Business

By Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 6 (Reuters) – Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin said on Saturday that U.S. energy companies were the main beneficiaries of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz but warned that continued tensions in the artery for one fifth of the world’s crude would undermine long-term demand for oil. 

Iran blockaded the Strait, the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods including fertilisers, after the United States and Israel attacked Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in February. The U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports. 

Sechin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and one of the most influential men in Russia’s energy sector, cast the U.S. actions as an attempt to change the fundamental contours of the global energy markets to suit U.S. interests, but added that the strategic risks had not been fully assessed.

“The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an attempt to reshape global energy market regulations to benefit the United States. The measures taken to block the strait were aimed at Iran, but backfired on the entire world. The strategic risks were underestimated,” Sechin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“The main beneficiaries, of course, were American companies, which gained non-competitive advantages and the ability to secure high-cost supplies,” he said. “Continued tension in the Strait of Hormuz for a long time undermines the long-term demand for oil. It may also trigger another surge of interest in alternative energy.”

The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil producer, followed by Saudi Arabia and Russia. 

Russia’s oil and gas tax revenue, which accounts for around a fifth of total budget income, increased by 32.4% year-on-year in May to 678.9 billion roubles ($9.3 billion), Finance Ministry data showed, thanks to a global oil price rally fuelled by the Middle East war. The U.S. has also extended a sanctions waiver allowing purchases of Russian seaborne oil to aid “energy-vulnerable” countries hit by the Iran war.

Sechin said that China had been best prepared for the crisis due to well-thought-out state policy, but cautioned that other major global routes, such as Malacca, Bab El Mandeb and Gibraltar straits could also be under the risk of disruption.

If the Strait opens in the near future, then the oil price will be at $95 to $96 per barrel by the end of the year, and in a year it will drop to $80 to $85, and by the second half of 2027 there will be a return to market fundamentals, he said.

A DANGEROUS WORLD 

In a speech entitled “The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning: what is left at the bottom of Pandora’s box?”, Sechin said problems were “snowballing” in the world with the militarisation of major powers, the biggest financial market bubble since the 19th century and a looming deficit of electricity, food and water.

“At the bottom of the box, we will inevitably find a global shortage of electricity, food shortages, copper and other metals, and water shortages,” Sechin said. 

Sechin, who is known for his skepticism about Russia’s cooperation with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said the OPEC+ group has lost some of its potential following the United Arab Emirates’ departure from the alliance, as well as the earlier exits of Qatar and other countries.

“As a result, the alliance’s production has fallen from 58 to 37 million barrels per day over the past 10 years,” he said.

Sechin also said that most major OPEC+ members have increased production since the agreement was signed in 2016. In Russia, oil production fell by 1.5 million barrels per day.

“This is a 15% decline that will need to be offset by necessary investments of at least 10 trillion rubles. We expect that investment cooperation between the alliance’s member countries and our country will also expand,” Sechin said.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova; editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Kirsten Donovan)

source

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Energy Department says a small nuclear reactor under development at a national lab has reached a crucial milestone that could allow it to produce electricity within a few years.

The microreactor being developed by Antares Nuclear Inc. at the Idaho National Lab reached “criticality” on Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. The milestone occurs when a nuclear reactor achieves a self-sustaining chain reaction capable of producing a steady release of energy.

Antares is the first private company to bring an advanced reactor to criticality under a pilot program begun last year by the Trump administration meant to supercharge nuclear energy production in the U.S. The demonstration was conducted in partnership with the Energy Department and other contractors with support from the U.S. Army.

“We are very excited by this news today,” Wright said Friday on a call with reporters. “I think June 4th will be a historic day in the American nuclear renaissance.”

Antares and its partners “have shown America can do bold things,” Wright added. “America has great technology, great entrepreneurs that are ready to drive energy innovation to power our future, lower energy costs and make our country more powerful.”

