Daily US Equity Opening News - CNXC earnings miss; DLR buys BX data centre stake for USD 3.5bln

DAY AHEAD:

• US INDEX FUTURES: ES unch, NQ unch, YM unch, RUT -0.2%
• BROKER MOVES: STNG downgraded at BofA; Oppenheimer downgrades C, MS, GS, and BAC. For the full list, click here.
• MAJOR MORNING MOVES RECAP: AAPL/GOOGL, CNXC, DLR, AVAV, GMAB, ABBV/MRK, LCII. For the full list, click here.
• US DAILY CONFERENCE CALENDAR: APO, MS, MCHP. For the full list, click here.
• GEOPOLITICS: US and Iranian technical teams were due in Doha for talks, though Iran said no meeting with the US was scheduled; the US has dispatched envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.
• DATA: In North America, US JOLTs job openings for May (exp. 7.28mln, from 7.618mln); previously, the quits rate fell to 1.9% from 2.0%, while the vacancy rate was at 4.6% from 4.2%. US CB consumer confidence for June (exp. 94.2, prev. 93.1); Chicago PMI for June (prev. 62.7); S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for April (prev. 1.0% M/M); Canada preliminary May GDP (exp. 0.1% M/M, prev. 0.4%).
• CENTRAL BANKS: ECB Sintra forum in Sinta takes place, and will today feature ECB’s VP Vujcic, ECB chief economist Lane, ECB’s Schnabel, ECB’s Sleijpen, ECB’s Wunsch, ECB’s Elderson, and ECB’s Cipollone; BoE’s Breeden will also participate on a panel at the event. Fed’s Hammack (2026 voter) will give an interview to CNBC TV.
• ENERGY: API weekly energy inventories due after hours.
• EARNINGS: Notable US corporate earnings due today includes: NIKE (NKE) and Constellation Brands (STZ).

NEWS:

GEOPOLITICS

• US-Iran - US and Iranian technical teams were due in Doha for talks, and President Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are travelling, though Iran said no meeting with the US was scheduled, adding that the trip focuses on ceasefire compliance rather than US talks. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baghaei said Iran “will not hold any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days,” Tasnim reported, while other reports suggested US-Iran talks may occur through Pakistani or Qatari mediators.
• Hormuz - Strait of Hormuz traffic picked up after recent Iranian ship attacks, with around 24 commodity vessels transiting in both directions on Monday, according to Kpler. The ships included oil and LNG tankers and bulk carriers, with a combined capacity of up to 9mln bbls of crude, signalling increased confidence among operators, Bloomberg said.
• US Sanctions - OFAC launched a Reconsideration Portal allowing sanctioned individuals to petition for removal and request unclassified, non-privileged information linked to their sanctions determination. The US Treasury said the portal is intended to streamline petitions and increase transparency, as the Trump administration has loosened some restrictions on Iran, Russia, Venezuela and Syria while adding new ones for Cuba.

INDEX

• S&P 500 - BofA stays bearish on S&P 500, says take profits in growth and rotate into large-cap value. BofA keeps its 2026 year-end S&P 500 target at 7,100, arguing the bullish liquidity, buyback and fund-flow supports that peaked in 2025 are now reversing. The bank says investors should favour large-cap value and cyclicals, particularly Financials, Energy and Materials, as AI capex, manufacturing activity, benign credit spreads and lower oil support cash-generative “old economy” sectors. BofA sees weaker risk/reward in secular growth and hyperscalers, noting AI spending limits capex flexibility, buybacks are constrained by weaker cash flow, and investors are paying near-record premia for long-term growth.

MACRO

• US Labour Department - President Trump said he would nominate acting Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling to lead the Labour Department permanently. The role requires Senate confirmation.
• ECB - The unexpectedly rapid retreat in oil prices has eased pressure on the ECB to raise rates next month, though the case for a small hike later remains firm, four sources told Reuters. A September hike is seen as more likely than July, with markets pricing just a one-in-three chance of a July move, while June inflation data, due Wednesday, could shift the timing.
• ECBspeak - ECB President Lagarde said Europe is becoming less vulnerable to outside shocks due to better banking and fiscal regulations and progress on the green transition. Speaking at the ECB’s annual Sintra retreat, she defended June’s rate hike as a “robust decision,” not an “insurance hike”. Markets are still pricing one more quarter-point move to 2.5%.
• JPY - Japan’s FinMin Katayama said Japan stands ready to take appropriate action on the JPY at any time, after USDJPY rose above 162 to the yen’s weakest level since 1986. She said her communication had been “stable,” only invoking “bold action” language when prompted by a reporter. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara made similar remarks.
• Japan Auction - Japan’s 2yr government bond auction saw a bid-to-cover of 4.82x (vs prior 3.70x, and vs 12-month average of 3.74x). The tail narrowed to 0.005 from 0.02. BNP Paribas’ Ryutaro Kimura linked the strong demand to the government’s expected call for “appropriate” monetary management, seen as urging BoJ caution on further hikes.
• China Offshore Yuan Notes - China’s NDRC has asked some bankers to avoid underwriting offshore yuan notes yielding above 4%, and dollar bonds above 5%, according to Bloomberg. The move aims to curb higher-cost borrowing and excessive debt financing, particularly by local government financing vehicles, which have about USD 117bln of offshore bonds outstanding.

