Dow Jones called higher but Nasdaq lower, Lilley to acquire AtaiBeckley

Wall Street looked set for a mixed open Thursday with further yo-yoing in technology stocks amidst a fresh batch of corporate earnings.

Futures pointed to the Dow Jones opening 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was called down 0.2% and the Nasdaq looked set to bear the brunt of the selling, with futures off 0.8% as semiconductor stocks see pressure.

Oil prices were little changed, with West Texas Intermediate trading just below $80 a barrel, despite further escalation in the Middle East.

Iran’s military said it had launched missiles and drones at US military positions in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan in retaliation for an earlier US strike, while Reuters reported Tehran had instructed Yemen’s Houthi movement to prepare to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if Washington attacks Iran’s power infrastructure, raising the prospect of disruption to a second key global shipping route.

The three major US indexes all finished higher on Wednesday after softer-than-expected producer price inflation reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged later this month.

The Dow rose 150 points, or 0.3%, to 53,141.48, the S&P climbed 0.4% to 7,614.75, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6% to close at 25,654.64.

Weakness in Asian semiconductor names seemed to spill into US futures, as markets were unimpressed with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (ADR) (NYSE:TSM) beating expectations with a 77% jump in quarterly profit and upbeat guidance, citing “extremely robust” demand for AI chips. TSMC shares fell about 5% in US premarket trading though.

That follows a similar negative reaction to strong results from Dutch chip equipment maker ASML, highlighting investors’ increasingly demanding expectations for AI-linked companies.

Before attention turns to Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX, XETRA:NFC) after the closing bell, there are a swathe of life science updates ahead of the open.

UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH, XETRA:UNH) rose 6% in premarket trading after the health insurer beat second-quarter earnings expectations and raised its full-year guidance, helped by stronger operational performance despite membership headwinds.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) gained 3.3% as investors welcomed better-than-expected quarterly results and an upbeat outlook.

Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK, XETRA:6MK) added over 1% after the FDA approved its first-in-class cholesterol pill Liprendra, while second-quarter sales edged ahead of forecasts and the drugmaker reiterated its growth outlook.

AtaiBeckley Inc. (NASDAQ:ATAI, XETRA:9VC) surged almost 34% after agreeing to a $2.8 billion takeover by Eli Lilly, with the deal including additional milestone payments that could take the total value to $3.8 billion.