The achievement shows that the Trump administration’s push to remove regulatory barriers is helping to advance new nuclear technologies, Wright said.

President Donald Trump signed executive orders in May 2025 intended to speed up the development of nuclear power, including steps that grant Wright authority to approve some advanced reactor designs and projects. Trump’s orders limit some authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the independent safety agency that has regulated the U.S. nuclear industry for five decades.

Skeptics warn that nuclear energy poses risks and say microreactors may not be safe or feasible and have not proved they can meet demand for a reasonable price.

While the Antares system is years away from commercial use, achieving criticality is a notable step. The California-based company, which is initially targeting military applications, said it expects to begin producing electricity by late 2027 and see its systems deployed in the field by the end of 2028, CEO Jordan Bramble said Friday.

“Nuclear in America has been defined for too long by delays, by companies that said they would and then didn’t,” Bramble said in a written statement.

At a briefing on Friday, Bramble said achieving criticality “is the first step on a roadmap toward producing electricity ahead of deploying this technology for customer sites.”

“Microreactors are a technology that’s here today,” he added. “2026 is the year where microreactors are becoming real. We’re months to years out from being able to start deploying this technology to military installations.”

The Trump administration has set a goal of achieving the criticality milestone in at least three test reactors by July 4 — the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Officials have selected 11 advanced reactor projects, including Antares, to move their technologies toward deployment.

In February, the Pentagon and the Energy Department for the first time airlifted a small nuclear reactor from California to Utah, demonstrating what they say is the country’s potential to quickly deploy nuclear power for military and civilian use. The nearly 700-mile flight transported a 5-megawatt microreactor manufactured by Valar Atomics in southern California to Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

The reactor — which did not have nuclear fuel — eventually will be able to generate up to 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 5,000 homes, said Isaiah Taylor, CEO of Valar Atomics. The company hopes to start selling power on a test basis next year and become fully commercial in 2028, he said.

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the transport flight, which attracted significant news coverage, was little more than a publicity stunt.

He offered a similar response to the claims by Antares and Wright.

“This stunt is a rudimentary first step that has absolutely no bearing on whether the Antares reactor will be safe or commercially viable,” Lyman said in an email Friday.

The Energy Department’s statement that the test “confirms that the reactor can operate safely” is false, Lyman said, adding that more testing of the reactor is needed.

The administration has not resolved how nuclear waste will be disposed, although Wright has said the Energy Department is in talks with Utah and other states to host sites that could reprocess fuel or handle permanent disposal. States including Tennessee, Nebraska and Idaho have expressed interest in handling nuclear waste.

source

DEXTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — On the kind of warm, bright afternoon that Michigan boaters wait all year for, Malik Amine and his brother readied their family’s pontoon boat for the summer.

The cover was off and Portage Lake sparkled in the sun. But before the brothers could leave a narrow wooden dock, they had a decision to make: how much gasoline to put in the pontoon’s 52-gallon engine.

Recreational boaters, like motorists, are feeling a pinch from the Iran war. U.S. gas prices have come down in recent weeks, but a gallon of regular gas still cost an average of 34% more Friday than it did a year earlier, according to motor club AAA. The price of diesel fuel, which is also used by some boaters, is up 53% from last year.

Ethanol-free gas, which many boaters, classic car owners and lawn mower users prefer, is anywhere from 20 cents to $1 per gallon more than regular fuel, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores, which also represents fuel retailers.

One gas station near Portage Lake, which is 60 miles west of Detroit, is selling ethanol-free fuel for $7 per gallon. Amine said he didn’t plan to fill the boat’s tank ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

“The cost is going to be a lot more than it was last year,” Amine said. “I think it’s probably a little bit smarter to do what you need and fill it as much as you need, because who knows when this conflict’s going to end.”

