Focus Turns To Microsoft, Goldman Sachs As Companies Make News, But Rising Crude Raises Eyebrows

Focus Turns To Microsoft, Goldman Sachs As Companies Make News, But Rising Crude Raises Eyebrows

Oil futures (/CL) are up 1% this morning ahead of the crude oil inventories report. While the NY Empire State Manufacturing Index was nearly double forecast. However, the news failed to move markets. It's hard to get Microsoft (MSFT) to move 1% but its announcement that it's hiking its quarterly dividend 11% and starting a $60 billion stock buyback program has the stock on the move. The news helped sustain Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (/YM) which appear to be battling downward pressure. Stock index futures are mixed Wednesday morning with the NASDAQ 100 (NQ) and S&P 500 (/ES) on the positive side. Meanwhile, the Business Wire reported that Goldman Sachs (GS) announced plans to buy GreenSky (GSKY) for $2. 24 billion. GSKY is the largest fintech platform for home improvement loan originations. The company allows consumers to "pay as you go" using flexible loan products. A few Covid stocks are making waves this morning. Regeneron (REGN) traded more than 2% higher in pre-market trading on news that the U. S. government purchased an additional 1. 4 million doses of its monoclonal antibody treatment for Covid-19. CureVac's (CVAC) vaccine has disappointed in clinical trials leading to the company canceling deals