawing mainly on well-respected academics with deep ties to establishment policymaking circles.

Among the advisers: Greg Mankiw, a former top adviser in the George W. Bush administration, Nobel laureate Thomas Sargent, and Doug McMillon, former chief executive of Walmart. There are also some wild cards, including three movers and shakers from the world of artificial intelligence who will serve on a task force on the job market.

The task forces, announced by Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh during his first press conference last month, are the leading edge of a reform effort Warsh has pledged for the central bank. He has said his priorities include reducing the Fed's presence in financial markets, pulling back on guidance about future policy moves, and rethinking how the Fed uses statistics to understand the economy.

Fed's Williams Says Inflation Still Too High, Expects Retreat in Energy Prices

NEW YORK-New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said oil prices should eventually retreat and that inflation poses the larger risk to the Fed's dual mandate.

Speaking at an event at the New York Fed on Thursday, Williams said inflation remains "far too high" and that the labor market appears stable.

Earlier this week, rising oil prices reignited inflation fears after President Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was over. Prices have since leveled off following Trump's statement Wednesday that Iran contacted him seeking a deal.

Pepsi Earnings Beat Expectations. Why the Stock Is Dropping.

PepsiCo stock fell Thursday after the soft drinks and snacks maker said it had lost market share in North America, overshadowing a second-quarter earnings beat.

Shares declined 2.9% to $138.54. For comparison, the S&P 500 rose 0.8% after worries ebbed about the flare-up in the Iran war.

The maker of Lay's, Doritos, Pepsi, and Gatorade reported an adjusted profit of $2.20 a share for the second quarter, as revenue climbed 6.4% from a year ago to $24.18 billion.

NY Attorney General Sues 3M, Others Over 'Forever Chemicals'

New York's attorney general sued a group of major chemical and agricultural companies on Thursday, alleging they deceived consumers about the risks of toxic chemicals in their products.

The lawsuit by Attorney General Letitia James targets 3M, Chemours, and DuPont de Nemours, as well as EIDP and its parent Corteva. The companies marketed products containing a group of chemicals called polyfluoroalkyl substances-often called PFAS or "forever chemicals"-while knowing they posed risks to consumers and the environment, James said.

PFAS chemicals are able to persist in the environment for years without breaking down, according to The Wall Street Journal. Studies have linked PFAS to several health problems, including high cholesterol, a lower immune response to vaccines, and a higher risk of kidney cancer, per the Journal.

Spring Home-Selling Season Ends on a Bad Note

Home sales declined in June, ending the housing market's key spring season on a sour note as buyers grappled with high mortgage rates and record home prices.

Sales of existing homes slid 2.4% in June over the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. The number fell well short of expectations: Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast an increase of 0.7%.

The June decline marked a turnaround from an unexpectedly strong increase in May.

U.S. Jobless Claims Edged Lower Last Week

U.S. jobless claims ticked down last week as the labor market holds onto its "low hire, low fire" attitude.

The number of people who filed for unemployment benefits was 215,000 in the week through July 4, lower than the upwardly revised 217,000 reported a week earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal were expecting to see 218,000 new claims.

Continuing claims, which scale with the total size of the unemployed population, was 1.81 million in the week through June 27, rising by 8,000 from a downwardly revised total a week earlier. The data on continuing claims lag the initial-claims data by a week.

SK Hynix listing on Nasdaq may become the second-largest equity offering ever - trailing only SpaceX's

Friday's new listing of SK Hynix American depositary receipts SKHY on Nasdaq could represent the second-largest equity offering ever.

If lead underwriters Goldman Sachs, Citi, Bank of America and JPMorgan were to price the deal in line with the closing price in Seoul on Thursday, it would place the transaction second only to SpaceX's SPCX in terms of the amount raised at $25.7 billion.

That figure would exceed the IPOs of both Saudi Aramco SA:2223 in 2019 ($25.6 billion) and Alibaba's BABA debut in 2014 ($25 billion) but would raise far less than the $29 billion the company originally hoped to generate before the Korean market entered technical bear territory.

TALKING POINT Stifel, Commonwealth Top JD Power's Advisor Satisfaction Rankings

Stifel and Commonwealth Financial Network have once again received the top satisfaction ratings among advisors in their respective categories, according to the latest JD Power ranking. For the fourth-straight year, Stifel led the rankings in the employee channel. Commonwealth landed in the top spot among independent firms for the 13th year in a row.

JD Power polled 4,503 employee and independent advisors from December 2025 through April 2026, asking them to evaluate their firm on categories such as compensation, leadership and culture, operational support, and technology.

The result is a 1,000-point scale, with Stifel scoring 812 in the employee ranking, followed by Raymond James & Associates (775), Edward Jones (750), RBC Wealth Management (671), Ameriprise (657), Merrill Lynch (570), and Wells Fargo Advisors (511). Not every large firm was surveyed.

On the independent side, Commonwealth led the way with a score of 790, followed by LPL Financial (744), Raymond James Financial Services (720), Cambridge (698), Osaic (693), Ameriprise's independent channel (665), and Cetera (543). Again, only select firms were surveyed.

AI impact. This year's survey identified artificial intelligence as a pivotal aspect of how advisors view their firms, driven in part by widespread adoption of the technology. This year, 73% of employee advisors said their firm was actively using AI, up from 44% last year. Among independent advisors, 42% said they are using AI, up from 19% last year.

"We're now seeing AI move beyond the buzz and start to fundamentally change how advisors manage their practices and evaluate their firms' ability to support their continued growth," says Mike Foy, managing director of JD Power's wealth management practice.

--Kenneth Corbin, Barron's

Expected Major Events for Friday

06:00/GER: Jun CPI

06:45/FRA: Jun CPI

08:00/ITA: May Industrial Production

08:00/FRA: Jul IEA Oil Market Report

12:30/CAN: Jun Labour Force Survey

12:30/CAN: May Building permits

16:00/US: World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE)

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Expected Earnings for Friday

Art's Way Manufacturing Co $(ARTW)$ is expected to report for 2Q.

Avalon Advanced Materials Inc (AVL.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Delta Air Lines Inc $(DAL)$ is expected to report $1.54 for 2Q.

MTY Food Group Inc (MTY.T) is expected to report $0.96 for 2Q.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 09, 2026 16:41 ET (20:41 GMT)

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