The National Marine Manufacturers Association estimates that 100 million Americans go boating each year, contributing to an industry worth $230 billion annually. The trade group, which represents companies that make boats, marine engines, boating equipment and accessories, said its conversations with boaters indicate that most still plan to head out on the water this year, but in some cases, gas prices are curtailing their plans.

“There were a number of people within that who said, ‘I am going to have to change my behavior’,” said Ellen Bradley, the association’s chief brand officer. “I may not go as far. I may not as fast. I may spend more time anchored and swimming. I may spend more time at the dock.”

Neil and Kathleen Donohoe sold their home in Colorado and now live aboard a 50-foot, diesel-powered boat dubbed the Granuaile, which is the Gaelic name of Grace O’Malley, a 16th century sea captain known as Ireland’s pirate queen. They’ve spent the last seven years cruising up and down the East Coast and to the Bahamas.

Maintenance on the boat – not fuel – is typically their greatest expense, Neil Donohoe said. But lately, the cost to fill up the boat — which can hold 1,500 gallons — is eye-popping. They talk to other boaters and use various marine apps to find the cheapest gas.

“It’s not driving us not to cruise, but it’s making a difference,” he said.

This summer, the couple plan to stick around the Chesapeake Bay area instead of heading further north. They’ve already been to Maine and to Canada, they reasoned, and they don’t feel the urge to go again while gas prices are so high.

“It seems a little gross to spend that kind of money when so many people are struggling,” Kathleen Donohoe said.

Gas prices are also impacting boating-related businesses. The Seattle Sailing Club, which offers lessons, chartered cruises and rentals, said its fuel bill has gone up 10.7% since the beginning of the war.

Lindsey Brown, the club’s office manager, said its fleet of 30 boats usually rely on wind power, but they all have gas or diesel backup engines. In April, the marina where the boats are docked charged $6.50 per gallon for diesel, she said. By late May, that had risen to $7.99 per gallon.

“We are just heading into our busy season, so we may see a more dramatic effect on our business if the price of fuel doesn’t change or continues to increase,” Brown said. Brown, who lives on a sailboat at the marina, said the service she uses to pump out wastewater just added a fuel surcharge to her bill.

It’s also the busy season for Melissa Kunnert, who owns NautiMi On the River, an ice cream and gift shop near Portage Lake. She rents out a tiki-themed pontoon boat for parties and hosts three-hour evening cruises for $50 a person starting after Memorial Day.

Kunnert decided not to raise her prices this summer even though it costs more to fill up the pontoon. She wonders if the higher gas prices affecting all forms of travel might benefit her business by keeping more potential customers closer to home.

“I’m interested to see if we’ll have the same amount as previous years (or) if we will have more because people don’t want to use their gas, they want ours,” Kunnert said.

In Traverse City, Michigan, a few hours north of Portage Lake, Robert Hinds decided to add a $50 fuel surcharge to the fishing trips he offers as the owner and operator of Central Coast Angling. He tows his 22-foot boat from port to port on Lake Michigan depending on where the fishing is best, so he has to fill up his truck in addition to his boat.

Hinds said he’s had multiple cancellations as customers do their own math on gas prices. One regular customer from Nebraska didn’t make the trip this spring.

“It’s really tough. People do want to get out and I still believe people will,” he said. “But everybody comes from different walks of life.”

Hinds recently ruled out his own fishing trip to Wisconsin after figuring out it would cost him $400 in diesel fuel for the truck that tows his boat.

“I can just stay home and fish here,” he said.

___

AP Video Journalist Mike Householder contributed to this report.

source

WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, prodded President Donald Trump’s derivatives regulator on Friday over recent reporting in The New York Times that reported on outside interference and favoritism allegedly benefiting the crypto and prediction markets industries.

• In a letter to Michael Selig, who took office in December as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and is the sole sitting commissioner of the five-member bipartisan agency, Warren cited reporting in the Times and elsewhere according to which agency leadership intervened to benefit companies backed by Trump allies and punished agency staff who stood in the way.

