Palantir, Shiba Inu, Apple, American Airlines: What to Watch When the Stock Market Opens Today

Futures are pointing to a fresh selloff on Wall Street, as bond yields extend rises and energy prices soar. Here’s what we’re watching ahead of Wednesday’s open.

• Palantir Technologies PLTR 0.17% jumped 8.3% ahead of the opening bell. The data-software company said it was selected for a U.S. Army intelligence program contract.
• Facebook FB 2.06% shares ticked 1.4% lower premarket after the company spent a day in the headlines amid a whistleblower’s testimony on Capitol Hill and a widespread outage of its services.
• But the downdraft in major tech shares was hitting most of the giants. Microsoft MSFT 2.00% slipped 1.3% premarket, Apple AAPL 1.42% shed 1.4%, Google-parent Alphabet GOOG 1.80% fell 1.5%, Netflix NFLX 5.21% gave up 0.9% and Intel INTC 0.90% lost 1.3%.

• Cryptocurrencies turbo-charged by Tesla CEO Elon Musk got another boost Wednesday. The token Shiba Inu gained 65% over the previous 24 hours, adding to a days-long rally after Mr. Musk posted a new photo of his Shiba Inu puppy named Floki on Monday. The coin now has a market value of $8.5 billion, making it the twentieth largest cryptocurrency, according to CoinMarketCap.com. Dogecoin, a favorite of Mr. Musk’s, also rose 3.8% over the previous 24 hours.

• Shares of American Airlines Group AAL 0.37% lost 3.5% premarket and Delta Air Lines DAL -0.49% shed 2%, weighed down by concerns about fuel costs and a slowing economic growth.
• Constellation Brands STZ.B 0.06% is due to report quarterly earnings before Wednesday’s open.
• Acuity Brands AYI 1.36% added 0.8% after the industrial-technology company said its profit for the fiscal fourth quarter rose as sales benefited from improved service levels and an improving economy.
• Vaccine makers Moderna MRNA 1.92% and Novavax NVAX -4.64% look set to remain stuck in the doldrums that began after Merck’s successful test of its Covid-19 treatment. Novavax dropped 5% premarket and Moderna fell 2.6%.
• Business-development company Saratoga Investment SAR 1.73% ‘s stock nudged up 1.2% in the extended session after it reported record repayments during the second quarter.
• Levi Strauss LEVI 1.55% will give an earnings update after the close.

Chart of the Day

• Silver prices just wrapped up their worst four-month stretch since November 2014, dragged down by expectations for higher interest rates and a slowdown in manufacturing activity.

Write to James Willhite at [email protected]

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