Dow Futures Edge Lower As Investors Brace For Key Economic Data Releases This Week: BABA, MU, LAC, GM Among Stocks To Watch

U.S. stocks appear set for a cautious opening on Wednesday as investors await key economic data this week, including the third estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter (Q2) on Thursday, and the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index on Friday.

Notably, on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell outlined in his remarks that there are no risk-free paths ahead.

“Near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside — a challenging situation. Two-sided risks mean that there is no risk-free path,” Powell said in a highly anticipated speech after the 25 basis point rate cut last week.

While Dow Jones futures were down by 0.02% at the time of writing, the S&P 500 futures rose 0.13%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100’s futures gained 0.26%. Futures of the Russell 2000 index were up 0.01%.

Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was up 0.11% at the time of writing, while Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose 0.24% on Wednesday morning. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bullish’ territory.

Asian markets ended Wednesday’s trading session on a mixed note, with the Hang Seng index gaining the most at 1.6%, followed by the Shanghai Composite at 0.83%, and the Nikkei 225 at 0.12%.

The KOSPI declined 0.4%, while the TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock index fell 0.19%.

Stocks To Watch

• Alibaba Group Holding (BABA): Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares surged more than 9% in Wednesday’s pre-market session after the company announced plans to boost investment in artificial intelligence by over $53 billion.
• Micron Technology Inc. (MU): Micron’s shares gained nearly 1% in pre-market trade after the company’s fourth-quarter (Q4) results beat Wall Street expectations. Micron reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.03 on revenue of $11.3 billion, while analysts expected an EPS of $2.86 on revenue of $11.2 billion, according to Stocktwits data.
• Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC), General Motors Co. (GM): Lithium Americas’ shares skyrocketed nearly 60% pre-market after a Reuters report stated that the Trump administration is seeking a 10% stake in the company on the renegotiation of a $2.26 billion Energy Department loan for the Thacker Pass lithium project with General Motors. GM shares surged by more than 3% pre-market.
• Cintas Corp. (CTAS) and Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC) are among the companies scheduled to announce their latest quarterly results on Wednesday.

Also See: Jerome Powell Sees ‘Challenging Situation’ Ahead, Says There Is No Risk-Free Path

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