U.S. stock futures edged lower on Wednesday as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of the release of the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting. Several notable stocks saw significant movements in premarket trading, both gains and losses.
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) shares dropped 0.9% as the Department of Justice considered possible sanctions against Google, including a potential break-up of the company. This follows a landmark antitrust case where Google was found guilty of abusing its dominant position in the search market.
Arcadium Lithium (NYSE: ALTM) saw its stock soar 30% after Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) announced a $6.7 billion all-cash deal to acquire the U.S.-based mining company. The deal represents a 90% premium over Arcadium’s closing price on October 4, reflecting strong interest in lithium assets as demand for electric vehicle batteries continues to grow.
Shares of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) fell 3%, with other Chinese tech giants like PDD Holdings (NASDAQ: PDD) and JD (NASDAQ: JD) dropping 3.6% and 4.2%, respectively. This marks the second consecutive day of declines for U.S.-listed Chinese firms, driven by a lack of new stimulus measures from the Chinese government.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) shares dipped 1.3% after the company suspended negotiations with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers following a month-long strike, withdrawing its previous offer to the union.
Other notable stock movers included Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE), down 0.2% after Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a ‘hold’ rating, and GitLab (NASDAQ: GTLB), which rose 4.4% following an ‘overweight’ rating from Morgan Stanley, highlighting it as a rising enterprise platform.
Meanwhile, WW International (NASDAQ: WW) jumped 46% after announcing its entry into the compounded GLP-1 space, signaling efforts to restart growth for the weight-loss company.
Investors are closely watching the market for further developments, particularly as they await insights from the Federal Reserve meeting minutes.
