Stocks Slip on Google Breakup Risk, Rates Outlook: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — US futures slipped Wednesday, pressured by news that US authorities are weighing an antitrust crackdown on Google-owner Alphabet Inc., as well as signs the Federal Reserve will proceed gradually with interest-rate cuts.

Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 dropped about 0.2%. Alphabet shares fell about 1.5% in premarket trading after the US Justice Department said it’s considering asking a federal judge to force Alphabet’s Google search engine to sell off parts of its business.

While fears of antitrust crackdowns on Big Tech have been around for a while, the prospect of an actual breakup push is weighing on sentiment, said Kevin Thozet, a member of the investment committee at French asset manager Carmignac. However, he downplayed the eventual impact, because “at the end of the day, when we are looking at individual values of those separate business lines within Google, investors could be better off.” 

Other major premarket movers included Boeing Co, which shed 1.7% after negotiations to end an almost month-long workers’ strike collapsed.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index was flat, as companies exposed to China awaited news on the prospect of further growth-boosting stimulus. Among individual movers, luxury goods firm Kering SA jumped as much as 1.3% on the news of a new CEO for its Gucci brand, while renewable energy companies were lifted by an International Energy Agency report predicting massive growth in renewable power capacity.

Read: China, Whatever It Takes Is a Lot More Than This: John Authers

Meanwhile, investors are monitoring clues on the outlook for interest rates. The 10-year US Treasury yield hovered above the key 4% level after diminished expectations for interest-rate cuts triggered a run of selling in previous days. The latest speeches from Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson and Atlanta Fed chief Raphael Bostic pointed to a measured approach.

Carmignac’s Thozet is among those expecting the Fed to slow the rate-cutting pace after September’s 50 basis-point move, as “the probability of a recession on the one hand is falling and probability of no landing is increasing.”

Globally, however, rate-setters are turning more dovish. A European Central Bank rate cut next week is very probable, Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. New Zealand cut rates by half a percentage point, stepping up the pace of easing, while India’s central bank opened the door for its first cut in four years. 

In currency markets, Bloomberg’s dollar index rose for the eighth day as traders priced less US monetary easing. The New Zealand dollar fell to its lowest in seven weeks after the rate cut.

Traders will be watching now for minutes from last month’s Fed meeting, later on Wednesday, while US inflation data is due Thursday. 

Key events this week:

• Fed minutes, Wednesday
• Fed’s Lorie Logan, Raphael Bostic, Austan Goolsbee and Mary Daly speak, Wednesday
• US CPI, initial jobless claims, Thursday
• Fed’s John Williams and Thomas Barkin speak, Thursday
• JPMorgan, Wells Fargo kick off earnings season for the big Wall Street banks, Friday
• US PPI, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
• Fed’s Lorie Logan, Austan Goolsbee and Michelle Bowman speak, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.1% as of 10:06 a.m. London time
• S&P 500 futures fell 0.2%
• Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.3%
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.5%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
• The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0958
• The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 148.69 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0766 per dollar
• The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3080

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $62,114.68
• Ether fell 0.4% to $2,431.46

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.02%
• Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.24%
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.17%

Commodities

• Brent crude rose 0.5% to $77.54 a barrel
• Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,615.73 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Winnie Zhu.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.