NEW YORK: US stocks looked set for a muted opening on Monday with investors focusing on what could be the biggest merger in the technology sector and President Donald Trump’s comments during his Asia tour.
Shares of Qualcomm rose 3.9 percent in premarket trading after Broadcom offered to buy the smartphone chip supplier for $103 billion. Broadcom rose 2.7 percent.
Advanced Micro Devices rose 6.5 percent on a report that it plans to team up with Intel to form a personal computer chip unit. Intel was up 0.4 percent.
Investors also kept an eye on President Trump’s comments on North Korea’s nuclear missile program and trade during his 12-day tour to Asia.
US companies continue to report their quarterly earnings. With more than 400 of S&P 500 companies having reported, earnings for the third quarter are expected to have climbed 8 percent, compared to an expectation of a 5.9 percent rise at the start of October, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Michael Kors was up 3.9 percent after the fashion accessories maker raised its 2017 revenue forecast and CVS Health rose 1 percent after the company’s profit beat estimates.
“The third-quarter earnings season has given investors plenty of reason for optimism and with the global economy as a whole looking more healthy than it has in years, there’s little reason to be pessimistic right now,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.
Dow e-minis were up 14 points, or 0.06 percent, with 22,393 contracts changing hands at 8:29 a.m. ET (1229 GMT).
S&P 500 e-minis were down 1 points, or 0.04 percent, with 135,462 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 3 points, or 0.05 percent, on volume of 32,340 contracts.
A surge in shares of heavyweight Apple helped push up major Wall Street indexes on Friday, as investors also assessed a mixed US labor market report.
The jobs data wrapped up a very busy week for financial markets that included the unveiling of a Republican tax reform bill and the nomination of a new Federal Reserve chair. On Monday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said William Dudley, one of the most influential monetary policymakers, would retire in mid-2018.
Dudley’s early retirement raises question over the leadership at the US central bank less than a week after Trump tapped Fed Governor Jerome Powell to succeed current Fed Chair Janet Yellen in February.
Oil prices rose to a two-year high after Saudi Arabia’s future king tightened his grip on power by arresting royals, ministers and investors, including billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal.
The news stirred fears of Middle Eastern money pulling out of global financial markets. Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of the king and owner of investment firm Kingdom Holding, has stakes in Citigroup and Twitter, among others.
Source: Brecorder.com