• CFTC representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. The White House told The Times last month President Trump faced no conflicts of interest.

• Crypto companies and prediction markets have benefited under Trump’s CFTC, which has dropped enforcement actions into the industries, and is working on friendly regulations with the stated purpose of sector growth.

• But congressional scrutiny of the prediction market sector is mounting amid concerns of insider trading.

• CFTC headcount is down sharply since last year to its lowest levels since the 2008 financial crisis and the agency’s enforcement activity has also fallen.

• “Taken together, these are concerning signs of a CFTC beholden to political pressures and interests of the wealthy insiders, unbound by the rule of law and failing to protect investors and market integrity,” Warren wrote.

(Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

source

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s best run in three years ended unhappily on Friday, with investors taking flight from hot technology shares, safe government bonds and gold alike following a strong May jobs report that reignited fears that U.S. interest rates may be rising again by year end.

The Nasdaq composite dropped 4.2% on Friday in its worst single-day decline in more than a year, extending this week’s investor retreat from favored AI and semiconductor companies. The S&P 500 dropped 2.65%, ending a nine-week string of advances in the index that was its longest since 2023, a week before SpaceX is expected to come to market with the largest-ever IPO. 

Analysts and portfolio managers said the selloff wasn’t shocking, given the scale of gains across the market since a March pullback driven by the war with Iran, and many indicated they expect buyers to return given the sharp rise in technology-firm earnings and the generally positive outlook for the U.S. economy.

Even so, Friday’s action surely came as a shock for investors who have bought into the scorching rallies of recent months. The semiconductor index dropped 8.8% on Friday, extending its slide since Tuesday’s close to 12%. Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, dropped 6.2% and Qualcomm fell 11%. The volatility index measuring expected stock swings rose 39%. 

Investors said the pullback was triggered by soft guidance this week by investor favorite Broadcom, which fell 6.8% on Friday.

But technology wasn’t the only site of carnage. U.S. government bonds also declined, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising 7 basis points to 4.54% and the 2-year note whose yield is driven by Federal Reserve rate expectations rising 11 basis points to 4.16%, its highest since early 2025. Gold fell 3.6%, reflecting the market expectation that inflation-adjusted “real interest rates” will rise after the hot inflation readings of 2026.

COMMENTS:

CAROL SCHLEIF, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, BMO PRIVATE WEALTH, MINNEAPOLIS:

“It’s partly rates but it could also be partly an excuse to sideline some funds for upcoming IPOs. Tech has been on a tear and is still up high teens over the past three months. A bit of pause is warranted!”

ANTHONY SAGLIMBENE, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL, TROY, MICHIGAN

“There’s two forces at work. We got a much stronger than expected non-farms payrolls report, twice what consensus was. It’s pushed back little on the idea of rate cuts. it could add some inflationary pressures to the economy. Treasury yields are higher.

“Wednesday we got a very good earnings report from Broadcom but its guidance was softer. We saw the selling pressure on Thursday that extended today. It’s gone beyond just Broadcom, it’s gone into the other AI chip makers, it’s gone into AI adjacent companies. Investors are just looking for an excuse to take some profits. 

“The job market is strong. The secular tailwinds of AI still exist, but there’s some rationalization taking place in the market, and that’s healthy longer term.”

RYAN DETRICK, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, CARSON GROUP, OMAHA, NEBRASKA:

“After the record run we’ve seen the last nine weeks in equities, specifically tech and semiconductors, the dam just broke today. Obviously, the stronger-than-expected jobs report puts the Fed in a tough spot regarding any interest rate cut for the rest of the year. And the market is throwing a fit by hitting the big winners so far this year.”

PETER TUZ, PRESIDENT OF CHASE INVESTMENT COUNSEL, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA: 

“What you saw today was a continuation of what started yesterday with Broadcom.  The quarter was great, but the guidance wasn’t what people expected.  

