Stock futures slide
U.S. stock futures were under pressure early Monday, implying stocks would fall at the opening bell, ahead of a busy week for corporate earnings.
Among the reports expected today are those from Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), and JB Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT).
Traders will also be awaiting more reports later this week from companies ranging from Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) to IBM (NYSE: IBM) to Snap (NYSE: SNAP).
As of 5:35 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures tumbled 105 points, or 0.31% to 34,253. S&P 500 futures gave away 23.25 points, or 0.53% to 4,364.25 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures lost 99 points, or 0.71% to 14,120.9.
Elon Musk tweets ‘Love Me Tender’ after Twitter adopts poison-pill defense
Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk is expected to continue to making headlines for the third consecutive week after he tweeted “Love Me Tender” in a cryptic tweet over the weekend.
The tweet is the tittle of a famous song sung by Elvis Presley in 1956 but may also be a hint that Musk is preparing a potential tender offer directly to Twitter shareholders if the company’s board turns down his buyout offer of $43 billion.
A tender offer is a bid to acquire some or all of the shares that shareholders own in a specific company.
The offer is usually made publicly where shareholders are invited to sell their shares within a particular time frame for a price that is usually higher than the current price of the stock.
Musk caused a stir last week after he disclosed his offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, which prompted the microblogging platform to adopt a “poison pill” on Friday that makes it harder for him or a group of individuals to acquire more shares.
Twitter shares were marked 3.82% higher to $46.80 apiece in the premarket trading session.
Crude futures drop on weak China data
In energy markets, crude futures slipped after China released data that showed its gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.8% in Q1, missing the 5.5% target set for this year by the country’s authorities, as a surge in Covid-19 cases forced top financial hubs like Shanghai to impose strict lockdowns.
China, the world’s largest importer of crude, has for weeks been facing its worst coronavirus outbreak in two years.
Lockdowns and forced mass quarantines in the country have taken a toll on China’s exports, consumption, and real estate.
As of 5:30 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 50 cents, or 0.47% to $105.88 a barrel. Global Brent crude futures shed 49 cents, or 0.44% to $111.21 a barrel.