A number of shares were in play in pre-market deals in New York.
One of them is Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALNY), which added almost 2% in after hours deals, and which has today unveiled an exclusive licensing agreement with Vir Biotechnology to develop and commercialise RNAi therapeutics for infectious diseases, including chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
The firms will also launch a research collaboration to advance up to four additional RNAi therapeutic programmes for the treatment of other infectious diseases with high unmet need. In the regular session, shares shed 1.22% to US$117.25.
Also in focus is huge online market place eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) reporting its quarterly results after the bell, which is sure to be closely scrutinised.
Analysts expect the group to post quarterly earnings at US$0.48 per share on revenue of US$2.37bn after the closing bell.
eBay shares nudged up 0.56% to US$37.59 in after-hours trading. On the day, they added 1.23% to US$37.95.
Meanwhile, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) saw shares add 0.24% after the bell as analysts expect the group to post quarterly earnings of US$1.48 per share on revenue of US$8.29bn after the closing bell. American Express shares rose 0.12% to US$91.80 in after-hours trading. On Wednesday, shares added 0.27% to US$91.94.
Wall Street expects Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) to post quarterly earnings at US$0.65 a share on revenue of US$6.71bn before the opening bell. Abbott shares rose 0.98 % to US$55.60 in after-hours trading, and then on Wednesday added 1.40% to US$55.83 each.