All eyes on June jobs report
U.S. stocks look poised for a positive start on Thursday as traders await the Labor Department to release June employment report.
The report, which will be released today because Friday is the observance of Independence Day, is expected to indicate nearly 3 million jobs were created last month, up from the 2.5 million added in May.
Economists expect that the employment rate declined to 12.5% in June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The department will also release the unemployment claims figure for the week ended June 27. That weekly figure is expected to show another 1.38 million Americans filed new claims.
About 1.5 million Americans filed jobless claims last week, bringing the COVID-19 pandemic recession total to over 47.3 million.
By 5:30 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow indicated a gain of 232 points, or 0.91% to 25,807. S&P 500 futures climbed 20.4 points, or 0.66% to 3,123.5 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 49 points, or 0.48% to 10,317.75.
Tesla tops Toyota as world’s most valuable automaker
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has surpassed Toyota to become the world’s most valuable automaker by market value after its shares reached a record high on Wednesday.
Shares of the Elon Musk-led company hit $1,134 yesterday, handing it with a market value of $209.47 billion and beating Toyota’s $201.9 billion.
Toyota’s market value. The electric automaker is now worth more than triple the combined value of Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and General Motors (NYSE: GM).
Tesla is scheduled to announce its second-quarter delivery and production figures later today. Analysts expect the company to reports sales of 72,000 vehicles in the quarter, according to FactSet.
At the time of this writing, Tesla shares were up $72.88, or 6.51% to $1,192.51 apiece in premarket trade.
Lemonade prices IPO above range; at $29/share
Meanwhile, insurance startup Lemonade late Wednesday priced its initial public offering at $29 a share, above the already raised price range of $26 to $28 a share.
Lemonade had previously guided for the offering to be in the range of $23 to $26 a share. The SoftBank-backed company said in a statement that it sold 11 million shares and raised $329 million in the initial public offering.
Lemonade was founded in 2016 and provides insurance policies to renters and homeowners at a flat monthly rate that can be acquired instantly on its website. Its shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “LMND” on Thursday.
