Stock futures were down Monday with tech stocks being sold off and ahead
of the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole annual conference.
Investors are awaiting results from Nvidia on Wednesday, as the chip maker is a bellwether for AI capital expenditure and tech-sector valuations.
Swissquote said that strong results from Nvidia won't guarantee a positive reaction as shrinking cash flow at big tech names has fed concerns over the financing of artificial intelligence.
Meanwhile, gold prices hit a three-month high while oil and global government bonds fell. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plans to outline today how the U.S. plans to dial up economic pressure against Iran.
"The move could further tighten global oil supplies, with Iranian exports already disrupted and offers to China reduced," Saxo Bank said.
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium this week will also be a key event for investors as they continue to seek clarity on whether and when interest rates might rise. Wednesday's release of July PCE inflation data will be the most closely-watched piece of economic data this week.
Investors are also digesting the implications of the collapse in trade talks between the U.S. and Canada.
Stocks to watch
Alibaba launched a $10.2 billion share sale at a sharp discount to invest in AI. Its stock fell more than 8% in Hong Kong.
Coinbase Global, Robinhood Markets, Strategy: Shares of companies tied to cryptocurrencies slipped after bitcoin stalled out around $77,000 following last week's rally.
Marvell Technology, Micron Technology, Intel: Shares of semiconductor companies lost ground in premarket trading.
Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:
- Wall Street Is Counting on Nvidia to Keep the AI Party Going
- The Trump Intervention That Got the DOJ Off Live Nation's Back
- Canada's Carney Puts His 'No Deal Is Better Than a Bad Deal' Doctrine to the Test
MARKET WRAPS Forex:
The dollar edged higher as U.S.-Iran tensions persist. The greenback could fall if several countries with economic ties to Iran are affected by sanctions, Commerzbank said.
Bonds:
Treasury yields declined in early trade, but nonetheless remain at elevated levels as oil prices also move lower.
J.P. Morgan said the U.S. Treasury's decision last week to increase buybacks of long-end securities, alongside other recent Treasury actions, is a signal that the U.S. Treasury is uncomfortable with current yield levels.
Energy:
In early European trading, Brent crude was down 1.7%, while WTI futures slid 2.1%.
Metals:
Gold prices climbed above $4,700 a troy ounce as investors awaited the release of key U.S. inflation data and Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium.
Gold chart
Comex gold futures may extend their uptrend, RHB Retail Research said. The futures closed Friday with a long bullish candlestick pattern on the daily chart.
Copper
Copper prices traded above $14,200 a metric ton as a weaker dollar last week boosted investor appetite, while markets keep a close eye on shifts in global inventories. "A surge in deliveries into LME warehouses helped ease the market's most acute tightness," ANZ said.
Iron ore
Iron ore prices were higher in early trade, but the gains look increasingly difficult to sustain as the market moves from a production-capacity buildout into a period of supply release, Huatai Futures said.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
California Expected to Seek TV Channel Sales From Paramount-Warner
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is expected to ask Paramount to divest some cable channels and commit to keeping its movie studio separate from Warner Bros. before he signs off on the $81 billion merger, people familiar with the matter said.
Bonta and Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison are scheduled to meet Monday to discuss potential ways to settle the antitrust lawsuit California and 11 other states filed last month to block a deal that would combine the two entertainment giants.
Chinese Chip Maker YMTC Seeks $4.9 Billion IPO
China's flagship memory-chip maker filed for an initial public offering in Shanghai to raise $4.9 billion, which would be one of the country's biggest semiconductor-makers' share sales in years.
The funds raised by Yangtze Memory Technologies, or YMTC, should boost its production and mark another step in China's efforts to reduce its reliance on foreign chip technology as the global artificial intelligence competition intensifies.
UAW Workers Reject Deere's Contract Extension Offer, Setting Up 2027 Battle
Members of the United Auto Workers voted down an offer from Deere to extend its contract with the union by two years, setting up what will likely be a contentious negotiation for a new contract next year.
