$CULP

By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) -Wall Street stocks moved higher and Treasury yields eased as investors weighed China growth expectations and looked ahead to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's congressional testimony and crucial jobs data expected later in the week. All three major U.S. stock indexes gained ground on Monday, appearing to extend last week's rally, with lower Treasury yields boosting interest rate-sensitive megacap stocks. A drop in U.S. factory orders followed modest growth estimates from China, boosting hopes that economic softening could translate to cooling inflation. "The guidelines regarding economic growth out of China is being viewed as anti-inflationary," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. "The slow-ish growth number, has resulted in the belief that if the economy is slowing that's good for the belief that inflation is going down, which supports the belief we could be getting close to the end of the (Fed's) interest rate hike cycle." On Tuesday and Wednesday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is due to deliver his semi-annual testimony before Congress, which will be closely parsed for any clues regarding the extent and duration of the central bank's restrictive monetary policy aimed at curbing inflation. Further down the road, the Labor Department's much-anticipated February employment report is expected on Friday. Any signs of softening in the robust jobs market will be seen as a sign that the Fed's hawkish tactics are having their desired effect. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 122.6 points, or 0.37%, to 33,513.57, the S&P 500 gained 26.33 points, or 0.65%, to 4,071.97, and the Nasdaq Composite added 104.07 points, or 0.89%, to 11,793.07. European shares reversed earlier gains and were last essentially unchanged after modest China growth estimates suggested a possible dampening of demand for European goods. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.01% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.68%. Emerging market stocks rose 0.64%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.57% higher, while Japan's Nikkei rose 1.11%. Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields continued to ease as dampening demand supported hopes that the Fed is approaching the end of its rate-hike phase. Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 5/32 in price to yield 3.9459%, from 3.963% late on Friday. The 30-year bond last rose 14/32 in price to yield 3.8621%, from 3.887% late on Friday. The dollar lost ground against a basket of world currencies ahead of Powell's testimony and the jobs data. The dollar index fell 0.29%, with the euro up 0.41% to $1.0678. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.05% versus the greenback at 135.82 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.2021, down 0.16% on the day. Crude prices headed lower after China's low-end growth projections fuelled fears of softening demand. U.S. crude fell 0.53% to $79.26 per barrel and Brent was last at $85.17, down 0.77% on the day. Gold consolidated recent gains, with the safe-haven metal inching lower in advance of Powell's congressional testimony. Spot gold dropped 0.2% to $1,851.53 an ounce.

