Alphabet May Help Lead Early Rebound On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Wednesday, with stocks likely to regain ground following the pullback seen over the two previous sessions.

Alphabet (GOOGL) may help lead an early rebound on Wall Street, as the Google parent is surging by 6.9 percent in pre-market trading.

The spike by shares of Alphabet comes after a federal judge ruled the company will avoid the most severe consequences in a landmark antitrust case.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled Google will not be required to divest its Chrome browser nor a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system.

"Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divestiture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints," Mehta said.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) have also jumped by 3.7 percent in pre-market trading, as the decision allows the tech giant to continue to preload Google Search onto its iPhones.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as some traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of closely watched jobs data later in the week.

After initially showing a significant move to the downside, stocks regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but remained firmly negative. The major averages all moved notably lower, extending the pullback seen during last Friday's session.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 175.92 points or 0.8 percent to 21,279.63 but had tumbled by as much as 1.5 percent in early trading. The S&P 500 slid 44.72 points or 0.7 percent to 6,415.54, while the Dow fell 249.07 points or 0.6 percent to 42,295.81.

The early sell-off on Wall Street came amid renewed trade uncertainty after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled most of President Donald Trump's global tariffs are illegal.

In a 7-4 decision, the appeals court ruled that the power to impose taxes such as tariffs is vested exclusively in the legislative branch by the Constitution.

However, the court delayed implementation of its order until October, giving the Trump administration time to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

"All tariffs are still in effect!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "If these tariffs ever went away, it would a total disaster for our country."

Treasury yields surged in reaction to the ruling amid concerns the government may have to repay the billions of dollars already brought in through Trump's tariffs.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a slight increase by its reading on U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of August, although the index still indicated the sixth consecutive month of contraction.

While the ISM said its manufacturing PMI inched up to 48.7 in August after falling to a nine-month low of 48.0 in July, a reading below 50 still indicates contraction. The uptick matched economist estimates.

Steel stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 1.7 percent.

Considerable weakness was also visible among commercial real estate stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index.

Telecom, semiconductor and banking stocks also saw notable weakness, while gold and biotechnology stocks showed strong moves to the upside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are plunging $1.48 to $64.11 a barrel after surging $1.58 to $65.59 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $3,613.60, up $21.40 compared to the previous session's close of $3,592.20. On Tuesday, gold spiked $76.10.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.65 yen compared to the 148.36 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1650 compared to yesterday's $1.1640.

Asia

Asian stocks fell broadly on Wednesday, with rising bond yields, tariff-related uncertainties and caution ahead of key U.S. employment data due later in the week keeping investors on edge.

China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped 1.2 percent to 3,813.56, with defense-related shares taking a major hit as a massive military parade in central Beijing concluded.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.6 percent to 25,343.43 despite a measure of China's services activity growth reaching a 15-month high in August.

Japanese markets ended notably lower after data showed Japaeses service sector growth moderated in August. Investors also reacted to reports suggesting that the ruling party is set to call for early party elections.

The Nikkei 225 Index slid 0.9 percent to 41,938.89, led by declines in financial stocks after a rise in the 30-year bond yield. The broader Topix Index tumbled 1.1 percent to 3,048.89. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group both plummeted over 3 percent.

Seoul stocks ended modestly higher, led by semiconductors and pharma stocks. The Kospi rose 0.4 percent to 3,184.42. Samsung Electronics gained 1 percent, SK Hynix climbed 0.8 percent and Samsung Biologics advanced 1.5 percent.

Australian markets declined for the fourth consecutive day as surging global bond yields coupled with stronger GDP data following subdued growth in the March quarter ruled out an RBA rate cut in September.

Data showed Australian GDP grew an annual 1.8 percent in the June quarter, higher than the 1.6 percent expected by analysts. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slumped 1.8 percent to 8,738.80, marking its biggest single day drop since April.

The broader All Ordinaries Index settled 1.7 percent lower at 9,010.10 amid broad-based selling. Tech stocks bore the brunt of the selling, with accounting software provider Xero plummeting 6.2 percent.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index fell 0.4 percent to 13,074.81, closing lower for the first time in five days. Ebos and A2 Milk declined 2-3 percent.

Europe

European stocks have moved mostly higher on Wednesday as a sell-off in longer-dated bonds appeared to stabilize, and a survey showed the euro zone economy continued its slow expansion in August despite a weakening in services sector growth.

The HCOB Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged up from 50.9 in July to 51.0 in August, marking a 12-month high.

Elsewhere, the U.K. Composite PMI was revised slightly higher to 53.5 from an initial estimate of 53.0.

Comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and the release of U.S. job openings data for July will be in the spotlight as the session progresses.

While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent.

Swedish construction firm Skanska has moved to the upside after securing a $73 million contract in the United States.

Equipment rental company Ashtead Group has also advanced after posting in-line quarterly results and lifting its free cash flow guidance.

Watches of Switzerland has surged after reporting strong trading and growth across key markets for the 18 weeks to August 31, 2025.

On the other hand, Cairn Homes shares have moved lower after the British homebuilder reported a drop in first-half profit.

Swiss Life Holding has also come under pressure after the insurer reported a lower first-half net profit.

U.S. Economic News

The Commerce Department is due to release its report on new orders for manufactured goods in the month of July at 10 am ET. Factory orders are expected to slump by 1.4 percent in July after tumbling by 4.8 percent in June.

Also at 10 am ET, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its report on job openings in the month of July. Job openings are expected to decrease to 7.375 million in July after falling to 7.437 million in June.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari is due to participate in a fireside chat hosted by the Minnesota Women's Economic Roundtable at 1:30 pm ET.

At 2 pm ET, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in each of the twelve Fed districts.