Futures inch higher
U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher start for Wall Street on Tuesday, as traders awaited earnings results from Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD) ahead of the opening bell.
Analysts expect Walmart to report earnings of $1.25 per share on revenue of $135.37 billion. Home Depot is expected have earned $3.69 per share on revenue of $34.37 billion in the latest quarter.
By 6:00 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 53.5 points, or 0.19% to 27,828.5. The S&P 500 futures indicated a gain of 4.87 points, or 0.14% to 3,384.62 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 33.75 points, or 0.3% to 11,320.5.
Trump administration hits Huawei with new restrictions
Meanwhile, the U.S. is imposing another round of restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei as President Donald Trump renewed allegations that the company’s equipment is used for spying.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced new rules curbing Huawei’s access to foreign-made chips Monday.
The new rules forbid non-American suppliers from selling chips made using U.S. technology to Huawei without a special license – closing a potential loophole in its May sanctions that Huawei could have taken advantage of via third parties.
The Commerce Department also added 38 affiliates of Huawei to a list of companies banned from doing business with U.S. companies.
Speaking to Fox on Monday Trump said: “We don’t want their [Huawei] equipment in the United States because they spy on us. And any country that uses it, we’re not going to do anything in terms of sharing intelligence.”
Oracle reportedly eyeing TikTok’s U.S. business
In other news, the Financial Times is reporting that Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) has expressed interest to buy ByteDance’s popular video-sharing app TikTok in the United States and other major markets including New Zealand, Canada, and Australia.
Sources familiar with the matter told the publication that Oracle has held preliminary talks with ByteDance.
President Trump signed an executive order last week to force ByteDance to sell TikTok, citing national security concerns. He gave the China-owned company 90 days to sell or spin off its U.S. business.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) have also expressed interest in TikTok.
As of this writing, Oracle shares were up 2.52% to $55.35 a share in pre-market trade.
