Nasdaq futures ticked higher on Monday, supported by gains in beaten-down megacap growth stocks after a recent rally in U.S. Treasuries showed signs of cooling, while Meta Platforms rose on reports of a fresh set of layoffs.
Market Snapshot
At 7:46 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 45 points, or 0.13%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 11.5 points, or 0.28%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 70.5 points, or 0.57%.
Pre-Market Movers
Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP) reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.45 a share, beating analysts’ forecasts of $2.36. The company’s board also authorized a $2 billion expansion of Check Point’s stock buyback program. The stock rose 1.5% in premarket trading.
Nikola (NKLA) gained 2.1% as the company has started work on hydrogen plants, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company also has signed up a handful of hydrogen producers that have agreed to supply hydrogen for Nikola vehicles in parts of the U.S. and Canada.
Nikola makes battery- and hydrogen-powered semi-trucks.
Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) was up 1.4% in premarket trading after Reuters reported the company was preparing to break up and plans to pursue a tax-free spinoff of its merchant business.
Caterpillar (CAT) fell 1.5% as shares of the construction-equipment maker were downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird.
Share of Meta Platforms (META) were rising 1.2% following a report from the Financial Times that said the parent company of Facebook has delayed finalizing multiple teams’ budgets while it prepares a fresh round of job cuts. Meta laid off 11,000 workers, or 13% of its workforce, in November. The company also is losing market share to ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, in the virtual-reality headset space, the Journal reported.
Five Below (FIVE) rose 1.2% after shares of the retailer were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Roth MKM.
Earnings reports are expected after the closing bell Monday from Arista Networks (ANET), SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG), and Palantir Technologies (PLTR).
G1 Therapeutics Inc.(GTHX) said it has decided to discontinue its Phase 3 trial, called Preserve 1, that tested trilaciclib administered along with triplet therapy with Folfoxiri and bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Shares fell 55% to $3.2 in premarket trading.
Market News
Meta Delays Setting Team Budgets As Facebook Parent Plans Fresh Round of Layoffs
Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc has delayed finalizing the budgets of multiple teams as it prepares a fresh round of job cuts, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
In recent weeks there had been a lack of clarity surrounding budgets and future head count, the FT reported, citing two Meta employees familiar with the situation.
Microsoft to demo its new ChatGPT-like AI in Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook soon
Microsoft is getting ready to demonstrate how its new ChatGPT-like AI will transform its Office productivity apps. After announcing anddemonstrating its Prometheus Model in its new Bing search engineearlier this week, Microsoft is gearing up to show how it will expand to its core productivity apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tellThe Vergethat the company is preparing to detail its productivity plans for integrating OpenAI’s language AI technology and its Prometheus Model in the coming weeks. The software giant is tentatively planning an announcement in March, highlighting how quickly Microsoft wants to reinvent search and its productivity apps through its OpenAI investments.
Oil falls on demand fears as Fed 'make or break moment' approaches
Oil prices slipped on Monday as investors focused on short-term demand concerns ahead of key U.S. inflation data.
Brent crude futures fell 25 cents, or 0.2%, to $86.14 a barrel by 1150 GMT after a 2.2% gain on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 25 cents, or 0.3%, at $79.47 after a 2.1% gain in the previous session.
"Crude prices are softening as energy traders anticipate a potentially weakening crude demand outlook as a pivotal inflation report could force the Fed to tighten policy much more aggressively," said Edward Moya, senior analyst at OANDA, referring to U.S. consumer price data due on Feb. 14.
Toyota to ramp up on batteries, keep its options open, new CEO says
Toyota Motor Corp(7203.T)will ramp up its battery-electric offerings by focusing on its Lexus luxury brand, its incoming chief executive said on Monday, but the company will not deviate from a long held strategy of exploring other technologies.
The comments from Koji Sato, who takes over as the head of the world largest automaker from April 1, come as the Toyota has pushed back against critics that have said it has been too slow to embrace battery-powered electric vehicles.