US pre-open: Stocks seen muted as investors eye Apple event
US stocks looked set for a muted open on Wednesday as investors eyed tech giant Apple’s annual product release event and the release of the producer price index for August.
At 1225 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were flat and Nasdaq futures were up 0.1%.
Trade relations between the US and China were likely to remain in focus after it emerged on Tuesday that Beijing will ask the World Trade Organization for permission to impose sanctions on the US next week over an anti-dumping dispute that dates back to 2013.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "With China involving the WTO in the dispute and the US preparing more tariffs - and threatening an eventual tariff on all imports - it doesn’t appear this threat is going away any time soon and is something we should just get used to. This could work to the advantage of the EU with Trump engaging in negotiations in an attempt to forge closer trade ties, remove barriers and eliminate the apparent need for new tariffs."
As far as Apple is concerned, CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson noted widespread speculation of an upgrade to the £1k iPhone X, with the release of the iPhone XS.
"Not only that, we’ll probably get upgrades to the iPhone 8, as well as a new Apple Watch, along with some upgrades to the various tablet versions, though the iPad mini may well be on borrowed time given we haven’t seen an upgrade to that since 2015.
"These upgrades are likely to come with higher price points and this appears to have prompted some brave investors to start short selling the Apple share price, on the basis that it may be time for a correction in heightened expectations.
"This appears to be a risky bet given how metronomic Apple’s share price advance has been - nonetheless when looking at a long-term weekly price chart, the air does look a little thin at current levels. That’s not to say that we can’t see a move higher in the much longer term, but for now it might be prudent for the shares to take a bit of a breather given the advances over the last few months."
Apple shares were up 0.4% in pre-market trade.
Elsewhere, Bausch Health surged 6% in pre-market trade after saying it has reached an agreement in a patent dispute over 550 mg tables of Xifaxan, a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome.
Managed-care provider WellCare Health Plans was likely to be in focus following news that it will replace XL Group in the S&P 500.
Meanwhile, shares of T-Mobile US and Sprint could be active after the Federal Communications Commission paused its 180-day clock for reviewing the merger of the two companies.
On the data front, the producer price index is due at 1330 BST.