U.S. stock futures indicate a higher open on Wednesday, as investors look to recoup losses from the past two sessions.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is at the forefront of pre-market activity, climbing 6.9% following a favorable antitrust ruling.
A federal judge determined that Google will avoid the most severe penalties in a landmark case. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the company is not required to divest its Chrome browser or implement a conditional divestiture of the Android operating system.
“Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divestiture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints,” Mehta said.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) also saw gains of 3.7% in pre-market trading, benefiting from the ruling that allows the company to continue preloading Google Search on its iPhones.
Despite the pre-market strength, overall trading could remain muted as investors await upcoming jobs data later in the week.
On Tuesday, stocks staged a partial recovery after an early sell-off but still closed lower. Major averages extended losses that began on Friday.
The Nasdaq dropped 175.92 points, or 0.8%, to 21,279.63, though it had initially fallen as much as 1.5%. The S&P 500 slid 44.72 points, or 0.7%, to 6,415.54, and the Dow fell 249.07 points, or 0.6%, to 42,295.81.
The initial decline came amid trade uncertainty following a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that most of former President Trump’s global tariffs are unconstitutional.
In a 7-4 ruling, the court stated that only Congress has the authority to impose tariffs. The decision’s implementation was delayed until October, allowing an appeal to the Supreme Court.
“All tariffs are still in effect! If these tariffs ever went away, it would [be] a total disaster for our country,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Treasury yields rose sharply, reflecting concern the government might have to repay billions collected under the tariffs.
In other economic news, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported a slight increase in manufacturing activity in August, though the sector remains in contraction.
The ISM manufacturing PMI ticked up to 48.7 from 48.0 in July, still below the 50 mark that signals expansion. The rise was in line with expectations.
Steel stocks saw sharp declines, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down 1.7%, while commercial real estate also weakened, with the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index falling 1.7%.
Additional pressure appeared in telecom, semiconductor, and banking sectors, while gold and biotech shares posted notable gains.
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