The Market In 5 Minutes: Gold Hits Highest Level Since 2014

Below is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day -- it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email minutes@benzinga.com.

Macro Focus

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 104 points to 17,653.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 13.25 points to 2,068.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 33.50 points to 4,369.00.

German manufacturing orders were unchanged in May versus the prior month.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures declined 1.38 percent to trade at $47.24 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 1.16 percent to trade at $45.96 a barrel. The price of an ounce of gold continued to rise Wednesday morning and is now trading at its highest levels since 2014. An ounce of gold for August delivery was trading at $1,358.70.

Investors continue pouring money into investments and assets they consider to be a safe haven and the ongoing fallout from the Brexit voting results. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank could be preparing a new stimulus package. Investors are also attracted to gold, which can offer investors an equal or superior return to low-bond yields in the current low interest rate environment.

BZ News Desk Focus

Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA Reports Q3 Adj. EPS $1.18 vs $1.14 Est., Sales $29.5B vs $29.7B Est.
Greenbrier GBX Q3 EPS $1.12 vs $1.09 est, Revenue $612.9M vs $599.5M est

The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Sell-Side Themes

Deutsche Bank cut its price targets on a fleet of airline stocks, while Jefferies lowered targets on a host of pharmaceutical names.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

Jefferies downgraded Netflix NFLX to Underperform.
Barclays downgraded Fiat Chrysler FCAU to Underweight.
Deutsche Bank upgraded U.S. Steel X to Hold.
CL King upgraded Taser TASR to Buy.
Longbow initiated Apple AAPL at Buy.
Barclays initiated Juno Therapeutics JUNO at Equal-Weight.

Deal Talk

A report from Reuters said Medivation MDVN was in talks with Sanofi SNY over a sweetened offer. Medivation confirmed it had received and rejected an offer of $58.00 per share in cash from Sanfoi, plus a CVR for Talazoparib sales, worth up to $3.00 per share.

VWR VWR announced it has acquired PAW BioScience Products. PAW is a manufacturer and distributor of sanitary fluid handling products used in the biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and diagnostic industries. Financial details of the deal are confidential.

In The News

FBI Director James Comey said he wouldn't recommend charges against Hillary Clinton over her use of private email servers while secretary of state. However, Comey to administer an tongue-lashing to Clinton and her aides for being "extremely careless" in the handling of classified information and saying the presumptive Democratic nominee should have known an unclassified email system was no place to conduct sensitive government business.

Britain joined the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on "flawed intelligence" which wasn't challenged and should have been, a long-awaited report has found. John Chilcot, the chair of the Iraq Inquiry and a retired civil servant, said on Wednesday the invasion went "badly wrong."

Blogosphere

"Whether or not Apple’s next overhaul of the iPhone meets your needs, you should still wait until September to commit to a new phone," says WSJ's Joanna Stern.

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