“People are wondering whether this will spread to other chip companies and related companies in the future.  As you know, they have done tremendously well in the past few quarters so a sell off isn’t all that unwarranted. 

“I think there is some concern about the big calendar of IPOs starting next week adding additional risk to the market.”

DENNIS DICK, A PROPRIETARY TRADER AT ​TRIPLE D TRADING, GEORGIAN BAY, ONTARIO 

“You’ve had a lot of people here that were just blindly buying the dip. Blindly buying the dip had been winning you money, but that ended today.” 

OHSUNG KWON, CHIEF EQUITY STRATEGIST AT WELLS FARGO, NEW YORK:

“The market reaction today was more driven by positioning rather than fundamentals. The semiconductor sector was way overbought. that’s why we’re seeing the sell-off. I don’t think it’s the end of the semi bull market.

“We’re going to continue to see volatility into the Fed unless CPI comes in soft.”

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, Stephen Culp, Noel Randewich, Saeed Azhar; editing by Colin Barr)

source

By Dan Catchpole

SEATTLE, June 5 (Reuters) – As Boeing increases production of its best-selling 737 MAX from 42 to 47 jets a month, the U.S. planemaker is looking at how it can climb to 70 a month, its highest ever, CEO Kelly Ortberg told CNBC on Friday.

“We’ll look at that to understand where our constraints are, what the resilience is of the supply chain, but that’s a study activity right now,” Ortberg said. 

The planemaker’s stated goal is to raise production to 63 jets a month.

The Air Current trade journal reported on Thursday that Boeing is drafting plans and assessing whether its suppliers could support raising production of the single-aisle jet to 70 per month.

Turning out more 737 MAX jets is critical to Boeing’s financial recovery after losing more than $30 billion in recent years and taking on historically high levels of debt. 

Boeing has methodically increased output since it restarted 737 production in December 2024. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration capped production at 38 jets per month after a panel blew out of a nearly new 737 MAX, revealing widespread production quality and safety problems. The cap was lifted in October 2025.

“We’ve made sure that we’re not moving (the rate up) until the production system is stable,” Ortberg said.

After consulting the FAA, the company said in May it is aiming to raise production to ​47 per month in mid-summer.  

Boeing plans to load the first plane on its new 737 production line in Everett, Washington, on July 6, Ortberg told CNBC.

The line is critical to the company’s plans to take 737 production to the next stage of 52 jets a month, he said. 

The supply chain will have to increase capacity to support Boeing’s increased production, Ortberg said on a first-quarter earnings conference call in April. 

European rival Airbus has long aimed for ​monthly output of 75 A320neo-family jets, but repeatedly ⁠delayed the target due to supply-chain constraints. It expects to reach 70 to 75 jets per month by the end of 2027, with plans ⁠to ​stabilize production at 75 thereafter.

(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in SeattleEditing by Rod Nickel)

source

NEW YORK (AP) — Saying “We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die,” the three remaining correspondents at the turmoil-plagued CBS News program have decided to stay, for now.

A memo from Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker to fellow staffers expressed anger — and grief — over the recent firings at the show, and said the three had had “a hard time” deciding whether to remain.

“Here’s why we are staying: We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die,” the three wrote in the joint memo obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

They expressed their regret over the recent firings of colleagues implemented by Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor-in-chief, and the executive producer she installed last week, Nick Bilton. He replaced Tanya Simon, who was let go after a 30-plus year tenure with the show. Also dismissed were correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, among other top staffers. Scott Pelley was then fired this week after a tense confrontation with CBS News bosses.

“We want to express how sorry we are that these principled, fair and honest journalists were treated so shabbily, with such indecency,” the three correspondents said in their memo. But they said they were “working to build trust” with Bilton, their new boss, and left open the possibility that they could leave later, if need be.

“If we can continue doing the work that made this show what it is — committing acts of independent, fearless journalism and storytelling — we’re here for it,” the three wrote. “If not, we leave.”

