U.S. stock index futures dipped at the start of a holiday-shortened week on Monday, as investors look ahead to commentary from Federal Reserve officials as well as a key inflation marker later in the week.
Market Snapshot
At 07:53 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 102 points, or 0.26%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 18.75 points, or 0.35%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 107 points, or 0.58%.
Pre-Market Movers
Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META) - Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Platforms Inc. face the risk of potentially hefty fines as the European Union opened a full-blown investigation into the firms’ compliance with strict new laws reining in the power of Big Tech. Apple, Alphabet and Meta all fell about 0.6% in premarket trading.
Tesla (TSLA) - Tesla declined 1.3% in premarket trading. Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD, which surpassed Tesla as the biggest maker of electric cars in the fourth quarter, on Monday lowered the starting price of its Seal sedan by about 5%. Tesla also was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho. Tesla shares have fallen 31% this year, largely on competition and demand concerns.
Intel (INTC), AMD (AMD) - Intel was falling 4.2% and AMD declined 3.2% following a report from the Financial Times that said China has begun implementing guidelines that will have microprocessors made by the chip makers phased out of government PCs and servers. The guidance, issued Dec. 26 with little fanfare, also will affect Microsoft’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software as China favors domestic options, the report said. Microsoft slipped 0.5%.
Lucid (LCID) - Luxury electric automaker Lucid said on Monday it had signed a deal to raise $1 billion in funding from an affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), sending its shares up 21% before the bell.
Boeing (BA) - Boeing Co said on Monday that CEO Dave Calhoun would step down from his position at the end of 2024. Boeing shares were up 3% in premarket trading
Baidu (BIDU) - US-listed shares of Baidu climbed 1.3% in premarket trading Monday. Baidu will provide artificial intelligence services to Apple Inc's new products this year including iPhone16, Mac series and ios 18, cailianshe reported, citing sources.
Digital World Acquisition (DWAC) - DWAC shares gained 6% in premarket trading Monday, trimming Friday’s losses. The price of shares in Digital World Acquisition Corp. closed trading Friday nearly 14% lower than their opening price after the shell company's shareholders approved a merger with the social media company owned by former President Donald Trump.
Crypto stocks (MicroStrategy, Coinbase) - Crypto stocks gained in premarket trading Monday. MicroStrategy rose 4%; Cleanspark rose 3%; Coinbase rose 2%.
Cannabis stocks (Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis, Tilray, Cronos) - Shares of companies related to the medical marijuana market continued to see euphoric gains Monday after soaring last week. Shares of Tilray, Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis, Cronos and SNDL jumped in premarket trading.
United (UAL) - Federal Aviation Administration officials recently have become concerned by a high rate of safety problems at United Airlines in recent weeks and are stepping up scrutiny of the carrier, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Sasha Johnson, United’s vice president of corporate safety, said in a memo seen by the Journal that “the number of safety-related events in recent weeks have rightfully caused us to pause and evaluate whether there is anything we can and should do differently.” United shares were down 3.8% in premarket trading.
Masimo (MASI) - Masimo, the medical technology company, said it would separate its consumer business. The separation will include Masimo’s consumer audio and consumer health products. It sees the move improving the profitability of its healthcare business. Separately, the Journal reported that activist investor Politan Capital Management, which holds two seats on the board of Masimo, is planning a proxy fight for two more. Masimo shares jumped 12.7%.
Disney (DIS) - Walt Disney rose 1.2% to $117.28 after Barclays upgraded shares of the entertainment giant to Overweight from Equal Weight and increased the price target to $135 from $95.
MicroAlgo (MLGO) - MicroAlgo Inc., a Central processing algorithm technology service provider, has successfully conducted its 2024 Extraordinary General Meeting, resulting in a shareholder-approved reverse stock split. The consolidation will transform every ten existing shares into one, aiming to meet NASDAQ’s minimum share price requirement for continued listing. Trading on a split-adjusted basis has closed on Friday, March 22, 2024, with adjustments made to the exercise price of the company’s warrants.
MicroAlgo shares dropped 5.4% on Friday while they surged 70% in premarket trading Monday.
Market News
Biden Signs $1.2 Trillion Bill After Congress Averts Government Shutdown
President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a $1.2 trillion funding bill that averted a partial government shutdown, after the package won approval in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Friday and in the Democratic-controlled Senate after midnight Saturday.
The so-called minibus bill funds about 70% of government operations through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Most of the funding in the package is dedicated to the Pentagon. It also funds the Deepartments of Homeland Security, Labor, and Health and Human Services, along with the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Earlier this month, Congress passed a minibus appropriations bill that funded the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Justice, among other federal offices. President Joe Biden signed that $460 billion package on March 9.
The Senate passed the bill in a 74 to 24 vote, while the House approved it, 286 to 134.
Apple, Google, Meta Probed by EU in Test of New Digital Law
Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Platforms Inc. face the risk of potentially hefty fines as the European Union opened a full-blown investigation into the firms’ compliance with strict new laws reining in the power of Big Tech.
The European Commission said Monday that Apple and Google’s app store rules will be targeted in the first probes under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, how Google search results might unfairly preference its own services and how Apple may make it harder for users to choose alternatives to its Safari browser.
New subscription fees for Meta’s Instagram and Facebook platforms will also be targeted by the probe, which could hit firms with fines of up to 10% of global revenue, or up to 20% in the case of repeated breaches.
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