Michael Haddad
6:44 a.m. Stocks look set to tumble at the open after the arrest of Huawei's CFO, what is seen as a major escalation in the trade war between the U.S. and China.
S&P 500 futures have fallen 1.3%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures have dropped 352 points, or 1.4%. Nasdaq Composite futures have slumped 1.7%.
On Wednesday night, Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada for violating sanctions against Iran. She is set to be extradited to the U.S. Regardless of the legitimacy of the charges, her arrest sends a message that the battle between the U.S. and China is about far more than just trade. "Traders have quickly moved out of riskier assets reflecting nerves that the arrest is likely to escalate tensions between the U.S. and China once again," writes London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler.
The news overshadowed the OPEC meeting, where it's likely that production will be cut but not by as much as the market had expected, as the cartel tries to walk a fine line between supporting oil prices and staying on U.S. President Donald Trump's good side. Oil has dropped 3.1% to $51.25, so that's working out great.
Bluebird Bio (BLUE) is down 5% to$108 after Piper Jaffray downgraded it to Neutral.
Facebook (FB) is down 2.5% to $134.47 after Stifel downgraded it to Hold.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is down 3% to $14.60 after reporting fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after Tuesday's close. The tech giant earned 45 cents a share on revenue of $7.95 billion. Analysts were looking for EPS of 43 cents on revenue of $7.84 billion. For the full year, it sees EPS of $1.51 to $1.61, compared with the $1.58 consensus estimate.
Marvel Technology Group (MRLV) is up 2.6% to $15.90 after reporting third-quarter earnings. The semiconductor firm earned 33 cents a share on revenue of $851.05 million. Analysts were looking for EPS of 32 cents on revenue of $844.07 million. For the fourth quarter, it sees EPS of 30 cents to 34 cents, compared with the 33-cent consensus estimate.
Okta (OKTA) is up 3.6% to $62.80 after reporting third-quarter earnings. The cloud security firm lost four cents a share on revenue of $105.6 million. Analysts were looking for a loss of 11 cents on revenue of $96.89 million. For the fourth quarter, it expects to lose between eight cents and nine cents, compared with the 11-cent loss analysts expect.
Write to Ben Levisohn at Ben.Levisohn@barrons.com
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
