Stock futures tick lower
Stock futures inched lower on Thursday morning after Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, reported that Chinese trade officials are growing increasing doubtful they can strike a comprehensive trade deal with the Trump administration.
The sources told the news outlet that Beijing is also not willing to “budge on the thorniest issues.”
As of 5:40 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures indicated a decline of 73.5 points, or 0.27% to 27,058.5. The S&P 500 futures were down 8.63 points, or 0.28% to 3,039.12 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 15.25 points, or 0.19% to 8,096.
Prior to the report, stock futures were suggesting a modestly higher open buoyed by the Fed’s latest decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points for the third time this year.
Twitter bans political ads on its platform
Twitter (NASDAQ: TWTR) Chief Executive Jack Dorsey tweeted on Wednesday that the social networking site will axe all political advertising from its service worldwide from November 22.
Dorsey said that while internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power yields significant risks to politics.
President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign manager Brad Parscale blasted the decision saying it was “yet another attempt by the left to silence Trump and conservatives.”
Meanwhile, Democratic 2020 front-runner Joe Biden campaign spokesman Bill Russo welcomed the ban. “When faced with a choice between ad dollars and the integrity of our democracy,” Russo said, “it is encouraging that, for once, revenue did not win out.”
Dorsey said the company will publish a new political advertising policy detailing the changes by November 15.
Analysts believe Twitter’s move is likely to put more pressure on rival Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), which continues to face criticism for the manner in which it handles political ads.
Shares of Twitter were down 2.04% to $29.25 in premarket trade Thursday.
Apple shares surge after projecting stellar holiday sales
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) on Wednesday issued a stronger revenue guidance for the holiday quarter that topped analysts’ estimates.
According to CEO Tim Cook, the company is recording solid demand for the new iPhone 11 models, Apple Watches, AirPods, and new services like Apple TV+.
The iPhone maker said it forecasts sales of between $85.5 billion to $89.5 billion for its fiscal first quarter ending December 2019. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expect it to post $86.9 billion in sales for the period.
Apple also reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded analysts’ projections. Earnings came in at $3.03 per share while revenue was $64 billion. Analysts on Wall Street had called for earnings of $2.84 per share on $62.99 billion revenue.
Apple shares climbed $5.46, or 2.24% to $248.72 in premarket trading hours.
Facebook revenue jumps 29% in Q3; stock rises 4%
Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) shares were up $8.20, or 4.36% in premarket trading Thursday after the social media giant reported third quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates on Wall Street analysts late Wednesday.
The company reported earnings of $2.12 per share, up from $1.76 per share, in the same period last year. Revenue stood at $17.65 billion, an increase of 29% from $13.73 billion last year.
Facebook disclosed in its earnings release that it generated 98% of its total revenue, or $17.38 billion from advertising sales. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.91 per share on revenue of $17.37 billion, according to Refinitiv.
