Stocks rebound on Mexico tariff report | The end of tech mega deals? | Goldman Sachs, the underdog

THU, JUN 06, 2019

EVENING BRIEF

AS OF THU, JUN 06, 2019 • 04:00 ET

DJIA		25727.98
		+0.74%	+188.41

S&P 500		2843.82
		+0.63%	+17.67

NASDAQ		7615.55
		+0.53%	+40.08

Most Active

DOW
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
MSFT	127.82	+1.99	+1.58%
AAPL	185.22	+2.68	+1.47%
PFE	42.76	+0.28	+0.66%

S&P 500
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
AMD	31.82	+2.32	+7.86%
MAT	10.79	-0.20	-1.82%
GE	9.92	+0.03	+0.30%

NASDAQ
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
AMD	31.82	+2.32	+7.86%
CMCSA	41.15	-0.15	-0.36%
SIRI	5.31	+0.04	+0.76%

EDITOR'S NOTE

U.S. stocks continued their comeback Thursday, but something is missing from this week's big rebound: Facebook, Alphabet, Amazon and Apple — the high-flying stocks that have led the bull market — are not participating.

The tech giants are coming under increased government scrutiny, causing some traders to sour on the growth prospects of those companies, even as they bid up the rest of the market.

One area of concern for investors is likely that these tech companies won't be able to make major acquisitions to keep growth going. While a bulk of Wall Street analysts have said that possible antitrust probes won't result in actual breakups, it could hurt their ability and appetite to buy up other companies and ignite their top lines.

Last year, Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and their subsidiaries spent roughly $30 billion total on M&A. Heading into the second half of 2019, the big tech giants have spent a total of $1 billion, according to PitchBook.

Tech is under pressure from both sides of the political aisle heading into the 2020 presidential election. Larry Downes of the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy said mergers are now as much a publicity calculus as they are a legal one. Downes suspects candidates railing against tech giants would weigh even more heavily than the delay or cost of a big transaction. As he put it, "Big tech is in the doghouse right now, and if they really wanted to do a big deal they'd have to prepare for the reality that it would get a ton of pushback."