Top U.S. Stories

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record 52,900.07 on July 2, up 594.83 points (+1.14%), after June’s nonfarm payrolls came in at just 57,000 versus the 113,000 expected, easing fears of near-term Fed rate hikes. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 7,483.23, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8% to 25,832.67 as chip stocks including AMD, Micron, and Intel extended losses.
  • A record-setting heat wave gripped more than half the country over the holiday weekend, with over 185 million people under heat alerts as this July Fourth threatened to be the hottest on record in cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
  • President Trump announced pardons for individuals prosecuted for pollution violations tied to illegally modifying vehicles.
  • Pop star Taylor Swift and NFL tight end Travis Kelce were married at Madison Square Garden in New York, with hundreds of guests attending.
  • At the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, defending champion Joey Chestnut won with 66 hot dogs and buns, while Miki Sudo took the women’s title with 38.75.
  • Pope Leo XIV virtually accepted the 2026 Liberty Medal in a message urging the U.S. to welcome immigrants, before departing for Lampedusa, a major migrant-crossing hotspot.

Markets

WTI crude traded around $68.8 a barrel on July 3, roughly flat after a nearly 20% slide over the prior two weeks tied to easing U.S.-Iran tensions and expanded oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The dollar traded near 161.4–161.5 yen in New York on July 3 (161.15 yen per the ECB reference rate for that date), with the yen remaining under pressure from the wide U.S.-Japan rate gap even after the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 0.75%, a 30-year high. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rebounded to close at 69,744.07 on July 3 (+1,010.92), even as chipmaker Kioxia Holdings plunged as much as 13–15% on a slump in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and reports that Apple is considering Chinese-made memory chips.

Stocks in Focus

  • Kioxia Holdings: Tumbled on semiconductor sector weakness and reports of Apple weighing Chinese memory-chip suppliers.
  • AMD, Micron, Intel: Extended declines amid profit-taking after strong first-half gains in AI and chip names.
  • Financials and communication services: Among the few S&P 500 gainers as rate-hike expectations eased following the weak jobs report.

Not a recommendation to buy or sell any specific security.

Sources:

This post is based on publicly available information.

Auto-generated and AI-written. Not investment advice.