Premarket: 7 things to know before the bell
1. Equifax grilling: Equifax (EFX) will be on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a second day of hearings over its massive security breach.
The hack of the credit reporting company compromised some of the most sensitive personal information of up to 145.5 million Americans.
“The criminal hack happened on my watch… I take full responsibility,” former CEO Richard Smith testified Tuesday.
Federal agencies, state officials and members of Congress are currently investigating Equifax over its data security practices, customer service response and the possibility of insider trading from executives.
2. Google product launch: Google (GOOGL, Tech30) is widely expected to unveil a new version of its Pixel phone at an event on Wednesday.
In September, the tech giant said it will pay $ 1.1 billion for access to smartphone expertise from Taiwanese manufacturer HTC.
The move showed that Google is serious about beefing up its smartphone business.
3. Spain in turmoil: The political crisis in Spain has intensified after Catalonia’s leader, Carles Puigdemont, told the BBC on Tuesday that his government would unilaterally declare independence by “the end of this week or the beginning of next.”
The King of Spain lashed out at Catalan authorities after hundreds of thousands of locals took to the streets to vent their fury over the violent police crackdown on Sunday’s contested independence referendum.
The main stock market in Madrid dropped by over 2% on Wednesday, but the euro remained resilient.
4. Markets winning streak: U.S. markets closed at new record highs on Tuesday after solid outlook from Delta (DAL) lifted airline stocks including United Continental (UAL) and American Airlines (AAL).
The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.4%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both gained 0.2%.
U.S. stock futures were lower on Wednesday.
5. Global market overview: European markets opened mixed.
Asia ended its session mostly higher. Markets in mainland China are closed this week.
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6. Companies and economics: Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) could be slapped with a huge tax bill in Europe on Wednesday.
The European Commission will reportedly make a decision in a case concerning Amazon’s tax arrangement in Luxembourg. The investigation was opened in 2014.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s top official in charge of competition, is holding a press conference at 5:30 a.m. ET.
PepsiCo(PEP) will report its third-quarter earnings before the bell. The company’s Frito-Lay division and international business have grown in recent quarters, even as U.S. consumer interest in soda has gone flat.
Seeds and agrochemical company Monsanto (MON) is also set to report before the markets open.
Uber’s board stripped power on Tuesday from its founder and former CEO, Travis Kalanick, part of an ongoing struggle to move past a scandal-plagued mess at the company.
The U.S. crude inventories report for the week of September 30 is set to be released at 10:30 a.m.
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7. Coming this week:
Wednesday — Google event; Second Equifax hearing; Pepsi earnings
Thursday — Costco earnings; Third Equifax hearing
Friday — August jobs report