TECH

• Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG) - The UK’s CMA is consulting on conduct requirements for Apple and Google to allow UK app developers to steer customers to off-platform payment options. It is also seeking views on potential iOS NFC access requirements for developers.
• Anthropic - Anthropic introduced the Claude apps gateway for Amazon Bedrock (AMZN) and Google Cloud (GOOG). The self-hosted control plane provides corporate SSO login, centrally enforced policy, role-based access and per-user cost attribution for Claude Code, replacing per-developer cloud credentials and manual settings management. Anthropic also said Claude models are generally available in Microsoft Foundry (MSFT) on Azure from Monday.
• Uber Technologies (UBER) - Uber has wound down its robotaxi offering with Waymo in Phoenix, ending last month after hundreds of thousands of trips and food deliveries ending in May 2025. Waymo will integrate the vehicles back into its fleet to serve agreements with DoorDash (DASH) and Via Transportation (VIA), while Uber plans to announce a new autonomous vehicle partner in Phoenix.
• Concentrix (CNXC) - Shares tumbled in extended trading after soft guidance. Q2 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 2.63 (exp. 2.64), Revenue 2.46bln (exp. 2.47bln). CEO said Q2 marked an acceleration across many areas of the business, with Concentrix’s blended AI and services approach delivering client value by lowering costs and increasing revenue. Sees Q3 adj. EPS between 2.65-2.77 (exp. 3.09), Q3 revenue between 2.47-2.49bln (exp. 2.54bln); lowered FY26 guidance, sees adj. EPS between 10.83-11.18 (exp. 11.71; prev. saw 11.48-12.07), revenue between 9.93-10.03bln (exp. 10.12bln; prev. saw 10.04-10.18bln).
• Block (XYZ) - Upgraded at Piper Sandler to 'Overweight' from 'Underweight' with a USD 100 PT (prev. 58). Piper launched coverage of the payments and consumer finance group with a "selectively constructive" view. The overweight-rated stocks offer "durable" network activity, customer engagement, credit discipline, capital returns, operating leverage, or earnings "scaling into share appreciation without requiring broad multiple expansion". The firm believes investor concerns are legitimate, saying network volume growth has converged closer to the PCE price index, card issuers remain exposed to labor-market deterioration, and digital payments monetization is under pressure. However, valuation compression in the group "has been broad" while earnings expectations "remain resilient across much of our coverage". Piper initiated 'Overweight' ratings on the following stocks: Visa with a USD 394 PT, Mastercard (MA) with a USD 597 PT, Capital One (COF) with a USD 254 PT, American Express (AXP) with a USD 396 PT, Affirm with a USD 103 PT, and PayPal with a USD 42 PT (prev. 46).
• Vishay Intertechnology (VSH) - Announced USD 750mln common stock offering - 15mln share spot secondary priced at USD 50.00 in the deal range of USD 50.00-52.00.

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY

• Amazon (AMZN) - Australia’s ACCC is taking Amazon Australia to court, alleging unfair Prime subscription contract terms let it introduce advertising to Prime Video. The regulator said annual subscribers had to accept ads or pay AUD 2.99 per month for ad-free viewing, with no refund entitlement if they cancelled. Separately, Amazon agreed to pay USD 2.25mln to settle US claims that it failed to provide legally required records to identity-theft victims; FTC referred the case to the DoJ, and the settlement requires Amazon to provide business transaction records free of charge within 30 days of receiving a request. Meanwhile, Amazon is to fully open a robotic logistics centre in Poland in October 2026. Separately, Amazon invests in carbon removal projects, creating 11k jobs.
• Ford (F) - Recalling 741,195 vehicles in the US over a transmission defect that can damage the park system, which in turn could result in vehicles rolling away, the US NHTSA said.
• Patrick Industries (PATK), LCI Industries (LCII) - Announced an all-stock merger under which LCI shareholders will receive 1.2440 Patrick shares for each LCI share. Following closing, Patrick shareholders will own approximately 52% of the combined company and LCI shareholders 48%. The companies expect the transaction to generate more than USD 150mln of annual run-rate cost synergies within three years, with the combined business producing approximately USD 8.1bln in pro forma revenue and USD 1bln in adjusted EBITDA (including synergies). The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
• Egg Probe - The DoJ and a coalition of states reached a settlement with egg producers Cal-Maine Foods (CALM), Hickman’s Egg Ranch and Versova over alleged illegal price coordination, according to NY AG Letitia James. The companies will pay USD 3.3mln in civil penalties and donate over 50mln eggs, subject to court approval. The investigation followed record prices reaching USD 6.22 per dozen in early 2025, which have since fallen to USD 2.19 in May.

