Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk.
All eyes turn to Friday morning as the July jobs report looms large over markets. Consensus expects nonfarm payrolls to come in at just eighty-three thousand — a notably soft number — with the unemployment rate holding steady at four point two percent. A miss to the downside could accelerate Fed rate cut expectations significantly.
Copper is meanwhile sending a striking signal, hitting its highest price ever recorded. The metal once dubbed Doctor Copper for its ability to diagnose global economic health is flashing a complicated message this cycle — demand from electrification and AI infrastructure is distorting what used to be a clean read on growth momentum, making interpretation far more nuanced than in prior cycles.
And on the cybersecurity front, major hedge funds including Point72 Asset Management are disclosing they were targeted in a coordinated wave of sophisticated attacks on Wall Street systems. Point72 told investors it was hit Wednesday, though early indications suggest no client data was compromised. The breadth of the campaign across multiple money managers is raising serious alarm across the industry.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
