US equity futures point to a softer start to the third quarter as investors await a fresh batch of economic data and the first major overseas appearance by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. As of 8:20am ET, S&P futures are down 0.2%, off session lows, while Nasdaq futures are down 0.6: techs lags following NDX’s 3.9% gain over the last 2 days; in premarket trading, chipmakers, which did much of the heavy lifting as investors piled into AI beneficiaries, were weaker with Mag7s mostly lower. Nike dropped 2% following a cautious outlook. Software names including Microsoft gained. Cyclicals are under pressure with HC and Staples leading a Defensives bid. Overnight the US removed Anthropic’s foreign access restrictions. Bond yields are flat to down 1bp, and USD is bid as positive progress is reported in US / Iran talk. In commodities, crude prices are lower as distillates rise; WTI futures are down about 0.8% following the biggest quarterly drop since the pandemic.Metals are under pressure, with Ags bid as the group has been the recent outperformer. US economic data calendar includes June ADP employment change (8:15am), June final S&P Global manufacturing PMI (9:45am) and June ISM manufacturing (10am). In premarket trading, Microsoft outperforms Magnificent 7 peers in premarket trading. Business Insider reports that the company is planning to announce job cuts, impacting thousands of roles, citing people it didn’t identify. Shares are up 1.7%. Other Mag 7 stocks are mixed early Wednesday (Alphabet -0.4%, Nvidia -0.6%, Apple -0.09%, Tesla -0.4%, Amazon +0.9%, Meta Platforms +0.3%). Here are some of the biggest US movers today:Abbott Lab (ABT) shares are up 0.03% in premarket trading after Baird initiated coverage of the stock with an outperform rating, saying a clearer path to upside for the medical device maker is “beginning to emerge.”Alcoa Corp. (AA) is down 5.0% after the mining company agreed to buy South32 Ltd.’s bauxite, alumina and aluminum assets in a deal worth as much as $5.6 billion. Morgan Stanley expects a negative reaction on the transaction multiple and limited visibility on synergies.Bloom Energy (BE) shares rise 8.3% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company expanded its partnership with Brookfield from $5 billion to $25 billion to help grow the fuel cell partnership globally.Dow Inc. shares are down 0.7% in premarket trading, after RBC Capital Markets downgraded the chemical company to sector perform from outperform. Mizuho cut its price target to $35 from $43.FMC shares rise 7.0% after the company said Tessenderlo Group will make a strategic minority equity investment of about $400 million at $13.30 per share. Shares in Tessenderlo gain 3.4% in Brussels.General Mills shares are up 4.89% after the packaged food company’s adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter beat the average analyst estimate.Grindr shares gain 6.9% ahead of the bell after Morgan Stanley upgrades the LGBTQ community dating company to overweight from equal-weight, highlighting monetizing opportunities. The upgrade leaves the stock with only buy-equivalent ratings.NASA selected Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines for four moon missions in late 2028 as part of the Moon Base Program. Intuitive and Firefly shares are up 7.2% and 2.7%, respectively.Nike shares fall 1.6% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the sneaker company said on its conference call revenue expectations for the next two quarters are now seen down low-to-mid single digits from down low single digits earlier.Klarna shares rise 6.9% after a Swedish Patent and Market court ordered Google to pay SEK14.3b ($1.47b) to Klarna’s subsidiary PriceRunner International following antitrust damages proceedings.Microsoft outperforms Magnificent 7 peers in premarket trading. Business Insider reports that the company is planning to announce job cuts, impacting thousands of roles, citing people it didn’t identify. Shares are up 1.7%.Shares in ServiceNow, Salesforce and Check Point Software rise in premarket trading as Guggenheim upgraded all three to buy from neutral, saying that the fatal AI bear case on software is a “hallucination.” ServiceNow +5.0%, Salesforce +3.3% and Check Point Software +3.1%.US stocks just posted their best quarter in six years with fresh signs of economic resilience bolstering confidence in corporate earnings. The rally added more than $8 trillion to the S&P 500’s market value over the past three months. The SOX semiconductor index posted its strongest quarter on record.