BEFORE THE OPEN
Source: Thomson Reuters

• Futures for Canada's main stock index were up, tracking Wall Street futures as investors waited to see how high the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates to quell inflation at its policy meeting
• European stocks jumped, with banks leading the gains, after the ECB said it will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the recent sell-off in government bond markets
• In Asian equity markets, Japan's Nikkei index ended at a more than one-month low, while Chinese shares closed up after data showed surprising growth in industrial production
• Gold prices rose, bolstered by a pullback in the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury yields as Fed verdict looms
• Oil prices fell on concerns about fuel demand and global economic growth

• Chief executives from the companies called on Congress to pass legislation aimed at boosting U.S. economic competitiveness against China, including in chip manufacturing
• Those executives and more than 100 others signed a letter urging the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, which each have passed different versions of the legislation, to reach an agreement and send a bill to President Joe Biden for his signature
• Legislators will break for a summer recess in August, after which most observers expect lawmakers to shift their attention to this fall's midterm elections
• The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), which organized the letter signing, said the letter was the largest group of corporate leaders so far to endorse the bill
• The SIA is also calling for an investment tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing and design in the competitiveness legislation

• China's internet search engine giant is in talks to sell its controlling stake in iQIYI, China's answer to Netflix, in a deal that could value all of iQIYI at about $7 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said
• Baidu, which owns 53% of iQIYI and holds more than 90% of its shareholder voting rights, plans to sell all its holdings in the Chinese video streaming services firm, said those two people and another two sources familiar with the matter
• Nasdaq-listed iQIYI, the No. 2 player in China's video streaming market after Tencent Holdings' Tencent Video, has a market value of $4 billion
• Terms of the deal have not yet been finalised and are subject to change, said the sources, who declined to be identified due to confidentiality constraints

• Traders have fully priced in a 75-basis point increase from the Federal Reserve today but are keen to know whether Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues will raise the benchmark by a similar amount next month
• The European Central Bank are holding a conference this morning to "discuss current market conditions"
• Bitcoin prices tumbled once again, driving the token to the brink of $20,000 on evidence of deepening stress within the crypto industry
• The largest cryptocurrency sank 8% to $20,180, the lowest level since December 2020

Blackline Safety Corp.* (BLN: $3.46)
Roots* (ROOT: $3.20)

Maxar Technologies Inc* (MAXR: $26.18)
Tilray Brands, Inc* (TLRY: $3.16)

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