U.S. stock futures were trending lower on Wednesday, amid growing concerns over the pace of economic recovery in the face of the Delta variant of COVID-19 pandemic.
The slide also comes as investors continue to fret over last week’s U.S. jobs report, that showed the economy created the fewest number of jobs in seven months in August.
Dow futures were down 0.16%, S&P futures were down 0.12%, and Nasdaq futures were down 0.07% at the time of writing.
Advaxis Inc. (ADXS), CooTek (Cayman) Inc. (CTK), and Korn Ferry (KFY) are set to report their quarterly earnings before the market opens. Avid Bioservices Inc. (CDMO), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU), and ABM Industries Inc. (ABM) will report after the market close.
Vinco Ventures (BBIG) was the most active stock in the pre-market session, with 1.47 million shares exchanging hands at the time of writing. It is still unclear the trigger behind the increased market activity, given the lack of any substantial news release.
Kadmon Holdings (KDMN) was one of the biggest gainers in the pre-market session, jumping 76.98% at the time of writing. The spike comes on report that French drug maker Sanofi plans to acquire the U.S. biopharmaceutical for $1.9 billion.
Mechel Steel Group Oao (MTL) was one of the biggest losers in the pre-market session, going down 15.60% at the time of writing. The sell-off comes a day after the stock rallied more than 40%, benefiting from renewed investor interest on a spike in base metal prices.
In M&A news, State Street Corporation (STT) has entered into an agreement to acquire Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s Investor Services for $3.5 billion. With the acquisition, the financial services company will gain access to BBH’s $5.4 trillion in assets under custody. The deal is expected to close before year-end.
Meanwhile, PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) plans to acquire Japanese payment platform Paidy for $2.7 billion. The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth-quarter, will strengthen PayPal’s footprint in Japan, the third-largest e-commerce market in the world. Additionally, PayPal stands to gain access to Paidy’s over six million users, and proprietary technology for assessing creditworthiness.
Mastercard, Inc. (MA) has reached an agreement to acquire European open banking technology provider Aiia. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year. However, the two are yet to confirm the terms of the deal. The acquisition is expected to strengthen the financial services company’s operations in Europe, given the connections that Aiia has with banks.
Callaway Golf Company (ELY) shares jumped 3.9% after the company updated its full-year and third-quarter guidance to reflect ongoing outperformance and the strength of its diversified portfolio. The company expects revenue to be between $3.065 billion and $3.095 billion, and EBITDA in the range of $370 million to $390 million for the full year.
Coupa Software (COUP) shares popped 5.8% in extended hours of trading after the company delivered better-than-expected second-quarter results. Quarterly earnings were up 23.8% year-over-year to $0.26 a share, as revenue increased 42% year-over-year to $179.25 million, surpassing consensus estimates of $162.97 million.
