Wall Street is expected to begin the week positively, albeit without a huge amount of gusto.
In pre-market dealing the Street’s key benchmarks were edging higher with Dow Jones futures up slightly at 17,602 and the S&P 500 seen at 2,074, while the NASDAQ was marked at 4,649.
Chipotle was among the morning’s points of focus, as it fell in premarket deals, following news of an outbreak of e.coli. It is reported that a total of 43 Chipotle restaurants across Oregon and Washington were closed as an investigation was launched.
Press reports claim that seventeen of nineteen people suffering e.coli infection had eaten at Chipotle in recent weeks. Eight people had been hospitalised thus far, though there have been no deaths.
Most of Monday’s other morning highlights were the result of mergers and acquisition activity.
Visa (NYSE:V) is set to consolidate, with the purchase of Visa Europe via a US$23.4bn (€21.2bn) deal. Some €16.5bn is to be paid up-front, of which €11.5bn will be cash, and a further €4.7bn would be due after four years.
Visa also revealed this morning what it said was a ‘strong’ fourth quarter performance. The company had quarterly net income of US$1.5bn, which takes the annual figure to US$6.3bn. It also authorised a US$5bn share buy-back programme, and repeated that it will increase dividend payments.
Charles Scharf, Visa chief executive, said: “We are very excited about unifying Visa into a single global company with unmatched scale, technology and services.”
Dyax Corp (NASDAQ:DYAX) soared around a third in pre-market dealing after London listed drug firm Shire tabled a US$5.9bn takeover. Shire, which has vowed to continue pursuing rival Baxalta (NYSE:BXLT), said it was acquiring the heart disease treatment developer for $37.30 in cash per Dyax share.
It was not the only pharma-deal in town this morning, even if it was the largest.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) is to acquire Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, a privately owned cardiovascular disease focussed biotech, for as much as US$2bn.
Hospital services group MedAssets (NYSE:MDAS) has agreed to a US$2.7bn takeover offer from private equity group Pamplona Capital.
Coty (NYSE:COTY), the personal hygiene group, is buying a Brazilian beauty products business for US$1bn.
Elsewhere, a US$2.7bn deal sees TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS) acquiring ConAgra Foods (NYSE:CAG) to become America’s larger ‘private label’ food company.
Aside from Visa, which distracted with deal talk, the other notable corporate earnings news came from designer make-up group Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) which exceeded market expectations for its first quarter – as its ‘younger’ products offset slower sales of the Estee Lauder and Clinique brands.
Walking Dead broadcaster AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) is in the diary to report after Monday’s close, along with insurer Allstate (NYSE:ALL), car rental group Avis Budget (NASDAQ:CAR) and wearable tech firm Fitbit (NYSE:FIT).