Here are five things you must know for Wednesday, June 6:
1. — Tech Drives Market Advances
U.S. stock futures were higher on Wednesday, June 6, and shares in Europe and Asia rose with with tech stocks again driving the gains.
Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 104 points, futures for the S&P 500 were up 4.75 points and Nasdaq futures rose 8.25 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose to a record closing high for the second straight day, finishing the session Tuesday at 7,637.86.
The U.S. economic calendar on Wednesday includes International Trade for April at 8:30 a.m. ET, and Oil Inventories for the week ended June 1, at 10:30 a.m.
Earnings are expected Wednesday from Cloudera Inc. (CLDR) and Vera Bradley Inc. (VRA) .
2. — Elon Musk Remains Tesla’s Chairman
Tesla Inc. (TSLA) shareholders voted Tuesday to have Elon Musk maintain his roles as chairman and CEO of the electric carmaker despite calls for Musk to be ousted as chairman.
Shareholders also approved re-electing three directors to the board, including Kimbal Musk, the CEO’s brother.
At Tesla’s annual meeting, Musk also claimed that the company would produce 5,000 of the troubled Model 3 electric sedan per week by the end of June. Musk said Tesla already has been able to make 500 Model 3s a day, or 3,500 a week.
“This was, I have to tell you, the most excruciating, hellish several months I’ve maybe ever had,” Musk said at the meeting. “But I think we’re getting there.”
Musk also said Tuesday that Tesla wouldn’t need to raise “incremental” equity or debt in 2018.
Tesla shares rose 2.3% in premarket trading on Wednesday.
3. — Facebook Gives China’s Huawei Access to User Data
Facebook Inc. (FB) shares fell 0.6% in premarket trading Wednesday after the social networking giant said several Chinese companies, including one probed by U.S. security officials, were given preferred access to user data.
Action Alerts PLUS holding Facebook confirmed late Tuesday that Huawei, the world’s third-largest handset maker that was banned from bidding on U.S. government contracts four years ago because of security concerns, was one of the 60 companies revealed to have been granted access to Facebook’s API, or application program interface, under various commercial agreements. The access, first revealed in a New York Times report over the weekend, also was granted to three other China-based groups, raising the ire of U.S. lawmakers.
“The news that provided privileged access to Facebook’s API to Chinese device makers like Huawei and TCL raises legitimate concerns, and I look forward to learning more about how Facebook ensured that information about their users was not sent to Chinese servers,” Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said in a statement to the House Intelligence Committee.
“Facebook along with many other U.S. tech companies have worked with them and other Chinese manufacturers to integrate their services onto these phones,” Facebook’s Francisco Varela, vice president of mobile partnerships, said in a statement. “Facebook’s integrations with Huawei, Lenovo, OPPO and TCL were controlled from the get-go and we approved the Facebook experiences these companies built.”
4. — ZTE Reportedly Signs Agreement to Lift U.S. Ban
ZTE Corp. (ZTCOY) signed an agreement in principle that would lift a U.S. Commerce Department ban on buying from U.S. suppliers, allowing China’s No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker to get back into business, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
ZTE ceased major operations after it was hit in April with a seven-year ban for breaking a 2017 agreement reached after it was caught illegally shipping goods to Iran and North Korea.
A Commerce Department spokesman said on Tuesday that “no definitive agreement has been signed by both parties.”
5. — HP Inc. Says 5,000 Jobs Could Be Cut
HP Inc. (HPQ) raised its estimates on planned job cuts to 4,500 to 5,000 employees by the end of fiscal 2019 as part of an ongoing restructuring at the world’s largest personal-computer maker.
Back in October 2016, HP said it expected about 4,000 jobs to be cut under its reorganization.