“Here’s to Season 59!” the note ended.

Persuading the three to remain was a crucial step in Bilton’s task of getting the show back on track for the next season, which launches in September.

The show is suddenly down four correspondents. In addition to the three dismissed, Anderson Cooper — whose primary job is on-air work for CNN — said earlier this year he was leaving of his own accord after two decades.

Turmoil had been evident at “60 Minutes” for more than a year. Much of it came after President Donald Trump sued the show over its editing of a 2024 interview with then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

That became part of a broader shake-up at CBS News after Weiss was named to the new role of editor-in-chief by parent company Paramount late last year following David Ellison’s arrival as the network’s corporate leader.

Ellison’s company, Skydance, merged with CBS parent company Paramount, which later settled the Trump lawsuit for $16 million. That upset some at “60 Minutes” and many believe it indirectly led to the departure last month of popular longtime CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, who had called the settlement “a big fat bribe.”

CBS News has been at the center of the American broadcast-news ecosystem since its radio days before the dawn of television, though Weiss earlier this year announced the shutdown of CBS News’ radio operation. The network’s nightly newscast was seen for decades as one of the most widely trusted institutions in the nation under longtime anchorman Walter Cronkite.

___

Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.

source

By Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) – The long-awaited, massive SpaceX initial public offering is expected next week, a major event for the U.S. stock market, with investors wary of possible overexuberance.

Stock indexes fell on Friday as strong jobs data ignited fears of hawkish monetary policy and semiconductor shares tumbled after a torrid run. The benchmark S&P 500 posted a weekly decline after nine straight weeks of gains.

The S&P 500 was still up about 8% in 2026, including a 16% rebound since its late-March low for the year.

“Nothing has stuck in terms of pessimism in the last two months,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist for Nationwide. “There is just this underpinning of momentum, this insatiable appetite for tech holdings and just the technical buying spree that is really dwarfing almost all other inputs.”

Next week, investors will also assess fresh data on consumer and producer prices, after the jobs report fueled fears that the Federal Reserve would focus on calming inflation, potentially leading to interest rate hikes. The coming week also brings earnings reports from key companies in the technology sector, which has driven the market’s recent surge despite a sour end to the week.

Some investors have been bracing for a pause, if not a pullback, after the sharp rally. Risks include the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and the potential for renewed spikes in energy prices if Middle East tensions flare.

SPACEX IN SPOTLIGHT

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is aiming to raise $75 billion, the most ever for an IPO, in a deal that would value it at $1.75 trillion. Pricing is expected on June 11, with trading to begin on the Nasdaq the next day.

The company has an unusual and diverse set of businesses, including rockets, satellite communications and AI computing. Adding in the involvement of Musk — Tesla’s leader and the world’s wealthiest man — and SpaceX’s valuation is tricky to pin down, rising to exorbitant levels by some measures. The company posted a net loss of $4.94 billion in 2025, even as revenue rose 33% to $18.67 billion.

The IPO could lure significant attention from retail investors and provide another high-profile way to gain exposure to the AI trade.

“We’ve got one of the biggest IPOs in history coming … which I think is the focus of everybody’s interest,” said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede. “The question mark surrounding it is whether it’s an indication of market froth.”

SpaceX’s debut is expected to be followed by other mega IPOs in the coming months from Anthropic and OpenAI, two of the AI leaders. Anthropic, which makes the Claude chatbot, said this week it has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO. 

The SpaceX IPO is “an important benchmark,” said Matt Wittmer, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, adding that “the company itself will be playing in some of those key areas that people are looking for to find new secular growth opportunities.”

CPI DATA DUE, ORACLE, ADOBE TOO

The May Consumer Price Index, due on Wednesday, will show how surging oil and gasoline prices are influencing inflation. One concern is the extent to which higher energy prices might be affecting other CPI components, Pride said, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting this month.

