The daily business briefing: June 14, 2016
German bonds dip below zero as Brexit anxiety rises, gun-maker shares rise after Orlando mass shooting, and more
1. Growing Brexit support helps nudge German bonds below zero
Rising fear of a British exit from the European Union helped send yields on German 10-year government bonds below zero briefly on Tuesday for the first time in history. More British voters are supporting the so-called Brexit in a June 23 referendum, according to a Sunday Times/YouGov poll released on Monday. The survey found that 46 percent supported leaving the E.U. with 39 percent wanting to stay. In a similar poll last week, 42 percent wanted to leave and 43 percent wanted to stay. The shift caused global stocks to fall on Monday, with U.S. futures down again Tuesday.
The New York Times MarketWatch
2. Gun-maker shares rise following Orlando mass shooting
Shares of U.S. gun manufacturers jumped on Monday as the Orlando mass shooting — the deadliest in the nation's history — sparked a renewed push for tougher gun-control laws and a spike in firearm sales in case the legislation passes. Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. shares gained as much as 11.6 percent. Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. rose by 10.7 percent. President Obama has slammed Congress for failing to tighten gun laws after previous mass shootings. Gun sales increased in January after he said he would use executive powers to expand background checks for buyers and increase dealer licensing requirements.
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3. Apple shows off software and Siri upgrades
Apple unveiled software upgrades to all four of its main operating systems at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. The new iOS 10, available for download on iPads and iPhones this fall, will have a smarter, AI-enhanced iMessage system capable of highlighting "emojifiable" words so users can say "pizza" with a picture of a slice, or "love" with an appropriate emoji face. Apple also upgraded watchOS 3, tvOS 2, and macOS Sierra, and made improvements to virtual assistant Siri, which it is opening up to developers to spur innovation in the face of growing competition.
4. Fed kicks off two-day June meeting
The Federal Reserve's two-day Open Market Committee meeting for June starts on Tuesday. Fed officials have said their plans for continuing to slowly raise interest rates from near-zero remain on track, but expectations that they will start at the June meeting have plummeted since the Labor Department's disappointing May jobs report. Market odds have fallen from higher than 30 percent in late May to zero since the jobs report.
5. Supreme Court rejects Puerto Rico's debt-restructuring law
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Puerto Rico's 2014 debt-restructuring law conflicts with federal bankruptcy. The 5-2 decision means the U.S. Caribbean island is unable to use its law to cut billions of dollars in public utility debt over the objections of creditors, closing off its best chance to avoid default without Congress' help. The ruling came shortly after Congress this month passed legislation calling for a federal control board to help Puerto Rico handle a $70 billion debt load it says it can't pay.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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