Google stock price opened lower on Thursday after US states alleged that the company is unlawfully preserving the monopoly of the Google Play store.
The states also allege that Google had approached Samsung with a payment deal to make the latter forgo any attempts at setting up a competing platform. The US states have filed a lawsuit seeking to force an opening of the market to potential Android platform competitors.
Google has hit back at the allegations, saying the lawsuit aimed to benefit a few major developers and not small businesses and consumers. The company says its Google Play store promotes choice and openness not found elsewhere.
In the meantime, the French anti-trust regulator’s decision on a preliminary deal between Google and lobby group the Alliance de la Presse d’Information Generale (APIG) comes up in a few days. The deal between Google and APIG (which represents 121 French publications) is for payments of up to $76 million to these publishers under the “News Showcase” project, compensation for news featured in search results. Google is currently facing a host of anti-trust lawsuits.
Following the invalidation of the rounded top by the 2 July candle, Google stock price hit resistance at the 88.6% Fibonacci extension level of 2615.22 and opened with a bearish gap on Thursday. Bulls are attempting to cover the gap. This move would initially allow for a retest of 2615.22, with a breakout opening the path towards 2667.37.
On the flip side, a rejection at 2615.22 allows for a pullback which tests 2554.89 initially (former high of the rounded top), with 2493.02 and 2438.66 serving as additional targets to the south.