/*============================================= = Thursday, June 17, 2021 = =============================================*/ Futures Up/Down % Last Dow -110.00 0.32% 33,795 S&P 500 -16.25 0.39% 4,196 Nasdaq -87.50 0.63% 13,885 U.S. stock futures are lower, with major averages looking to open down between -0.3% and -0.6% after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but signaled it expected to boost interest rates two times by the end of 2023, earlier than Wall Street had anticipated. Treasury yields ended higher yesterday, as the 10-year holding around the 1.57% level (up roughly 8 bps prior to the Fed announcement). The number of Fed governors who expect rate hikes as early as 2022 – known as the dot plot – went to seven from four, essentially translating into two rate hikes in 2023 based on growth and inflation projections from the 18 members of the FOMC as the economy recovers rapidly from the effects of the pandemic and inflation heats up. Banking shares rally, however, as bond yields rise, with the 10-year Treasury hitting 1.55%. Chairman Jerome Powell also said officials discussed an eventual reduction of bond-buying, though the timing of such a move remains uncertain. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index dropped -272 points to 29,018, the Shanghai Index rose 7 points to 3,525, and the Hang Seng Index gained 121 points to settle at 28,558. In Europe, the German DAX is down around -20 points to 5,695, while the FTSE 100is down -30 points at 7,150. Precious metal prices are plunging with gold and silver down sharply as the U.S. dollar rebounds. Market Closing Prices Yesterday The S&P 500 Index slipped -22.89 points, or 0.54%, to 4,223.70 The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -265.63 points, or 0.77%, to 34,033.67 The Nasdaq Composite dipped -33.22 points, or 0.24%, to 14,039.68 The Russell 2000 Index declined -5.38 points, or 0.23% to 2,314.69 Events Calendar for Today 8:30 AM ET Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 359K 8:30 AM EST Continuing Claims…est. 3.43M 8:30 AM EST Philly Fed Business Index for June…est. 31.0 10:00 AM EST Leading Index MoM for May…est. 1.3% 10:30 AM ET Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data Earnings Calendar: Earnings Before the Open: $CMC, $JBL, $KR Earnings After the Close: $ADBE, $SWBI Other Key Events: Cowen Annual Future Health Conference (virtual), 6/16-6/17 Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference (virtual), 6/16-6/17 European Hematology Association (EHA) Virtual Meeting, 6/9-6/17 Macro Up/Down Last Nymex -0.07 72.08 Brent -0.10 74.29 Gold -10.10 1,801.35 EUR/USD -0.0063 1.1932 JPY/USD 0.05 110.76 10-Year Note -0.007 1.562% World News Brazil’s Central Bank raises rates by 75bps to 4.25% as expected; indicates it may do so again next meeting Swiss National Bank rates unchanged -0.75% as expected; Franc remains highly valued; prepared to intervene in FX markets; as necessary; 2021 GDP expected 3.5% vs. 2.5-3.0% previous Sector News Breakdown Consumer Lennar Corp. ($LEN) Q2 adj EPS $2.95 vs. est. 42.36; Q2 revs $6.4B vs. est. $5.91B; Deliveries of 14,493 homes, up 14%; new orders of 17,157 homes, up 32%; backlog of 24,741 homes, up 38% (backlog dollar value of $11.0 billion, up 56%); homebuilding net margins of $1.1 billion, compared to $655.1 million and gross margin on home sales of 26.1%, compared to 21.6% Honest Company ($HNST) 1Q adj EPS ($0.05) vs. est. ($0.06) on revs $81Mm vs. est. $79.3Mm; digital channel revenue increased 2% to $42.5 mln in q1 of 2021 compared to q1 of 2020 (downgraded to Neutral at Guggenheim) China’s market regulator has commenced an antitrust probe into Didi Chuxing as it prepares for a U.S. IPO, Reuters’ reported Energy, Industrials and Materials Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. ($NOG) announces core Permian basin bolt-on acquisitions of $102.2M; management intends to submit a request for a 50% increase to quarterly dividend; commenced underwritten public offering of 5 mln shares of its common stock Northern Oil and Gas ($NOG) 5M share Spot Secondary priced at $17.25 Culp Inc. ($CULP) Q4 adj EPS $0.11 on sales $79.1M vs. est. $0.08 and $66.1M; sees near-term headwinds temporarily pressuring business in FY22 The Federal Aviation Administration issued a directive for Boeing ($BA) requiring operators of 737 MAX airplanes to conduct additional inspections for the plane’s automated flight control system. The directive makes mandatory instructions released by Boeing in December that recommend that planes with more than 6,000 flight hours be subject to specific electronic checks. Financials The Justice Department said late Wednesday it would sue to stop insurance broker Aon’s ($AON) $30 billion bid for Willis Towers Watson ($WLTW) citing antitrust concerns. Shares of Arthur Gallagher ($AJG) shares fell – recall the co had agreed to buy assets from the two insurance brokers were selling in order to get antitrust approval in Europe Angel Oak Mortgage ($AOMR)2M share IPO priced at $19.00 The9 Limited ($NCTY) selects Coinbase Custody, a wholly owned subsidiary of Coinbase Global ($COIN) as the custodian for The9’s digital assets, including Bitcoin BNY Mellon ($BK) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette Northern Trust ($NTRS) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette Voya Financial ($VOYA) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi Healthcare CureVac ($CVAC) shares fell 45% after saying its COVID-19 vaccine was only 47% effective in a late-stage trial, missing the study’s main goal and throwing in doubt the potential delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to the European Union. C4 Therapeutics ($CCCC)25M share Secondary priced at $37.00 iSpecimen ($ISPC)25M share IPO priced at $8.00 Biogen Inc. ($BIIB) announced topline results from its Phase 2 TANGO study of gosuranemab (BIIB092), an investigational anti-tau antibody that was being evaluated as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Satsuma Pharmaceuticals ($STSA) announces positive pharmacokinetic, tolerability and safety results from phase 1 trial of sts101 at multiple dose strengths Tarsus Pharmaceuticals ($TARS) has initiated dosing participants in its first clinical trial for TP-05, a novel, oral, non-vaccine therapeutic for the prevention of Lyme disease. Lyell Immunopharma ($LYEL) 25M share IPO priced at $17.00 Verve Therapeutics ($VERV)04M share IPO priced at $19.00 Technology, Media & Telecom Baidu ($BIDU) is partnering with BAIC Group’s EV brand ARCFOX to jointly release Apollo Moon, a new generation of robotaxis that are set to be mass-produced with a per unit manufacturing price of RMB 480,000 Nokia ($NOK) to expedite rollout following the availability of a 3.5GHz spectrum; the improved services will offer premium 5G speeds to customers. Elbit Systems ($ESLT) subsidiary has been awarded two orders with an aggregate value of ~$29M by the US army’s program Urban One ($UONE) files to sell 2.93M shares of Class A common stock for holders

US markets closed higher on Friday, as upbeat US economic data showed signs of recovery in the economy. Buckle surged 18.8%, after the fashion retailer’s second quarter earnings came in above analysts’ forecast. Deere advanced 4.4%, as the company raised its earnings and sales outlook for the year. Foot Locker added 1.4%, after reporting better than expected revenue and earnings in the second quarter. General Electric rose 0.6%, after announcing that it extended the contract of its Chief Executive Officer, Larry Culp, through August 2024. On the flipside, Sorrento Therapeutics declined 8.1%. The company announced that it acquired gene-encoded therapeutics company, SmartPharm for a consideration of $19.4 million in stock. Keysight Technologies dropped 6.8%, despite reporting better than anticipated revenue and earnings in the third quarter. The S&P 500 gained 0.3%, to settle at 3,397.2. The DJIA rose 0.7%, to settle at 27,930.3, while the NASDAQ added 0.4%, to close at 11,311.8