ENERGY

• Crude Price Forecasts - Morgan Stanley (MS) cut its crude price forecasts for the second time in about two weeks, citing faster-than-expected Strait of Hormuz flow recovery, strong US supply and weak Chinese demand, Bloomberg reports. It now sees dated Brent averaging USD 75/bbl in Q3 and Q4 (down USD 15/bbl and USD 5/bbl, respectively), and USD 70/bbl by end-2027.
• Asian Refiners - Asian refiners are sending some Middle Eastern crude cargoes to the US West Coast and Hawaii as Gulf output rises after the Strait of Hormuz reopening, according to Bloomberg. Sparta Commodities’ June Goh said Asia’s surplus makes westward sales economical, while July-loading US crude sales to Asia fell to 800K-900K BPD.
• PJM - PJM forecast data shows that it will break all time summer energy demand record of 166GW on July 2nd.
• Scorpio Tankers (STNG) - Downgraded at BofA to 'Underperform' from 'Buy' with a USD 78 PT (prev. 100). The firm expects the company to continue driving significant free cash flow in the interim, but notes that it continues to monetize assets by selling vessels faster than it replaces. Tanker rates are historically strong, but in a post-peak pullback.
• Shell (SHELL) - Reportedly approaching a South African fuel station deal with ADNOC, worth around USD 1bln, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, Shell expects LNG demand to increase by around 65% by 2050, largely driven by APAC nations.
• Sable Offshore (SOC) - Announced proposed public offerings of USD 100mln of common stock and USD 300mln of convertible senior notes due 2031, with underwriters holding options to purchase up to an additional USD 15mln of common stock and USD 45mln of notes to cover over-allotments.

INDUSTRIALS

• AeroVironment (AVAV) Q4 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 1.84 (exp. 1.47), Revenue 641.6mln (exp. 559.09mln). CEO said AeroVironment’s ability to deliver at speed should continue to drive opportunities across its global customer base. Sees Q1 revenue at 45% of H1 revenue and Q1 adj. EPS at 25% of H1 adj. EPS (analysts expecting Q1 revenue of 511.55mln and adj. EPS of 0.78). Sees FY27 adj. EPS between 3.02-3.34 (exp. 4.00), and revenue between 2.125-2.225bln (exp. 2.18bln); does not expect FY27 to be positive on free cash flow.
• Joby Aviation (JOBY), Toyota (TM) - Announced the initial phase of their strategic manufacturing alliance through the establishment of a joint venture focused on commercial production of Joby's eVTOL aircraft. The partnership combines Joby's electric aviation technology with Toyota's manufacturing expertise to improve productivity, quality, and costs, while supporting future production capacity expansion.
• L3Harris Technologies (LHX) - Received a USD 613.97mln USSOCOM IDIQ contract for SIRFC contractor logistics support.
• Northrop Grumman (NOC) - Received a USD 312.34mln Navy contract modification for SEWIP Block Three Hemisphere and Quadrant systems.
• UK Defence - UK PM Starmer will unveil a defence investment plan today, including GBP 5bln for drones and other uncrewed systems, though it is unlikely to satisfy senior officers’ demands for additional funding, the FT says.

