US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones down over 38 points at 24,748 and futures trade today indicates a lower Wall Street start.
Dow futures are down 17 points, while S&P 500 futures are down three points and Nasdaq futures are off around 11 points before the New York bell.
In pre-market trade, American Express Co (NYSE:AXP) is a notable gainer, up 3.63% to US$98.60 after its first quarter profit climbed 31% on higher card-member spending and growth in its loan portfolio.
Also higher was Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI), which added 3.53% to US$16.74 ahead of the bell, as it revealed first-quarter profit climbed 21%, helped by its natural-gas-pipeline business.
Computer chip maker Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares shed 2.59% to US$53.80 in pre-market as the stock is dented by the fall-out from the tit-for-tat over trade and tariffs between the US and China.
Today, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said that it had found "issues that are hard to resolve" as it conducted a review over Qualcomm’s planned acquisition of Dutch chip maker NXP, signalling a further delay for the deal
Also in market news Thursday, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO:4502) shares in Tokyo nudged 0.059% lower as it has reportedly made a takeover bid worth around US$61bn for British drugmaker Shire PLC (LON:SHP), according to two sources with direct knowledge.
Takeda Offers About $60 Billion for $SHPG, Reuters reports https://t.co/0V2iJlzopp #pharma
— Bio Stocks™ (@BioStocks) 19 April 2018
In London, Shire shares surged 6.34% to 3,991.83p.