U.S. equity futures turned higher Friday, following on from the worst month since March 2020, as investors enter the final quarter of the year focused on inflation, energy markets and the Federal Reserve.
· The10-year Treasury yieldticked lower Friday,under 1.5%. Earlier this week, the 10-year yield saw three-month highs above 1.567%.
· Congress prevented a government shutdown before Thursday’s midnight deadline. President Joe Biden signed a bill that funds federal operations through Dec. 3. Passing the so-called continuing resolution avoided one crisis. However, lawmakers still need to deal with another: a looming threat of default unless Congress raises or suspends the debt ceiling before Oct. 18.
· Biden failed to break a Democratic stalemate that threatens his domestic agenda. A group of progressive House members and two centrist Democratic senators were still miles apart on key issues late Thursday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi originally scheduled a vote on a Senate-passed bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill Thursday, but postponed it because it didn’t have the votes to pass.
· Merck $(MRK)$ and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics plan to seek emergency authorization for their oral antiviral treatment for Covid after announcing “compelling results” in clinical trials. Dow stock Merck surged nearly 8% in Friday’s premarket. The drug, molnupiravir, reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by around 50% for patients with mild or moderate Covid cases, the companies said Friday. Molnupiravir is administered orally and works by inhibiting the replication of Covid inside the body.Pfizeris working on its own oral antiviral.Gilead Sciences’ antiviral remdesivir, which is administered through an IV, was cleared for emergency use a year ago.
· Lordstown Motors$(RIDE)$– Lordstown struck a deal to sell its Ohio plant to Taiwan’sFoxconnfor $230 million, with Foxconn taking over the manufacturing of Lordstown’s full-sized electric pickup truck. It was reported earlier this week that a deal between the two sides was near. Lordstown rallied 6.3% in premarket trading.
· Coty(COTY) – The cosmetics company’s stock gained 2% in the premarket as it announced a deal to sell another 9% stake in its Wella beauty business to private equity firmKKR(KKR). In return, KKR will redeem about half its remaining convertible preferred shares in Wella, reducing Coty’s stake to about 30.6%. Coty had sold a 60% stake in Wella to KKR last December.
· Zoom(ZM) – Zoom andFive9(FIVN) have terminated a nearly $15 billion deal by mutual consent. Zoom had struck a deal to buy the contact center operator, but it was rejected by Five9 shareholders. The two sides will continue a partnership that had been in place prior to the proposed transaction. Zoom jumped 4% in the premarket while Five9 slid 1.4%.
· Walt Disney(DIS) – Disney and Scarlett Johansson have settled a lawsuit involving the “Black Widow” movie. Johansson had sued Disney over the release of the movie on the Disney+ streaming service at the same time it was debuting in theaters. Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.
· Wells Fargo(WFC) – Wells Fargo will have to face a shareholder fraud lawsuit involving its attempt to rebound from years of scandals. A judge rejected the bank’s moved to have the suit dismissed, saying it was plausible that statements by various Wells Fargo officials about the recovery were false or misleading.
· Exxon Mobil(XOM) – Exxon Mobil said in an SEC filing that higher oil and gas prices could boost third-quarter earnings by as much as $1.5 billion. Exxon profits have been improving amid the rising prices as well as cost cuts by the energy giant.
· Nio(NIO) – Nio reported deliveries of 10,628 vehicles in September, a 126% increase over a year ago for the China-based electric vehicle maker. Nio added 4% in the premarket. And Li Auto and Xpeng also added 2.2% and 3.8% in the premarket.
· International Flavors(IFF) – The maker of food flavoring and cosmetic ingredients said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andreas Fibig plans to retire, although he’ll remain at the helm of the company until a successor is found. Shares added 2.5% in premarket action.
· Jefferies Financial Group(JEF) – Jefferies reported a quarterly profit of $1.50 per share, beating the 99-cent consensus estimate, with the financial services company’s revenue also topping Wall Street forecasts. Jefferies saw its results boosted by a strong performance in its investment banking business. Jefferies gained 1.4% in the premarket.
· MGM Resorts(MGM) – Susquehanna Financial downgraded MGM to “negative” from “neutral,” saying theDraftKings(DKNG) bid for British gambling company Entain weakens MGM’s prospects in the digital gaming and betting market.
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