US Debt Ceiling Bill Passes

Market Overview

1. Update on the US Labour Market. In March, U.S. private businesses exceeded expectations by creating 278,000 jobs, far surpassing the predicted 180,000. Even though wage growth has slightly slowed, it remains robust at 6.5% year over year, down from the previous 6.7%. Meanwhile, jobless claims rose slightly to 232,000 last week, but this figure was still less than anticipated. However, not all news was positive, as U.S. businesses declared over 80,000 job cuts in May. This figure was not only 20% higher than the previous month, but also a staggering 287% increase compared to the same time the previous year.
   

2. US Debt ceiling bill passes. From a business standpoint, this deal is a definite win. It effectively removes the debt limit concern until 2025. This was a real mess that didn’t need to happen. Luckily we can forget about it till the end of this presidential term. The trade-off is only slight restrictions on flexible spending for the coming two years.
   

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4. Meta Platforms is launching its latest mixed-reality headset, the Quest 3, this fall. Priced at $499, it boasts a sleek design, superior cameras, and a "high-res colour mixed reality" feature. This comes at the same time as Apple's preparation to unveil its debut VR headset at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Worth noting, though, Meta's Reality Labs division reported a hefty $3.99 billion operating loss in the first quarter.
   

5. The hype around AI has recently fueled a stock buying spree. Tech-focused funds experienced a record weekly inflow of $8.5 billion last week. U.S. equity funds saw a boost of $13.3 billion.
   

6. Headlines

   1. Microsoft has signed a deal with Nvidia-backed startup CoreWeave for AI computing power that could be worth billions over multiple years.

   2. SpaceX has won a Pentagon contract to provide satellite internet services to Ukraine’s military.

   3. Chamath Palihapitiya is being sued by dozens of investors over his SPACs.

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