Fed decision eyed
U.S. stock futures indicated a mixed open Wednesday, following a slight drop in stocks during the previous session, as market participants eyed an upcoming monetary policy decision by the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled to conclude its two-day meeting at 2 p.m. ET today without making any policy moves. But its post-meeting is likely to signal to Wall Street that it is thinking about pulling back its $120 billion program in monthly purchases of bonds amid rising inflation.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press briefing will take place at 2:30 p.m. ET.
By 5:40 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow were indicated 53 points, or 0.16% lower to 34,124. S&P 500 futures gave away 2.38 points, or 0.06% to 4,234.12 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures added 10.25 points, or 0.07% to 14,032.
Kindred Biosciences surges 46% after agreeing to be bought by Elanco Animal Health for $440 million
Shares in Kindred Biosciences (NASDAQ: KIN) are rocketing after Elanco Animal Health (NYSE: ELAN) said it will acquire the biopharmaceutical company for $9.25 a share for each Kindred share owned, which is a 52% premium based on the 30-day average.
The deal values Kindred at approximately $440 million. Elanco said the acquisition will bring in $100 million to its innovation revenue target of $500 million to $600 million by 2025, with significant opportunity after the period. Elanco and Kindred expect to close the transaction in the third quarter of fiscal 2021.
As of writing, Kindred Biosciences stock was marked $2.93, or 46.21% to $9.27 per share in the pre-market trading session on Wednesday.
Oracle slides on weak revenue guidance
Meanwhile, shares of Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) tumbled in pre-market hours after the company reported stronger-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue but issued a downbeat revenue forecast for the current quarter on Tuesday.
Oracle said it had adjusted earnings of $1.54 per share on revenue of $11.23 billion in the fourth quarter. Analysts had called for adjusted earnings of $1.31 per share and revenue of roughly $11.02 billion.
For the current quarter, the company hopes to report adjusted earnings of $0.94 to $0.98 per share. Analysts expect Oracle to post adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share in the quarter.
As of writing, Oracle shares were changing hands at $77.46 each, down $4.18, or 5.12%.
