Stocks poised to rise at open
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open in a holiday-shortened trading day on Wednesday. As of 04:32 a.m. ET, futures on the blue-chip Dow rose 23.5 points, or 0.09% to 26,830.5.
Futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 19.87 points, or 0.25% to 7,858.12 while those on the S&P 500 climbed 3.62 points, or 0.12% to 2,983.12.
The Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange will close at 1 p.m. ET and remain closed through Thursday in observance of Independence Day. Normal trading will resume on Friday.
The next stock market holiday on the calendar is Labor Day, September 2.
Broadcom said to be close to buying Symantec
Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) shares rallied before the opening bell Wednesday following a report by Bloomberg that Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is in advanced talks to acquire the security software. The deal could be worth more than $15 billion, Bloomberg said, citing people briefed about the matter.
Last year, Broadcom acquired CA Technologies for $19 billion. However, President Donald Trump blocked the chipmaker’s $117 billion hostile bid for Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) on grounds of national security.
Shares of Symantec were up 18.33% to $26.15 in premarket trading, while those of Broadcom lost $12.08, or 4.09% to $283.25.
Tesla stock trades 7% higher as Q2 deliveries beat expectations
Shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) gained $16.03, or 7.14% to $240.58 in premarket trading Wednesday after the company delivered a record-setting 95,200 vehicles in its fiscal 2019 second quarter.
Analysts were expecting the company to deliver 91000 in the quarter. Tesla also produced a record 87,048 vehicles from April through June, of which 72,531 were Model 3 cars.
“We believe we are well positioned to continue growing total production and deliveries in Q3,” the electric automaker said late Tuesday.
Trump announces two Fed nominees
President Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he plans to nominate economists Christopher Waller and Judy Shelton to serve on the Federal Reserve seven-member board.
Judy Shelton was an economic adviser to Trump during his 2016 campaign, while Christopher Waller serves as the executive vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
The president’s earlier Fed picks of Stephen Moore and Herman Cain withdrew from consideration in May and April, respectively. Trump has continually criticized the Jerome Powell-led central bank for not slashing interest rates to help the U.S. compete against adversaries, such as China.
