10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Here is what you need to know.
1. WeWork cofounder and CEO Adam Neumann reportedly sold shares he owned in the company and took loans worth $700 million. The news comes as WeWork and its parent company, last valued at $47 billion in private markets, is preparing for a highly anticipated IPO.
2. Stocks are jumping after two Fed officials signal rate cuts are coming. "You don't need to wait until things get so bad to have a dramatic series of rate cuts," Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said on Thursday.
3. Microsoft blew away Wall Street estimates in its most recent quarter and grew its revenue by 12% from last year. Already the biggest company in the world, the software titan's shares were up 1% in after hours trading.
4. Steven Mnuchin is eyeing in-person trade talks with China after reportedly speaking over the phone with Chinese officials. "Right now we're having principal-level calls and to the extent that it makes sense for us to set up in-person meetings, I would anticipate that we would be doing that," Mnuchin told Reuters.
5. Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian said San Francisco is great but "no one in their right mind" will build a company here anymore. He cited the area's skyrocketing costs of living and doing business as key reasons why he is looking elsewhere as an investor.
6. If President Trump intervenes in the $10 billion JEDI cloud contract, both Amazon and Microsoft could end up as losers. The Pentagon looked set to announce the winner of the $10 billion JEDI cloud contract in late August, with Amazon Web Services widely expected to walk away the winner.
7. PepsiCo is planning to acquire South Africa's Pioneer Food Group for around $1.7 billion, as it targets expansion in Africa. PepsiCo said the move would boost manufacturing and go-to market capabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as "enable scale and distribution."
8. Global stocks today are rallying. US futures are rising, with the S&P 500 (+0.3%) and the Nasdaq (+0.4%) both higher. Markets were on the up in Europe also, including Germany's Dax (+0.7%) and Euro Stoxx 50 (+0.6%). In Asia, markets closed higher with the Nikkei 225 (+2.0%), Hang Seng (+1.2%) and Shanghai Composite (+0.8%) up.
9. Another big day to round off a bumper week of earnings. American Express and BlackRock both have their second-quarter results. Indian giant Reliance is also reporting first-quarter earnings.
10. There's more interesting economic data coming out. Today's highlight is the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.