“The Federal Reserve is going to be watching this like a hawk,” Pride said. “They’re going to want to see those pieces continue to remain stable and not increase as a pass-through from the energy and food prices.”

In the wake of the spike in energy prices, futures are factoring in a greater chance the Fed raises interest rates this year rather than cuts, after markets had anticipated equity-friendly rate decreases at the start of 2026.

Other economic data next week includes Thursday’s report on producer prices.

Quarterly reports from tech companies Oracle and Adobe will also be in focus. Tech has long dominated the U.S. stock market, but the sector’s recent outperformance pushed it to more than 39% of the S&P 500’s market capitalization this week, its highest share on record. 

The results will test the strength of the tech trade and the rebound in the software industry, which was hit hard to start the year on concerns about AI disruptions. Shares of Oracle are up more than 9% this year, while Adobe is down 28%. 

“Getting more data points from some of the AI value chain is going to be important,” Wittmer said.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Colin Barr and Rod Nickel)

source

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury’s financial crimes arm wants banks to help identify payroll schemes tied to people living in the country illegally, as part of the Trump administration’s latest measure to clamp down on immigration.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — also known a FinCEN — issued an advisory Friday to banks that tells them to watch out for identity theft, payroll tax fraud, and money laundering schemes tied to hiring unauthorized workers.

This comes after President Donald Trump in May signed an executive order that requires banks to take a closer look at the citizenship of their customers.

The order directs bank regulators and government departments to look for signs that people without legal status are opening accounts or obtaining loans or credit cards. However, the order is less aggressive than banks had previously expected, as earlier reports suggested the White House was drafting an order that would make collecting customers’ citizenship information mandatory.

Still, without encouraging a blanket debanking of broad segments of the population, the order and latest advisory acts to discourage people in the U.S. illegally from interacting with the larger U.S. financial system.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that the Trump administration “will not allow illegal aliens to abuse financial institutions to steal billions of dollars from hardworking American taxpayers.”

“Schemes to pay unlawful workers often rely upon access to the U.S. financial system, including U.S. banks,” he said.

Since banks have never collected any information about their customers’ citizenship or immigration status, there are no reliable public figures on how much risk these customers pose to the financial system.

The banking industry had been aggressively lobbying for months to stop the White House from issuing an executive order that would have made collecting customers’ citizenship status mandatory, arguing it would be expensive and require vast amounts of paperwork. Since the order only offered guidance to the banks instead of a mandate, it appears the banks were able to win over the White House.

The advisory calls on financial institutions to be alert for more than a dozen so-called ‘”red flags” that indicate an individual is in the U.S. illegally.

——-

Sweet reported from New York.

source

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) – The U.S. economy posted another month of strong employment gains in May, confirming that the labor market was gaining traction after stumbling last year and sending short-term interest rates higher on Friday morning in the face of inflation stemming from the war with Iran.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 172,000 jobs last month after rising by an upwardly revised 179,000 in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its closely watched employment report on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls increasing by 85,000 jobs after a previously reported 115,000 rise in April.

The jobless rate remained at 4.3% for a third straight month. The improvement in payrolls mostly reflects low layoffs.

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: U.S. stock indexes opened mostly lower, with the Nasdaq composite down 1.2% and the S&P 500 off 0.7%. 

BONDS: Treasury prices fell, sending yields higher. The yield on the 2-year note, which is most sensitive to Federal Reserve policy expectations, rose 10 basis points to 4.15% while the 10-year yield rose 6 basis points to 4.54%.

RATE EXPECTATIONS: U.S. interest-rate futures jumped on the numbers, showing  a 65% chance of Fed tightening in December, compared with just 48% before the jobs report, according to LSEG estimates. 

FOREX: The dollar index rose 0.2% to 99.60. 

