Stocks set to start February on a negative note
U.S. stock futures were trading slightly lower on Tuesday, implying Wall Street will kick off the month of February on a cautious note, after closing out its worst month since March 2020.
As of writing, Dow futures were down 85 points, or 0.24% to 34,912. S&P 500 futures lost 13.5 points, or 0.3% to 4,4490.75 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures shed 21 points, or 0.14% to 14,884.
At the close on Monday, the S&P 500 posted its worst January performance in 12 years while the Nasdaq Composite narrowly avoided its weakest ever start to the year. The Dow climbed 406.39 points, or 1.17%, to end the session at 35,131.86.
Google earnings on tap
On the earnings front, Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) will be in focus today as the tech giant prepares to release its holiday-quarter financial results.
Analysts expect the company to come out with earnings of $27.48 per share and revenue of $72.13 billion for the quarter.
Other major earnings to watch today include Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), General Motors (NYSE: GM), UPS (NYSE: UPS), and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX).
FTC to probe Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of Activision
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission reportedly wants to take a look at Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)’s $68.7 billion proposed takeover of “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI).
Bloomberg News reported on Monday, that the FTC, instead of the Justice Department, will investigate whether the acquisition will hurt competition by limiting access to Activision’s biggest games
Microsoft announced the acquisition of Activision last month and expects to close the transaction in June 2023.
In a recent report, Reuters said that Microsoft would pay a break-up fee of $3 billion if the deal falls part, indicating the company was confident of obtaining antitrust clearance.