HEALTHCARE

• PreCheck Pilot Programme - The FDA selected seven companies for its PreCheck Pilot Programme to strengthen domestic drug manufacturing and the US drug supply chain. Participants are Amneal Pharmaceutical, Cellares, Eli Lilly, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, Kriya Therapeutics, Kyowa Kirin and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, with facilities manufacturing products including sterile liquids, gene therapies, drug substances, biologics and protein therapeutics.
• AbbVie (ABBV), Genmab (GMAB) - AbbVie and Genmab reported positive Phase 3 EPCORE DLBCL-4 results, with epcoritamab plus lenalidomide improving progression-free survival versus standard of care and cutting progression or death risk by 56-60%.
• Merck (MRK), AbbVie (ABBV) - US House committee is reportedly investigating Merck and AbbVie to determine if they were involved in clinical trials in China that helped fuel China's military capabilities.
• Sanofi (SNY) - Sanofi said its Nexviazyme met all primary and secondary endpoints in infantile-onset Pompe disease Phase 3 study.
• Abivax (ABVX) - Reported topline Phase 3 ABTECT Maintenance Part 2 results showing that continued treatment with obefazimod produced clinically meaningful clinical, endoscopic, and histologic-endoscopic responses in ulcerative colitis patients who either failed to respond after induction or relapsed during maintenance. The company also said no new safety pattern emerged, with the overall safety profile remaining consistent with prior studies.
• Roche (RHHBY) - Roche said the FDA has accepted and granted priority review to a supplemental BLA for Enspryng for the treatment of thyroid eye disease; a decision will be made by 15th October.

COMMUNICATIONS

• Comcast (CMCSA) - NBCUniversal is eyeing opportunities in digital gaming and new entertainment franchises after its planned spinoff from Comcast, while Comcast’s cable business could see technology investments tied to data centres and AI, according to Reuters. No tie-ups have been discussed yet.
• Netflix (NFLX), Sega (SGAMY) - Netflix is developing a live-action series based on Sega’s “Persona” video game franchise, Variety reports.
• Tencent (TCEHY) - Tencent is increasing buybacks after its Hong Kong-listed shares lost about USD 309bln in market value since early October, according to Bloomberg calculations, which show June repurchases are set to exceed HKD 9bln, the biggest monthly total this year. Shares have fallen more than a third since October amid concerns over AI monetisation and weaker internet-stock sentiment.

FINANCIALS

• Oppenheimer - The firm is raising estimates for Q2 primarily because of a strong outlook for trading and notes that its 2027 estimates go up the most for Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley because they are the purest plays on trading and investment banking. However, it adds that it doesn't find the valuations "compelling" despite the increases. Oppenheimer recommends limiting exposure in the large-cap bank group to "the most boring and stable commercial banks one can find," which it identifies as US Bancorp (USB) and PNC Financial (PNC), adds that it would recommend investors redeploy the funds raised by selling in this group into the alternative asset managers, particularly Ares Management (ARES), Blackstone (BX) and KKR (KKR). Oppenheimer downgraded Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) to 'Underperform' from 'Perform'; downgraded Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) to 'Perform' from 'Outperform'.
• Synchrony (SYF) - Synchrony named Carol Juel executive vice-president and CEO of its Digital platform, succeeding retiring Bart Schaller. Florin Arghirescu was promoted to executive vice-president and chief technology officer, leading technology strategy, AI, engineering and platforms. DJ Casto will become executive vice-president, chief people and operations officer.
• FactSet (FDS) - Announced a a multi-faceted strategic partnership with Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google Cloud to create a new generation of AI-powered solutions for the financial industry.

REAL ESTATE

• Digital Realty (DLR), Blackstone (BX) - Digital Realty agreed to buy Blackstone’s blended 64% equity interest in three fully leased Northern Virginia data centres for USD 3.5bln, comprising USD 1.2bln cash and USD 2.3bln in shares. The assets total 288MW of IT capacity, with a gross value of USD 7.8bln. Completion is expected on 30th June. Digital Realty also announced a USD 2.35bln registered common stock offering by Blackstone affiliates; its USD 2.35bln spot secondary offering by Blackstone has a price range of USD 185.00-188.00.
• Prologis (PLD) - Segro (SGRO LN) rejected a bid from Prologis, stating it falls a long way short of its view on value.

UTILITIES

• Dominion Energy (D), NextEra Energy (NEE) - US Senator Angus King urged the FERC to reject NextEra's proposed USD 66.8bln acquisition of Dominion, arguing the combination would concentrate too much market power, reduce competition, and affect more than 10mln customers.

MATERIALS

• Air Products & Chemicals (APD) - Will not proceed with Louisiana Clean Energy Complex; FY26 Q3 pre-tax charge not expected to proceed USD 2.9bln.

TRADE

• Morocco Fertiliser - US President Donald Trump will temporarily lift duties on phosphate fertiliser from Morocco for eight months, or until an emergency ends, to support fertiliser availability and lower farmer input costs. The proclamation cited disrupted fertiliser supply chains from regional conflicts and trade actions, while the move may affect domestic producers including Mosaic (MOS).