(Updated with index futures, details on Apollo, forecourt prices of major US banks, Under Armour)
PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Top stocks to watch on Friday on Wall Street where major index futures suggest the Dow Jones opening down around 0.2% and falling around 0.3 % for Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq:
* Shares of major U.S. banks like JPMORGAN CHASE & CO, GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, BANK OF AMERICA CORP, WELLS FARGO & CO, CITIGROUP AND MORGAN STANLEY fell 0.5% to 0.9% amid a flattening of the rate curve. The yield spread between two-year US Treasuries and 10-year bonds fell for the first time since August 2020 below 40 basis points, a sign of expectations of a sharp rise in US yields. US Federal Reserve.
* APOLLO – The American private equity fund is close to an agreement to acquire the payment terminal business of Worldline for 2.3 billion dollars (2.02 billion euros), the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday , citing sources familiar with the matter.
* UNDER ARMOR – The action of the American sports equipment manufacturer fell 4.1% in market preview after a warning on its margin for the current quarter which could be penalized by a rise in freight costs.
* EXPEDIA – The online travel booking platform advanced 4.6% in preview after the publication Thursday of adjusted earnings above expectations for the fourth quarter.
* NOVAVAX – The laboratory announced Thursday that its vaccine against COVID-19 had shown 80% effectiveness against the coronavirus in adolescents aged 12 to 17 in a clinical trial involving 2,247 participants between May and September 2021, when the Delta variant was dominant. The action Novavax takes 1.4% in pre-market.
* TESLA – The car manufacturer will open a design office in Beijing to design “Chinese-style” cars, shows a document published by the authorities of the Chinese capital. In addition, Tesla is being sued by a Californian public agency for racial discrimination in one of its factories. The action fell 0.6% before the market.
* DIDI – The action of the Chinese giant of VTC, which jumped 15.4% on Thursday in reaction to a stock market notice suggesting an increase in Tencent’s participation in the group, fell 5.1% on Friday in pre-market , after the denial provided by the specialist in internet and mobile services.
* ALPHABET – European publishers, including Axel Springer, News UK and Conde Nast, filed a complaint with the European Commission on Friday against Google, an Alphabet subsidiary, claiming that the American group has a stranglehold on them through the advertising technologies.
In addition, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the British competition authority, which has opened an investigation into Google’s “Privacy Sandbox” project, consisting of removing third-party cookies from its Chrome browser, said on Friday that it had obtained new legally binding commitments, which address its concerns, from the internet giant.
* CITIGROUP – Australia on Friday waived prosecution of Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and four former executives for an offense relating to a securities issue worth $1.8 billion (€1.5 billion in 2015.
* LOCKHEED MARTIN – Finland could officially sign the agreement on Friday for the acquisition of 64 F-35 fighter jets designed by Lockheed Martin, American sources familiar with the project said on Thursday.
* EXXON MOBIL – The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Temasek, the city-state’s sovereign wealth fund, announced on Friday their intention to support the airline Singapore Airlines which wants to buy sustainable aviation fuel from Exxon Mobil (SAF), an energy that emits up to 70% less carbon than fossil fuels.
* ZENDESK said on Thursday it had rejected a $16 billion (€14 billion) takeover bid from a consortium of private equity firms as the software maker comes under pressure from activist shareholders to that it renounces the acquisition of MOMENTIVE GLOBAL for an amount of 3.9 billion dollars.
* ELI LILLY AND CO – The laboratory announced on Thursday that it had reached an agreement with the American administration to supply it with up to 600,000 doses of its antibody treatment against COVID-19 still under development for an amount of at least 720 million dollars (631.8 million euros).
* ORACLE – The American professional software giant has paid around 300 million dollars (263.2 million euros) for a new five-year sponsorship partnership with the Formula One team Red Bull, whose driver Max Verstappen has was crowned world champion, sources familiar with the matter said. (Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Sophie Louet and Blandine Hénault)