📰 Top News
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⚡ Trump threatens Iran over a critical oil chokepoint
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- U.S. stock futures fell and oil prices rose as the first day of U.S.-Iran talks turned tense, with President Trump threatening Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz, warning "you close it and you won't have a country."
- Dow futures dropped 191 points, or 0.37%, while S&P 500 futures lost 0.52% and Nasdaq futures fell 0.74%; U.S. oil futures rose 2.1% to $78.19 a barrel, Brent crude climbed 1.2% to $81.53, and gold dropped 1.5% to $4,180.40 per ounce.
- The moves followed Iran's declaration Saturday that it would close the Strait of Hormuz again, though U.S. Central Command said safe passage remained intact and traffic is up, citing a southern route along Oman's coast affirmed as safe.
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🤖 Alphabet's AI talent war is costing investors dearly
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- Alphabet's stock is on track for a record $269 billion one-day market-capitalization loss as investors fear the company is losing the war for AI talent following several high-profile departures.
- The decline, Alphabet's largest percent decrease since May 7 of last year, follows news that Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer is leaving Google DeepMind for OpenAI and Nobel Prize winner John Jumper is departing for Anthropic.
- D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria said the departures raise concern that Google, which had the state-of-the-art model for a few weeks last year, may now be falling behind, in what would mark the eighth-largest one-day wipeout for any U.S. company on record.
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🇨🇳 China hits back at dozens of blacklisted US firms
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- China imposed fresh trade restrictions on dozens of U.S. entities on Monday, retaliating against Washington's addition of more Chinese companies to a Pentagon list accusing them of aiding Beijing's military.
- The Ministry of Commerce placed 10 U.S. industrial suppliers on its export control list, including MP Materials, USA Rare Earth, Teal Drones, Jaia Robotics, Aveox, Ball Aerospace and Oshkosh Defense, barring exports of dual-use items originating in China.
- Separately, the Finance Ministry excluded 46 U.S. companies, mostly defense contractors, from government procurement, with analysts calling the countermeasures largely symbolic as most targeted firms have little or no meaningful business exposure in China.
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🇬🇧 Starmer's exit rattles the UK political landscape
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- U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced he is resigning as Labour Party leader after rival Andy Burnham won a by-election last week, with analysts anticipating higher borrowing costs as a result.
- Sterling dropped 0.3% to $1.3194 and the 2-year gilt yield rose to 4.287% while the 10-year hit 4.86%, with the FTSE 100 broadly flatlining as nominations for Labour's next leader open July 9.
- JPMorgan sees fiscal risk premium expansion towards the end of summer, while Citigroup's rates team warned political uncertainty could send 10-year gilt yields to a 5% to 5.25% range or higher amid Burnham's preference for nationalization.
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💊 AbbVie eyes its biggest acquisition in years
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- AbbVie is nearing a $10.9 billion all-cash acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech with no approved products, marking its largest deal since the $63 billion Allergan purchase in 2019, with an announcement possible as early as Monday, June 22.
- The $10.9 billion price values Apogee at a roughly 60% premium to its June 18 closing share price and exceeds its $6.8 billion market capitalization, even though Apogee's lead candidate zumilokibart, an IL-13 blocker for atopic dermatitis, remains years from any regulatory verdict.
- The deal reflects AbbVie's need for growth beyond Humira, as Skyrizi, Rinvoq and Humira brought in $30.4 billion combined last year, up 14% from 2024, with biosimilars eroding Humira and patent cliffs pushing big pharma to buy early-stage assets.
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