US shares are poised for a strong start and piquing interest before the New York bell continues to be the salmonella in food scare.
Over the weekend, it emerged that Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ), which owns Cadbury's and Nabisco, was recalling some of its Ritz biscuits due to a bacteria risk.
Today, Pepperidge Farm, which is owned by Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB), is voluntarily recalling 3.3mln units of its Goldfish Crackers due to the possible presence of salmonella, similarly used in the whey powder for the products.
Pepperidge said it had bene notified by an ingredient supplier that the powder used in seasoning in four varieties of the crackers could have salmonella.
The company said no illnesses had been reported.
It comes after Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) this July said it was recalling an estimated 1.3mln cases of Honey Smacks cereal because of the potential for salmonella contamination.
Mondelez shares were unchanged at US$41.68 in pre-market.
Also in pre-market today, Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AGIO) shares were up 5.26% to US$94.99 as the cancer and rare genetic disease biotech had positive FDA news.
Its Tibsovo (ivosidenib) was granted approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML) with the (IDH1) mutation.
The laetst approval comes about a year after Agios received approval for another rare population for AML with a drug known as Idhifa.
Elsewhere, Quest Diagnostics Inc (NYSE:DGX) shed nearly 3% before the bell to US$111.50 as it reported second-quarter earnings, which only matched Wall Street expectations.
Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came in at US$1.75 per share for the three months . Consensus analyst estimates was also for earnings of US$1.75 per share.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares climbed 4.21% to US$1,281.51 per share after it reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations.
The record €4.34bn EU fine levied last week over its Android mobile operating system knocked $5bn off profits but advertising sales were better than expected.
Around 86% of total revenues came from ad sales on Google, although profit margins fell to 24% from 26% last year owing to the fact that more users are getting ads through mobile devices, whose manufacturers charge Google for the traffic.