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US stock futures rise ahead of labor data linked to future interest rate hikes – ExxonMobil sues EU to block energy windfall tax – California regulator warns of 26 fraud crypto websites – European natural gas prices drop
Stock futures rose in early trading at Thursday’s open as investors await labor market data that will give indications of future interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 55 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 notched up 0.4%, and the technology-heavy NASDAQ composite advanced 0.6%. The gains come after all three major averages were raised more than 1% in the previous trading session, Yahoo Finance reported.
In premarket trading, Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet all moved higher.
Tesla ended a seven-day losing streak the stock still is on pace for its worst month, quarter, and year. Tesla’s electric vehicle rivals Rivian, Lucid, and Nio all recovered after a week that saw all electric carmakers under pressure.
The benchmark US 10-Year Treasury Note was down -0.02 with a yield of 3.866% as of 8:49 AM EST. the US dollar index also retreated.
Oil extended its drop after a recent rally, as the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.6% to trade just above $77 dollars.
ExxonMobil is suing the European Union (EU) in a move to stop its new windfall tax on oil companies, Reuters reported. The EU imposes a windfall tax on companies that benefited from something they were not responsible for, according to BBC. Partly due to energy supply concerns amid the Ukraine war, energy companies are getting higher prices for oil and gas. Exxon reported a quarterly profit of almost $20 billion in October. The EU announced a 33% tax on this year’s profits, as they were over 20% higher than the average for the three previous years.
Exxon has accused Brussels of exceeding its legal authority calling the windfall tax measure “counterproductive.” Other major companies in the oil and gas sector have argued that a crackdown will discourage investment.
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has issued 17 separate warnings in the past two days over 26 cryptocurrency brokers and websites it suspects of fraud. According to Cointelegraph, the DFPI named RB Hood, Reliable Option Trade, Rui Win Capital Group LTD, Tahoe Digital Exchange, TeleTrade Options, Tony Alin Trading Firm, Hekamenltd/Tosal Markets Limited, Trade 1960, Yong Ying Global Investment Company Limited, Unison FX, VoyanX.com, and ZC Exchange, among others.
The price of natural gas in Europe fell this week to levels not seen before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The benchmark Dutch Title Transfer Facility bottomed out in recent weeks below 77 euros ($81.91) per megawatt hour and was trading at around 81.5 euros as of Thursday morning, CNBC reported.
