Futures in New York today are pointing to a lower start after a lackluster finish on Friday, but there's plenty of company news on the cards to keep investors engaged to start the week.
A major story emerging is that private equity group KKR & Co L.P (NYSE:KKR) is reportedly buying the health information online publisher WebMD in a deal valued at around $2.8bn.
In February, WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ:WBMD) announced that it was analysing its strategic options, which included a possible sale. Shares in pre-market raced up almost 20% to $55.19.
The subsidiary of KKR doing the buying - an online media and software services provider - will pay $66.50 per share - around a 20% premium to the closing price on Friday of $55.19 each. KKR shares are up 0.41% in pre-market.
Oil services giant Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) is up over 3.65% in pre-market deals as its quarterly profit beat analysts’' expectations
Notably, revenue from North America surged 83% to US$2.77bn in the three months, due to increased demand for pumping and building wells in the region.
After the closing bell, investors will hear from Google's parent company, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), in results which are sure to be closely scrutinised.
Consensus is calling for earnings of $8.20 per share, compare to $8.42 during the same period last year.
MarketWatch: "Earnings Outlook: Alphabet earnings: A $2.74 billion hit for Google, potential YouTube results for investors" …
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