Wall Street set to rise at open
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as investors cheered the possibility of a trade deal between Washington and Beijing. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump told reporters in New York that a trade deal with China could happen sooner than people think.
“We’ve picked up trillions of dollars and they’ve lost trillions of dollars and they want to make a deal very badly. It could happen. It could happen sooner than you think,” the president said.
Trump’s comments came as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed that U.S. and China trade officials will meet for another round of high-level talks in about two weeks in Washington.
At 5:22 a.m. ET Thursday, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 51.5 points, or about 0.19% to 27,009.5. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 5.37 points, or around 0.18% to 2,991.62 while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were seen gaining 9.5 points, or roughly 0.12% to 7,829.75.
Facebook faces a new antitrust investigation by DOJ
The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly planning to open an antitrust probe of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) at the urging of Attorney General William Barr, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Facebook is also currently under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, the House Judiciary Committee, and nine state attorneys general over possible anticompetitive practices. However, the DOJ investigation is reportedly expected to “focus on conduct that’s separate from what the FTC is examining.”
Shares of the social media giant were down 1.15% to $180.70 in pre-market trade.
Peloton prices IPO at $29, top end of range
Peloton priced its initial public offering late Wednesday at $29 per share, the high end of its $26 and $29 price range. The company, known for its luxury exercise bikes and treadmills, sold 40 million shares to raise $1.16 billion.
That valued the New York-based company at more than $8 billion. The stock will start trading on the Nasdaq later today, under the ticker symbol “PTON.”
