Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Back to work
U.S. markets reopen for a full session Wednesday after a shortened one Monday and Tuesday's Fourth of July holiday. Stocks have performed solidly this year. The first half was the Nasdaq's best in 40 years, and the S&P 500's strongest since 2019. The Dow was positive, too, although the blue chip index's gains lagged the others. With earnings season slated to kick off late next week with the big banks, investors for now will keep an eye on economic data and anything that comes out of the Federal Reserve. The central bank will release its June meeting minutes at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday while New York Fed President John Williams is scheduled to speak at 4 p.m. Follow live market updates.
2. UPS talks break down
Talks between the Teamsters and UPS hit a boiling point Wednesday morning. The union, which represents more than 340,000 workers at the delivery giant, said the company walked away from negotiations early in the morning. "Following marathon negotiations, UPS refused to give the Teamsters a last, best, and final offer, telling the union the company had nothing more to give," said the union, which also noted that its members have overwhelmingly authorized a strike. There are no negotiations scheduled at the moment, but there's still some time. The contract expires July 31, and UPS has expressed confidence in getting a deal done. "We have nearly a month left to negotiate," UPS said in a statement Wednesday. "We have not walked away, and the union has a responsibility to remain at the table."
3. Bummer box office
"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" couldn't dig up enough box office gold for Disney during its opening weekend, underlining how Hollywood has struggled this summer blockbuster season. While domestic grosses are higher than last year's as of the end of the first half, momentum slowed in June as Warner Bros.' "The Flash" flopped and Disney/Pixar's "Elemental" underwhelmed. July brings promise, however. Last year's box office hero, Tom Cruise, returns next week with a new Mission: Impossible movie from Paramount. And the anticipation for both Warner Bros.' "Barbie" and Universal's "Oppenheimer," which both open July 21, is growing. Still, it's starting to look like this year's haul won't measure up to the pre-pandemic grosses of 2019.
4. Twitter blames the bots
Elon Musk's Twitter is caught up in yet another controversy. This time it's over rate limits the company imposed on users over the weekend. After days of complaints from tweeters who had been experiencing error messages, the social network said Tuesday that it was trying to "detect and eliminate bots and other bad actors." The move sent many Twitter users packing. Upstart rival BlueSky, which is backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, experienced a surge in traffic over the weekend. The service, which is similar to Twitter, is in a beta phase so it put a temporary hold on signups as it worked through issues related to the new traffic.
5. Fresh nuclear concerns
Ukraine's Zaporizhzia nuclear plant is once again a source of intrigue and concern in the nation's ongoing war with Russian invaders. Russia seized the plant in the early days of the invasion. Ever since, both sides have traded accusations regarding the nuclear facility, which is Europe's largest. "Now we have information from our intelligence that the Russian military has placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Perhaps to simulate an attack on the plant. Perhaps they have some other scenario," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message posted on Twitter. Follow live war updates.
– CNBC's Sarah Min, Sarah Whitten, Sara Salinas, Ashley Capoot and Elliot Smith contributed to this report.
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