Mid-Morning Look: June 17, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

U.S. stocks open little changed/slightly higher ahead of the first FOMC policy meeting this afternoon at 2:00 pm et, with new Chair head Kevin Warsh set to host his first press conference and give Wall Street an idea where the committee stands on rates. While a rate change is NOT expected today, economic data over the last few weeks has shown a strong economy and rising inflation, changing the market outlook for a rate hike by the end of the year instead of rate cuts which were expected coming into 2026. Technology (XLK) stocks rebound behind a recovery in semi chips (SOX), though large cap tech META, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN, TSLA are down notably. Financials are also seeing strength (XLF) with shares of GS, MS, BAC hitting 52-week highs while Consumer Staples (XLP), Communications (XLC) and Energy (XLE) are laggards.  

A quiet session thus far ahead of the FOMC rate announcement later today, the onslaught of central bank decisions this week continues with BCB today and seven central banks, including the BOE, announcing rates tomorrow. After dropping as tech got hit yesterday US equity futures regained some poise and pared some of the decline but failed to recoup all their losses. Oil resumed its slide as optimism around the MOU holds, Brent is below $79/bbl but bouncing back this morning above $80. U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in May, jumping 0.9% last month after a downwardly revised 0.4% gain in April and above economists views of 0.5% after a previously reported 0.5% increase in April. Some of the rise in sales last month reflected higher gasoline prices, lifting receipts at service stations.

Stocks had surged on Monday after news the U.S. and Iran are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding that would end the war, launch 60 days of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, lift sanctions, and provide economic support and reconstruction assistance to Iran. This morning, U.S President Trump said that the memorandum of understanding on Iran was not final, and that he could resume a bombing campaign if he did not like it. “It’s a memorandum of understanding. And if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head. If I don’t like it, if they don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, OK?” said Trump, at the G7 summit in France. Trump said the Iran memorandum of understanding did not include immediate sanctions relief for Iran, while adding he would talk about this matter later.

• April Business Inventories +0.5% while U.S. April inventory/sales ratio 1.31 months’ worth vs March 1.32 months; U.S. April business sales +1.2% vs March +2.2% (prev +2.1%).
• May pending home sales: +3.8% M/M vs. +0.9% consensus and +0.3% prior (revised from +1.4%), according to data released by the National Association of Realtors.

• Auto services: UBER, Nuro, and LCID plan to launch a robotaxi service in Houston by mid-2027. The service will run through Uber’s network using Lucid Gravity EVs equipped with Nuro’s Level 4 autonomous driving platform. Separately, UBER and WRD announced plans to launch commercial Robotaxi services in the Greater Zurich Region, marking their second Joint deployment in Europe within weeks. Lastly, STLA, UBER and Wayve announced they have entered a partnership to jointly explore the development and deployment of Level 4 robotaxis at a global scale. KMX shares slide following results.
• CRO Sector: IQV was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley saying the firm struggles to identify clear drivers of upside for Iqvia relative to the CRL setup while Charles River upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley saying the company is well positioned to benefit given its leading preclinical capabilities.

• ALOT +70%; to be acquired by Arcline for $29 per share in cash deal.
• ASTS +6%; after successfully launched BlueBirds 8, 9, and 10 aboard a Falcon 9 Rocket, advancing deployment of its space-based Cellular Broadband network. The satellites are designed to deliver peak data speeds of nearly 200 Mbps directly to standard smartphones.
• GNK +2%; as DSX raises its offer to acquire the shipping company to $27.34 per share comprised of $24.80 in cash and one Diana share valued at $2.54 per Genco share.
• JBL +10%; shares hit record highs after results/guidance; Q3 adj EPS $3.16 vs. est. $3.1B and revs $8.8B vs. est. $8.6B; sees Q4 EPS $3.80-$4.20 vs. est. $3.73 and revs $9.2B-$10.0B vs. est. $9.05B.
• LZB +24%; reported Q4 sales essentially in line, and EPS above consensus benefitting from recent acquisitions and divestitures; retail written comp store sales improved sequentially in FQ4, rising 11% and delivered sales increased 9% benefiting from stronger trends in April.
• QURE +66%; said it plans to submit a BLA in Q3 2026 seeking FDA accelerated approval for AMT-130 in Huntington’s disease; FDA indicated the Phase I/II 3-year analysis could support the filing as the primary basis for review (CLPT, REPL, BHVN, PTCT, CAPR, SRPT early strength in sympathy).

• KMX -7%; after quarterly results; Q1 revs rose 6% Y/y to $8B vs. est. $7.41B; Q1 EPS fell -5.1% Y/y to $1.31; Q1 Gross profit declined 4.4% Y/y due to lower retail unit margins from pricing actions.
• LDOS -3%; downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank America and lowered tgt to $125 from $200 as they now see downward pressure in the near term for their healthcare unit.
• LNG -1%; adding to the prior day losses along with VG after Qatar is beginning to bring its LNG Tankers back to the Middle East as it prepares to ramp-up exports. At least 5 empty Qatar-linked Tankers linked are returning after being idle.
• SPCX -2%; drops back under $200 after hitting highs just under $230 on Tuesday and rising sharply since its $135 IPO pricing last Thursday.