U.S., China tensions flare over Hong Kong
Stocks look set to open lower on Wednesday, after the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a legislation on Tuesday aimed at supporting civil rights and democracy in Hong Kong amid growing protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
The legislation angered China which threatened to take strong countermeasures and promptly summoned an American diplomat to demand that the U.S. government block it from becoming law.
Hong Kong has been rocked by months of violent demonstrations against what is viewed as attempts by China to tighten its grip on the city. The bill will now move to the next stages of approval before it is sent to President Trump, who may sign it into law or veto it.
At 4:35 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures declined 94.5 points, or 0.34% to 27,800.5. The S&P 500 futures dropped 9.12 points, or 0.29% to 3,109.38 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 future were down 35.12 points, or 0.42% to 8,306.38.
Investors eye FOMC minutes
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve will release minutes from its October 29-30 monetary policy meeting later today. The minutes, to be published at 2:00 p.m. ET, are likely to provide some clues on the Fed’s next policy move.
Policy makers cut their benchmark short-term interest rate by 25 basis points at the meeting to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%. However, Fed chair Jerome Powell signaled that it would take a “material reassessment” before rates are slashed again.
Target, Lowe’s rally on earnings beat
Target (NYSE: TGT) and Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) stocks inched higher in premarket trade Wednesday after the retailers reported impressive quarterly financial results.
Target posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share, up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Total revenues came in at $18.7 billion, up 4.9% from the same period last year.
Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of $1.19 per share on revenues of $18.49 billion, according to Refinitiv.
Meanwhile, Lowe’s said adjusted earnings grew 35.6% of $1.41 per share in the third-quarter ended Nov. 1. On average, analysts polled by Refinitiv had projected adjusted earnings of $1.35 per share.
Companywide revenues stood at $17.4 billion, missing expectations of $17.68 billion.
At press time, shares of Target rose 8.71% to $120.50 while those of Lowe’s advanced 5.77% to $119.94.
