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Frances June industrial production figures will be released in ten minutes.Futures Commentary by Everbright Futures: Geopolitical tensions eased again, and overnight London spot gold rose 0.57%, while SHFE gold closed up 0.87%. The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz raised concerns, causing oil prices to fall rapidly. Additionally, the US June JOLTS job openings fell more than expected. Gold may maintain a bottoming-out trend in the short term, with attention focused on Fridays non-farm payroll data. On the macroeconomic front, US June JOLTS job openings fell to 7.36 million from 7.54 million in May, below the expected 7.45 million, indicating a relatively stable labor market. The president of the Philadelphia Fed, a 2026 voting member of the Federal Reserve, stated that he remains open to the direction of monetary policy, and whether core inflation can continue to decline is a key factor in his judgment. Geopolitically, US-Iran negotiations continued to release easing signals, and expectations for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz increased. While the US-Iran geopolitical situation continued to ease, the US dollar weakened, and although gold performed relatively strongly, it still exhibited a weak bottoming-out trend, failing to give the market stronger confidence. This may stem from investors apprehension about the upcoming non-farm payroll data.Japans Topix index rose 2%.SpaceX shares fell 7% on Tradegate, roughly in line with its after-hours performance on the US stock market.On August 5th, the Shanghai Headquarters of the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) held its 2026 second-half work conference on August 4th. The conference emphasized that the PBOC Shanghai Headquarters should earnestly implement the moderately loose monetary policy and actively encourage financial institutions to tap into effective credit demand. It should make good use of various structural monetary policy tools. It should implement the "Five Major Articles" (1+N) series of financial policies. It should promote the continued effectiveness of the "Technology Board" in the bond market in Shanghai. It should steadily deepen financial reform and opening up, and build a sound foreign exchange management system. It should implement new policies on high-level opening up of cross-border trade and investment financing, overseas lending, and overseas listing. It should enhance the exchange rate hedging capabilities of SMEs. It should coordinate the promotion of cross-border finance and offshore finance, and accelerate the implementation and effectiveness of the comprehensive reform pilot program for offshore business financial services. It should promote the application of digital RMB scenarios and the construction of its ecosystem. It should continue to carry out local legislation in the financial field. It should continuously improve the systemic risk prevention and mitigation mechanism. It should strengthen the crackdown on illegal financial activities. It should continuously improve the macro-prudential management mechanism framework. It should comprehensively improve the level of cross-border financial risk monitoring.

Costco Margins Are Impacted by Growing Freight And Labor Expenses, And The Stock Price Falls

Charlie Brooks

May 27, 2022 09:50

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Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) announced a decline in gross margins on Thursday, impacted by rising freight and labor expenses across the United States. The news sent shares of the membership-only retailer down 2% and overshadowed an otherwise positive quarterly report.


Fresh COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have compounded the problem for U.S. businesses.


Costco announced that it would increase prices in certain food categories in order to battle inflation.


Retailers such as Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Inc and Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) have warned that decades-high inflation will have a negative impact on their earnings, as shoppers hesitate from purchasing non-essential and high-margin goods.


The average Costco buyer earns more than the average Walmart and Target shopper, allowing Costco to generate quarterly earnings and revenue that easily exceeds expectations.


Memberships and sales have been boosted by the company's efforts to keep gas prices several cents below the national average.


Costco, in contrast to Walmart, reported that there has not been a significant shift from branded products to its private label product, Kirkland Signature.


"We aren't really observing a decline in commerce. This year, more money is being spent on tickets, dining out, travel, tires, and gasoline "In a post-earnings conference call, Robert Nelson, senior vice president of finance and investor relations, said.


Costco's gross margins decreased by 99 basis points in the third quarter.


According to data from Refinitiv IBES, Costco's total sales for the quarter ending May 8 increased by 16 percent to $52.60 billion, surpassing analysts' projections of $51.71 billion.


Excluding adjustments, Costco's earnings per share were $3.17, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.03.