(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, Whate.
