Investing

Morning Blast: UPS Union Problems, More Rivian Gains, Wolfspeed Soars

Paul Ausick

Published: July 5, 2023 7:33 am

Premarket action on Wednesday had the three major U.S. indexes trading lower. The Dow Jones industrials were down 0.43%, the S&P 500 down 0.45% and the Nasdaq 0.53% lower.

In a press release early on Wednesday, the Teamsters union announced that contract negotiations with United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) had ended at around 4:00 a.m. ET after UPS “walked away from the bargaining table.” The union represents some 340,000 UPS workers, both full-time and part-time. The current contract, signed in 2018, expires on July 31.

On Sunday, the union announced that Chicago Local 710 had reached a tentative deal with UPS on a new five-year contract that resolved all non-economic issues between the two parties. The Chicago agreement marked the completion of the local-specific tentative agreements to be reached between UPS and the union locals across the country.

In its press release, UPS said the Teamsters “have stopped negotiating” and that the company has not “walked away.” The brief announcement concluded with a call for the union to “return to the table” to finalize a company offer made in late June. The union has demanded that UPS make its last, best and final offer, a demand the Teamsters say UPS has refused to meet.

UPS stock traded down about 2% in Wednesday’s premarket session.

Shares of Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN) have added more than $3.50 (22.2%) to their value over the past two trading sessions. And the shares were up more than 3% early Wednesday, following an announcement by Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) that Rivian’s first custom delivery vans have arrived in Germany. The 300 vans will be deployed in Munich, Berlin and Dusseldorf in the coming weeks, according to Amazon.

The vans are part of Amazon’s $1 billion investment in electrifying its European transportation network. Amazon plans a worldwide rollout of some 100,000 Rivian electric trucks by 2030. Rivian shares have gained more than 45% in the past five trading sessions.

Japanese semiconductor maker Renesas Electronics has signed a 10-year wafer supply agreement with Wolfspeed Inc. (NYSE: WOLF) for the North Carolina-based company’s silicon carbide wafers, allowing the Japanese firm to scale up production of silicon carbide power semiconductors beginning in 2025. The agreement includes a $2 billion upfront payment to Wolfspeed.

Silicon carbide power semiconductors are used extensively in industrial and automotive applications because they are more energy efficient, have a greater power density and cost less than semiconductors using older technology.

Wolfspeed was founded in 1987 as Cree, a supplier of LED lighting equipment. The company changed its name in 2021. Shares traded up by about 17% in Wednesday’s premarket.

Here is a look at how U.S. markets fared on Monday.

Nine of 11 market sectors closed higher. Consumer cyclicals (1.07%) and real estate (0.85%) posted the day’s largest gains. Health care (−0.82%) and technology (−0.31%) lagged. The Dow closed up 0.03%, the S&P 500 up 0.12% and the Nasdaq up 0.21 on Monday.

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Two-year Treasuries added seven basis points to end Monday at 4.94%, and 10-year notes rose by five basis points to 3.86%. In Wednesday’s premarket, two-year notes were trading at around 4.91% and 10-year notes at about 3.86%.

This week’s economic calendar is led by the nonfarm payrolls report due out before markets open on Friday. Economists expect the total to have risen by 220,000 in June, down from an increase of 339,000 in May. The headline unemployment rate is forecast to tick down from 3.7% to 3.6%. The weekly petroleum inventory report will be released Thursday instead of Wednesday.