“As long as earnings continue to be good and broaden out, I think we will get continued gains through the second half — probably lower than what we saw in the first half — but I think it will quite broadly based,” said Goldman’s Chief Global Equity Strategist Peter Oppenheimer. Technology remains the main driver of earnings growth even as hyperscalers have “derated” on concerns about longer-term returns, Oppenheimer said. Their heavy spending should continue to underpin growth and “trickle out” into parts of the economy supporting the AI infrastructure buildout, he told Bloomberg TV. Meanwhile, concentrated market leadership, passive investing, retail flows, leverage and a new volatility regime are increasingly dictating price action, Citadel Securities’ Scott Rubner wrote in a Tuesday note. In other assets, the global oil market is set to swing back into oversupply even after strategic reserves are replenished, according to Goldman Sachs. Japan’s currency chief suggested intervention was an effective strategy. Today’s main event takes place in Sintra, Portugal and the ECB’s annual symposium, where Warsh joins President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey at 9 a.m. New York time. Bloomberg Economics expects Warsh to strike a carefully balanced tone after signaling different messages to hawks and doves at the June FOMC meeting. After his pledge last month to deliver price stability sent the dollar and shorter-dated Treasury yields higher, traders will be looking for further clues on the rate path for the year ahead.“Given the absence of forward guidance from the Fed now, there is going to be intense focus on any comments” from Warsh, wrote Chris Turner, a foreign-exchange strategist at ING Bank NV. “A focus on price stability can keep the dollar bid.”Investors are increasingly shifting focus to growing price pressures in an economy that’s firing strongly, with expectations building for a solid payrolls report on Thursday. European stocks also slipped in early Wednesday trading, with indexes dragged down by mining companies on the back of weaker commodity prices. The Stoxx 600 falls 0.2% to 640.52 with 229 members up, 361 down, and 10 unchanged. Among individual stocks, Switzerland’s Galderma fell the most in over a year after the US FDA turned down the firm’s Botox rival Relfydess. CMC Markets jumped to a fresh record high after raising its guidance. Here are the biggest movers Wednesday:CMC Markets shares soar as much as 25% to a fresh record after the UK financial derivatives dealer raised its guidance for 2027 net operating income citing strong momentumRenault shares rise as much as 4.5% after the French carmaker hosted a pre-close call with analysts ahead of its first-half results scheduled for the end of the monthTecan shares rise as much as 10% after UBS raised its recommendation in the Swiss laboratory technology group to buy from hold, saying top-line growth has bottomed out and expected margin improvements are not yet priced inAker ASA gains as much as 11%, the most since January, after it agreed to sell its shares in Cognite Holding to Schneider Electric, which meanwhile dropped as much as 3%ASOS shares gain as much as 12% after announcing it will sell its Atlanta fulfilment center and associated automation assets for net proceeds of ~£48 millionRS Group rises as much as 5.1%, the most since May 20, as Deutsche Bank upgrades the distributor of electrical and industrial products to buy from hold on a strengthening recovery caseGalderma shares slump as much as 6.6%, the most in more than a year, after the US Food and Drug Administration turned down the Swiss dermatology firm’s rival Botox treatment RelfydessAB Foods shares fall as much as 3.6%, the most in over two months, after the conglomerate delivered an underwhelming third-quarter update and downgraded the outlook for its sugar business in the 2026 and 2027 fiscal yearsBucher shares fall as much as 3.6%, the most since April 28, after Kepler Cheuvreux cut its price target on the Swiss agricultural machinery company, citing capex sentiment indicators in Europe that are nearing recession territoryMedacta drops as much as 4.1%, the most in a month, as Stifel cuts its full-year organic revenue growth estimates for the Swiss medical-implant firm to the midpoint of guidanceEarlier, Asian stocks fluctuated on Wednesday after capping their best quarter in 17 years, as investors paused to assess the outlook for the AI rally that has been a major driver of the gains. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index swung between gains and losses for most of the day. Declines in South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were a major drag, offsetting gains in Japan and Taiwan — which together account for about half of the benchmark. Hong Kong markets were closed for a public holiday. The Kospi declined as the National Pension Service was set to resume rebalancing its domestic stock holdings after a temporary suspension.The Asian benchmark climbed 21% last quarter while a subgauge of tech shares soared a record 74%. However, the sector’s rally slowed in June as rising concerns over the payoff from hefty AI investments, coupled with elevated valuations and crowded positioning, sparked intermittent pullbacks, particularly in Korean shares. The AI trade within Asia has been “quite narrow,” Hebe Chen, senior market analyst at Vantage Global Prime, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “That overcrowding is often exposed to a higher and sharper fall if the tide changes, because this rally has attracted