Preview of US Stock Market | The three major stock index futures all rose, with financial stocks leading the start of the earnings season, while waiting for the release of the CPI.

umScape Systems (QSC.US)8%Um Computing (QUBT.US) rose 12%, while Arqit Quantum (ARQQ.US) rose nearly 8%. B. Riley Securities maintains a buy rating on Rigetti and D-Wave, raising their target prices to $8.50 and $9.00 respectively, citing encouraging technological advancements and growing commercial potential. Analyst Craig Ellis points out that despite concerns about challenges in scaling up technology and competition from WINOX, the field still has strong long-term growth prospects driven by advances in quantum systems, increasing commercial applications, and growing government interest (especially from China) in advancing Western quantum computing.BlackRock, Inc. (BLK.US) reported better-than-expected Q4 performance. The financial report shows that BlackRock, Inc.'s Q4 revenue in 2024 increased by 23% year-on-year to $56.8 billion, surpassing market expectations of $55.9 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were $11.93, higher than the market expectation of $11.22. As of the end of the fourth quarter, BlackRock, Inc.'s assets under management (AUM) reached a record $11.55 trillion, a 15% year-on-year increase; average AUM for the fourth quarter was $11.55 trillion, up 23% year-on-year. Q4 net fund inflows were $281.416 billion. As of the time of publication, BlackRock, Inc. was up nearly 3% in pre-market trading on Wednesday. Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) plans to temporarily suspend some new Model Y production lines in China during the Spring Festival for upgrades. Sources say that the prolonged shutdown will allow Tesla, Inc. to better prepare for increased production of new models. Model Y is one of Tesla, Inc.'s best-selling models, and the company began accepting orders for the new model last week, with deliveries expected to begin in March. Sources say that the affected Model Y production lines will be shut down around January 22 to February 14. They also added that another area of the Shanghai factory producing Model 3 will be closed from January 26 to February 3. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) is suspending the recruitment of new employees in its U.S. consulting division and conducting small-scale layoffs to reduce costs. According to a leaked internal memo, Microsoft Corporation plans to halt recruiting for parts of its U.S. consulting business. The memo states that the freeze measures are expected to continue until the end of the current fiscal year in June. Consulting division executive Derek Danois instructed the consulting department to halt the recruitment of new employees and fill vacant positions to cut costs. The memo also requires employees to minimize travel expenses. The department also plans to cut marketing and non-billable external resource expenses by 35%. The growth rate of the consulting department is lower than Microsoft Corporation's productivity software subscriptions and Azure cloud computing business. The consulting department had revenue of $1.9 billion in the quarter ending in September, down about 1% from the same period last year, while Azure revenue was 33%. Another report stated that Microsoft Corporation plans to lay off employees in the security, experience and devices, gaming, and sales departments. A Microsoft Corporation spokesperson said that the expected number of layoffs would be minimal. Meta Platforms (META.US) will lay off about 5% of its employees and plans to rehire these positions this year. A spokesperson for Meta Platforms stated that the company will lay off about 5% of the "poor-performing employees" and plans to rehire these positions this year. The spokesperson also revealed that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has warned employees that the company will conduct more similar layoffs this year to "raise the standards of performance management." As of September 30, 2023, Meta had over 72,000 employees. In addition, last week Meta discontinued its fact-checking program in the U.S. and relaxed restrictions on discussions of controversial topics such as immigration and gender identity. This move is seen as a response to conservative pressure, especially as former President Trump prepares to return to the U.S. presidential election. Important economic data and events preview 21:30 Beijing time U.S. December CPI data 21:30 Beijing time U.S. January New York Fed Manufacturing Index 00:00 the next day Beijing time FOMC Permanent Voter, New York Fed President Williams gives a speech 01:00 the next day Beijing time 2025 FOMC Voter, Chicago Fed President Guisby gives a speech 03:00 Beijing time the next day, the Federal Reserve releases the Beige Book Earnings preview Before the market open on Thursday: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR (TSM.US), UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH.US), Bank of America Corp (BAC.US), Morgan Stanley (MS.US)