US stocks mixed amid Paramount-Netflix bidding war

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were mixed early Monday as markets digested a big IBM acquisition and a bidding war over Warner Bros. Discovery, while looking ahead to the Fed’s rates decision.

IBM announced it will purchase US data management company Confluent for $11 billion, while Paramount launched an all-cash bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery worth $108.4 billion, challenging Netflix’ acquisition announced last week.

WBD shot up 7%, while Paramount Skydance climbed 2.4%. Netflix dropped 2.9%.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2% at 47,842.65.

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The broad-based S&P 500 was essentially flat at 6,868.41, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.3% to 23,642.43.

Markets looking ahead to Wednesday’s Fed decision overwhelmingly expect another interest rate cut.

While a Fed cut would be no surprise, markets will scrutinize what Fed Chair Jerome Powell signals about future decisions.

“Investors want Fed Chair Powell to at least imply that they are still open to an additional cut in January,” said Sam Stovall of CFRA Research. “They don’t want it to just be one and done.”