so much liquidity,” she added.In FX, The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index rises 0.2% to its highest level this week before Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh appears on a policy panel alongside peers from Europe and the UK.Treasuries are narrowly mixed with yields less than a basis point away from their closing levels on Tuesday, when they climbed 7bp-9bp amid a flurry of month-end selling in futures. WTI crude oil futures are down, underpinning Treasuries, as traders monitor peace talks between the US and Iran. US 10-year yields are down 1bp to around 4.46%, Treasuries are little changed on the day while curve spreads are marginally steeper. European bonds lag Treasuries, following the late weakness in futures into the US month-end index rebalancing, which also saw the day’s steepening move accelerate. Focal points of US session include key manufacturing data and unscripted comments by Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh. In commodities, Brent extended declines, falling 1% to $72.20 a barrel. US negotiators held positive discussions in Qatar and progress is being made on technical talks with Iran, according to a senior administration official, as the countries seek to turn an interim peace deal into a permanent end to the war. That’s been of little support to European government bonds, however. UK and German 10-year borrowing costs rise 2 basis points each. Precious metals decline, with spot silver down over 1%. US economic data calendar includes June ADP employment change (8:15am), June final S&P Global manufacturing PMI (9:45am) and June ISM manufacturing (10am). Fed speaker slate includes only Warsh, participating in an ECB panel in Sintra, Portugal at 9am New York timeMarket SnapshotTop Overnight NewsIran and U.S.-allied Oman are moving forward with plans to collect payment for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, despite public American objections. NYTUS negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held positive discussions in Qatar and progress is being made on technical talks with Iran, according to a senior administration official, as the countries seek to turn an interim peace deal into a permanent end to the war. BBGThe US removed foreign access restrictions on Anthropic’s Fable 5 AI model. The company said it will restore global access across its platforms starting today. BBGXi Jinping signaled China’s ambition to play a more high-profile role, a strategy that involves rallying developing nations as a counterweight to what he views as fading US influence. BBGThe yen pared some losses after Japan’s top FX official said past intervention efforts were successful, adding that Washington remains in close communication with Tokyo over FX policy. South Korea’s won slid toward its weakest level since the global financial crisis. BBGEuro-area inflation eased more than anticipated in June. Consumer prices rose 2.8% from a year ago, down from 3.2% a month earlier. BBGPresident Trump has weighed a return to all-out war with Iran, holding multiple conversations in recent days with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine on more strikes, but has decided to stick with diplomatic talks for now, according to U.S. officials familiar with the discussion. WSJMicrosoft plans thousands of job cuts, impacting less than 2.5% of workforce. Business InsiderRepublicans’ cash advantage just got a lot more powerful thanks to the Supreme Court — and the Democratic National Committee’s fundraising struggles just got a lot more concerning for their party. Democrats argue that the court’s Tuesday decision, which allows political parties to freely coordinate with candidates, will give the GOP the ability to offset Democratic candidates’ fundraising lead in battlegrounds. PoliticoThe value of global M&A rose around 30% year-on-year to $2.6 trillion in the first half, on course to potentially pass 2021’s record haul. Companies struck 38 deals valued at $10 billion or more, the most ever in a six-month period. BBGUS Challenger Job Cuts (Jun) 45.849K (Prev. 97.006K); cuts remain concentrated in tech, with AI continuing to reshape how companies think about headcount.A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of NewqsuawkAPAC stocks were mixed, in which bourses partially sustained the positive momentum from the tech-led gains on Wall St, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their best quarter in six years. The region also digested a slew of data, including the stronger-than-expected BoJ Tankan survey and numerous PMIs. ASX 200 was dragged lower by weakness in the consumer, financial, tech and telecom sectors, while sentiment was also not helped by a surprise contraction in Building Approvals data. Nikkei 225 rallied following the stronger-than-expected Tankan survey, which showed Large Manufacturing Sentiment was at the highest in 8 years, although the index gradually wiped out the majority of its gains amid intervention risks and as the data supported the case for the BoJ to continue normalising policy.