10 things you need to know before the opening bell
It's jobs day in America. The US economy is expected to have added 180,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in June, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. That would be an improvement from the disappointing addition of just 38,000 jobs in May. Economists expect the unemployment rate to tick up to 4.8% and average hourly earnings to rise 2.7% year-over-year. The data will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET.
UK consumer confidence crashed after the Brexit vote. UK consumer confidence tumbled at its fastest rate in 22 years in response to the British vote to exit the European Union, according to the latest survey from the market research firm Gfk. A special survey commissioned by the firm found that consumer confidence crashed 8 points to -9 as all components moved lower. The British pound is higher by 0.6% at 1.2981.
The UK wants closer trade ties with China. On Thursday, finance minister George Osborne met with senior Chinese officials in London to discuss trade after the UK vote to leave the European Union, a source close to Osborne told Reuters. According to the source, the talks were "productive discussions on investment, financial services, and fostering stronger trading ties" for when the UK exits the EU. Osborne is set to attend the G-20 in Chengdu, China, later in July, and he will visit several Chinese cities to promote closer ties with China.
Juno Therapeutics is crashing. Shares of the biotech company tumbled by more than 30% in after-hours trade on Thursday after reports that two patients died during a phase 2 trial for its adult leukemia treatment JCAR015. The Food and Drug Administration has put the drug on clinical hold, which will push back its approval timeline. The drug was slated for approval in 2017, but now Juno is hoping to receive approval in 2018.
Gap sales crushed estimates. The retailer announced that US sales climbed 2% month-over-month in June, outpacing the 3.6% drop that analysts were expecting. Sales totaled $1.57 billion, propelled by a 5% gain at Old Navy. Gap shares were up by more than 5% after Thursday's closing bell.
The buyer of Yahoo might have to make a $1 billion payment to Mozilla. The contenders for Yahoo's core assets might need to rethink their final bids. That is because the eventual buyer might have to pay Mozilla $375 million a year through 2019, according to Recode's Kara Swisher. Back in late 2014, Yahoo and Mozilla struck a deal that made Yahoo the default search engine on all Firefox browsers in the US. A hidden clause in the contract allows Mozilla to walk away from the deal and still get paid if Yahoo gets sold, Swisher reports.
Venture capital investing is getting out of control. The second quarter was the most active for venture capitalists since 2010. VCs invested $22.3 billion with a staggering 39% going into unicorns. That was the highest percentage ever being put to work in the unicorn space.
Uber raised more cash. The ride-hailing giant received a $1.15 billion cash infusion through a leveraged loan, a source told Reuters. The loan allows Uber to take advantage of ultra-low interest rates without diluting existing investors. The Wall Street Journal says Uber will pay a yield of about 5% on the loan.
Stock markets around the world are mixed. Japan's Nikkei (-1.1%) led the losses in Asia, and Germany's DAX (+1.0%) paces the gains in Europe. S&P 500 futures are higher by 4.00 points at 2,096.00.
Aside from the jobs report, US economic data is light. Consumer credit will cross the wires at 3 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 1 basis point at 1.39%.