Here are five things you must know for Wednesday, June 27:
1. — Stocks Fall as U.S. Shifts to Investment Curbs
U.S. stock futures were down on Wednesday, June 27, and global stocks declined with trade war concerns and support for tighter investment rules by U.S. lawmakers holding down markets.
Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 116 points, futures for the S&P 500 tumbled 10.50 points and Nasdaq futures were down 50.75 points.
The House of Representatives passed one of two bills working their way through Congress late Tuesday, June 26, that proposed broader powers to the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, which probes potential corporate partnerships and takeovers by foreign companies. This comes ahead of the expected announcement on Friday, June 29, of further curbs on investments by China-backed firms into U.S. companies that have “industrially significant” technologies.
The shifting of focus from tariffs to investment suggests the White House is prepared to lengthen the time during which it will work toward addressing both its long-standing trade deficit with China, which Donald Trump again referenced Tuesday – describing it as $500 billion – and what it sees as unfair trade agreements with other major economic partners around the world.
2. — Auto Group to Warn Trump of Higher Car Costs From Tariffs
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a group representing General Motors Co. (GM) , Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) , Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) and other major automakers, said it would tell the Trump administration that a U.S. threat to impose a tariff of up to 25% on imported passenger vehicles would cost American consumers $45 billion annually, or $5,800 per vehicle, Reuters reported.
A spokeswoman said the group plans to file written comments with the U.S. Commerce Department later this week.
“Nationwide, this tariff would hit American consumers with a tax of nearly $45 billion, based on 2017 auto sales. This would largely cancel out the benefits of the tax cuts,” said spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist. Consumers also would face higher costs of imported auto parts when buying vehicles from both U.S. and foreign automakers, she said, Reuters reported.
3. — Facebook to Reverse Ban on Crypto Ads
Facebook Inc. (FB) will reverse its ban on cryptocurrency advertisements and will now allow some preapproved advertisers to promote crypto businesses and services, like exchanges, Recode reported.
Facebook had banned all crypto ads on the service in January, around the time bitcoin prices surged, to prevent people from promoting “financial products and services frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.”
Advertisers that are approved by Facebook through an application process now can promote crypto products, though ads promoting binary options and initial coin offerings will still be banned.
Separately, Facebook has scrapped efforts to build passenger jet-sized drones that provide wireless internet to the developing world, and will be laying off staff, the company said.
The drones were being built by Facebook’s Aquila project, a highly publicized part of its ongoing global connectivity efforts. Now rather than building so-called HAPS (High Altitude Platform Stations), like the Aquila drone in-house, Facebook will focus on developing the underlying technologies, Business Insider reported.
4. — GE Healthcare Spinoff Could Affect M&A in the Sector
The planned spinoff of General Electric Co.’s (GE) healthcare unit could affect the consolidation landscape in the tools and medical devices sector, according to Evercore ISI analysts, wrote TheStreet’s Armie Margaret Lee.
GE unveiled plans on Tuesday to spin off the unit, which provides medical imaging, monitoring, biomanufacturing and cell therapy technology.
The announcement could be “disappointing” to the likes of Danaher Corp. DHR and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO) , “who emerged and flourished under GE’s watch and according to media may have contemplated an acquisition of a portion of the assets now being sold / spun (namely within the life sciences portfolio),” analysts Ross J. Muken and Vijay Kumar wrote in a note Tuesday.
General Electric rose 7.8% on Tuesday to $13.74 following the announcement of its plans to spin off the healthcare subsidiary and sell its stake in oil services group Baker Hughes (BHGE) .
5. — General Mills, Rite Aid Highlight Earnings Calendar
General Mills Inc. (GIS) posted fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 79 cents a share, beating analysts’ expectations, while sales rose 2.2% to $3.89 billion. The stock fell 1.1% in premarket trading.
Earnings are also expected Wednesday from Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) , Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) , Progress Software Corp. (PRGS) and Paychex Inc. (PAYX) .
The U.S. economic calendar on Wednesday includes Durable Goods Orders for May at 8:30 a.m. ET, International Trade in Goods for May at 8:30 a.m., and Oil Inventories for the week ended June 22, at 10:30 a.m.
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