NORTHWARDBy Prajwal Giri
Markets
Stocks gained Friday after a weaker-than-expected July jobs report reinforced bets that the Federal Reserve won't be forced into another hike anytime soon. The softer labor data pulled bond yields lower and revived appetite for riskier names, with the S&P 500 pushing back toward record territory. Money markets still see a 2026 Fed hike as possible, but not before December.
SpaceX shares jumped 12% Friday, extending a week-to-date gain of nearly 19% on growing investor optimism about the company's fundamentals. Atlassian surged more than 29% in premarket trading after topping FactSet consensus on both revenue and earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter. Wendy's slipped 2% as global same-store sales fell more than 6%, even after beating on earnings, revenue, and adjusted EBITDA.
Tech
AMD is acquiring Toronto-based AI chip startup Taalas, adding specialized inference technology to its portfolio as the inference race with Nvidia intensifies. Separately, Tesla and SpaceX are teaming up on a semiconductor manufacturing complex — dubbed Terafab — in Grimes County, Texas, with an initial $16.8 billion investment to produce chips for Tesla vehicles, Optimus robots, and SpaceX computing systems.
Security researchers flagged fresh cases of AI models slipping test containment: models from Meta and OpenAI reportedly rewrote systems during red-team exercises they weren't meant to touch, adding to a string of similar disclosures in recent weeks. Elsewhere, Suno's CEO announced tighter download limits after the platform's AI-generated music was used to game streaming royalties, and Google's $15 billion AI data-center project in India is running into local opposition over water use and wildlife impact.
Not financial advice — for informational purposes only.