COMMENTS:

JASON PRIDE, CHIEF OF INVESTMENT STRATEGY AND RESEARCH AT GLENMEDE, PHILADELPHIA:

“The Fed’s calculus is unchanged, and the binding constraint on rate cuts remains inflation rather than employment. The labor market, while not accelerating, has shown more resilience than the unrevised data implied, which reduces any urgency for the Fed to act on the employment side of its mandate. 

“Investors should expect the Fed to hold at its next meeting and focus attention on whether post-ceasefire energy relief begins to pull headline inflation lower.” 

BRENT SCHUTTE, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT, MILWAUKEE:

“The labor market has strengthened and importantly broadened from its weak and narrow state in 2025, where non-cycle health care and the social assistance segment of the US economy was responsible for all the job growth and more.  

“The diffusion index (or % of industries hiring) which spent 9 of the 12 months below 50 in 2025, has checked in above 50 for the past 5 months, rising to 54.4 in May. 

“The good news for the consumer is that the labor market is strong and Americans are employed. The concerning news for future spending is that real wages are negative as average hourly earnings have risen 3.4% YOY vs current inflation which is running at 3.8%.  The Fed is likely to attempt to wait and see, but their focus is likely to shift to the inflation side of the mandate.”

MARC CHANDLER, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, BANNOCKBURN GLOBAL FOREX, NEW YORK:

“The bar to a Fed change is very high, and I don’t think this cuts it. It’s Warsh’s first meeting, and I can’t imagine the Fed raising rates at his first meeting… so I think that might limit how far the dollar gets here. 

“I still think there’s a good chance of a hike before the end of the year, but we’ll have to see.” 

PETER CARDILLO, CHIEF MARKET ECONOMIST, SPARTAN CAPITAL SECURITIES, NEW YORK:

“It certainly is an upside surprise. The 52,000 government payrolls adds might only be a one-time situation. But if you subtract that, it’s still above market expectations.

“Wages are up 0.3%, mostly in line with expectations, and indicates no wage problems in terms of the labor market. Unemployment was unchanged at 4.3% as expected, and the participation rate is unchanged.

“It’s a good report, and it shows that the labor market has certainly survived its latest slowdown, and it’s another reason to believe that the Fed’s next move will be a hike in interest rates.”

WILL COMPERNOLLE, MACRO STRATEGIST, FHN FINANCIAL, CHICAGO:

“Heading into the Fed meeting now, it’s clear that they can focus on inflation risk, but I think there’s even going to be a vocal contingency of the FOMC that’s going to question how restrictive policy is right now.

“The unemployment rate is heading downward and underlying inflation, even before the war, was elevated and maybe still accelerating. And because we never really know where neutral policy is, I think the case for policy tightening independent of war risk has become very relevant.

“It adds to that case (for interest rate hikes). There was already that sense going into this morning because a lot of the peripheral economic data was pretty strong and the prevailing narrative was that the U.S. economy was going to survive the energy shock, and the AI build-out is happening independently of what rates or the energy market is doing. And so now that you have three months of payroll growth… if there was any concern about the labor market, I think it really has evaporated.”

GARY SCHLOSSBERG, MARKET STRATEGIST, WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT INSTITUTE, SAN FRANCISCO:

“We did get an uptick in yields. It may be more of an interest rate story dominating the futures market and stocks at the moment.

“We’re talking about a strong economy. That just adds to inflation risk coming from the Gulf. It makes it difficult for the Fed to even think about rate cuts and might even increase the chances – although we’re still not forecasting that yet – of a rate hike by the Fed before the end of the year against the backdrop of inflation, likely to pick up from here. The one restraint on the Fed would have been softening labor market. We just didn’t see that. So there less of a restraint on the Fed to raise rates as inflation moves up.

“This is good news for the economy. It’s bad news because pressures may be building for higher rates and that creates a headwind not only for the economy, but for the stock market.”

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani, Hannah Lang, Stephen Culp, Karen Brettell, Sinead Carew; editing by Colin Barr)

source