Stock futures opened higher Tuesday night before a hectic Wednesday, during which Big Tech executives will testify before Congress and the Federal Open Market Committee will release its July monetary policy statement. A series of quarterly corporate earnings results will also continue to flow.
On Wednesday, Amazon CEO (AMZN), Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO (AAPL), Tim Cook, Facebook CEO (FB), Mark Zuckerberg, and CEO of Alphabet (Goog, GOOGL), father of Google Sundar Pichai will appear before the House Judiciary Committee to discuss a series of concerns about their market power and business practices, some of which have been examined for antitrust issues. Many have argued that these problems have been magnified by the coronavirus pandemic, which has wiped out competitors and propelled business toward large technology companies that are already strong.
“While FAANG stalwarts have navigated these choppy waters better than many feared, with Amazon in particular a clear beneficiary of this current blockade, antitrust storm clouds appear to be growing on the ring road against Big Tech looking toward the rest of 2020, ”WedBush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note Monday.
“We note that much of the states’ investigation has focused on Google’s online advertising with the Justice Department, focusing more broadly on concerns that Google uses its dominant search business to stifle competition,” he added. “Apple is still targeting its App Store dominance (30% rate) both in the US and especially in the EU, with more intense investigation of its business practices focused later this week when Cook appears in front of the committee. “
Separately on Wednesday, investors will also receive the latest monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve. Market participants expect this month’s statement to not reflect major changes, with interest rates held at their current level near zero. On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve said it planned to extend several of its emergency loan facilities until the end of 2020, or beyond the previous expiration date of September 30.
With monetary policy in its current form to support the economy during the pandemic, investors’ attention has been drawn to the possibility of explicit direct guidance to obtain an indication of what circumstances might lead the Fed to change its stance. of monetary policy. However, many economists believe it is unlikely to be announced this month.
“We hope that the FOMC will adopt some form of explicit forward orientation, if not at its September meeting and then at its November meeting,” the Wells Fargo economics team wrote last week.
More corporate earnings results are also on the record for Wednesday. Companies including General Electric (GE), Boeing (BA), General Motors (GM) and Spotify (SPOT) will report the results before the market opens, while Qualcomm (QCOM) and PayPal (PYPL) are slated for later. of the market closing.
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6:01 pm ET Tuesday: Stock futures open higher after regular session declines
Stock futures started the overnight session a little higher after falling during the regular session on Tuesday. These were the main movements in the stock markets, as of 6:01 pm ET:
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S&P 500 futures (ES = F): 3,216.75, up to 3.75 points or 0.12%
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Dow futures (YM = F): 26,305.00, up to 8 points, or 0.03%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ = F): 10,566.5, 26.5 points more, or 0.25%
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 26: The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is in Lower Manhattan on the first day that traders can return to the historic floor of the exchange on May 26, 2020 in New York City . While only a small number of merchants will return at this time, those who do will have to perform temperature checks and wear face masks at all times while on the floor. The Dow rose more than 600 points in the morning trade as investors see a recovery in economic activity in the United States (Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
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