US EQUITY OPEN: Indices see gains amid dovish payrolls with light calendar ahead

OPEN: US indices opened with slight gains, with a broad-based dovish reaction seen across markets following the US jobs report; in summary, the headline fell way short of expectations, with the unemployment rate dropping, albeit largely driven by a plunge in the participation rate. Wages M/M and Y/Y came in line with consensus. Following the data set, upside was seen in US indices, Treasuries, and Gold, while the Dollar weakened, and the likelihood of a Fed hike also pared. Sectors, aside from Communication Services, sit in the green with Consumer Staples and Financials outperforming. Comms. is hit by Meta (-2.5%), paring some of Wednesday's extensive gains. Elsewhere, newsflow has been pretty sparse on Thursday as US participants await the long weekend given US Independence Day on Friday. The calendar ahead is also quiet with the Baker Hughes Rig Count release brought forward a day. WTI and Brent are lower by c. USD 0.70/bbl, with attention on any geopolitical updates.

STOCK SPECIFICS:

• Dollar Tree (DLTR) to increase share buyback by USD 2.5bln
• Rivian (RIVN) Q2 deliveries beat and raised FY2Y delivery guidance
• AeroVironment (AVAV) awarded a USD 500mln US Army contract to procure commercial counter-unmanned aerial systems and counter small-unmanned aerial systems capabilities
• Tesla (TSLA) Q2 total deliveries beat.
• Adobe (ADBE) was upgraded at HSBC to 'Buy' from 'Hold'.
• Palantir (PLTR) was upgraded at DA Davidson to 'Buy' from 'Neutral'.
• Blue Owl (OWL) sought to withdraw USD 4.7bln from the two funds in Q2, down from USD 5.4bln in Q1.