What Is “R Star” and Why Is It Important?

What’s in Today’s Report:

  • What is “R*” and Why Is It Important?
  • Palo Alto Shares Rip Higher by 15%, Sparking Tech Rally – Chart

Stock futures are higher this morning with mega-cap tech shares extending this week’s strong advance following news that SoftBank’s Arm semiconductor unit has filed for the largest U.S. IPO in 2 years after the close yesterday while traders await NVDA earnings tomorrow.

Overseas, the PBOC set the strongest yuan fixing on record overnight which has helped the currency stabilize and that is contributing to risk-on money flows this morning.

There were no other market moving headlines overnight and no notable economic reports were released.

Looking into today’s session, there is one economic report due out in the U.S. this morning: Existing Home Sales (E: 4.160 million) but it is unlikely to impact markets with traders primarily focused on tech so far this week.

There are two Fed speakers today: Barkin (7:15 a.m. ET) and Goolsbee (2:30 p.m. ET) and their commentary could move markets as markets look ahead to Fed Chair Powell’s remarks from Jackson Hole on Friday. Anything that sparks a further rise in Treasury yields could pour cold water on this week’s tech rally which is basically entirely responsible for the week-to-date gains in the broader equity markets.