The farm-equipment maker last month offered union members two years of 4% wage increases and $3,000 bonuses if they accepted the offer by the end of August. The proposal would have extended the current contract from 2027, when it is set to expire, to 2029.
SoftBank Plans Record Retail Bond Issuance Amid AI Push
TOKYO-SoftBank Group plans to issue a record volume of retail bonds to partly fund its expanding artificial intelligence investments, as the company deepens its multibillion-dollar commitments to OpenAI and related infrastructure projects.
The Japanese technology conglomerate said Monday that it plans to issue 1 trillion yen, equivalent to $6.3 billion, of yen-denominated retail bonds. The seven-year bonds will be priced Sept. 4, with an indicative coupon of 4.3% to 4.9%.
Global Bond Yields Fall on Declining Oil, Prospects of Further Treasury Steps to Tackle Recent Highs
Global government bond yields fell Monday, helped by declining oil prices and as investors anticipate that further measures from the U.S. Treasury are possible to tame high yields.
The U.S. Treasury last week doubled the volume of long-end debt buybacks after yields rose to multiyear highs. On Monday, a slight decline in global bond yields has been helped by lower oil prices even as the prospect of a peace deal in the Middle East remains elusive, while traffic via the Strait of Hormuz stays disrupted.
How Trump's Crypto Push Is Linked to Bessent's Treasury Moves
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's mission to tame the bond market could get help from another Trump administration push: crypto legislation.
Last week, the U.S. Treasury announced larger buybacks of longer-term bonds. That can be funded by increasing issuance of shorter-term Treasury bills, or what Bessent, speaking on CNBC, called a Treasury twist. In that context, it is notable that Bessent has in the past talked about a big potential new source of demand for Treasury bills: stablecoins.
Wall Street Is Counting on Nvidia to Keep the AI Party Going
Chip makers are fighting to assure investors that the artificial-intelligence boom is racing forward. Wall Street might not believe it until Nvidia's Jensen Huang says so.
When Huang steps up to the mic for his company's earnings call Wednesday, he will have the world's attention. What he says about Nvidia's present will preview the future of AI, dictate the path forward for a tech-crazed stock market and influence an American economy increasingly tethered to hopes that the boom won't go bust.
Canada's Carney Puts His 'No Deal Is Better Than a Bad Deal' Doctrine to the Test
TORONTO-Over the past 17 months, as President Trump has freighted Canada's economy with several rounds of punishing tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney has often repeated the guiding maxim for his negotiations with the U.S.: No deal is better than a bad one.
Now he is putting that rule to the test.
Europe Chastised Trump's Climate Rollback. Now It's Delaying Its Own Green Goals.
When President Trump shredded U.S. climate policies last year, much of the Western world chastised him for ignoring climate change. Now, Europe, the U.K. and Canada are walking back their own environmental regulations.
The European Union has proposed to relax its landmark carbon-pricing system, and allow automakers to sell gasoline-burning cars for longer. The U.K. appears poised to allow new oil production in the North Sea-after banning exploratory drilling last year-and is reviewing targets for sales of electric vehicles. Canada dismantled an unpopular carbon tax and is backing new oil-and-gas infrastructure.
Iran's Top Politicians Urge an End to the War
DUBAI-Iran's top politicians said the country needs to focus on ending the war and shoring up its crippled economy, pushing back publicly against hardliners who are taking a more defiant approach in the six-month-old conflict.
The comments by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf come as the diplomatic track remains stalled and the Trump administration has shifted to a policy of ratcheting up economic pressure via sanctions and the naval blockade of Iran's ports.
Why Democrats Still Have a Shot at Winning the Senate
Democrats fighting to win back the Senate from the Republicans spent their summer sweating out a last-minute candidate switch in Maine and the emergence of an antiestablishment progressive in swing-state Michigan.
The two races remain central to Democrats' hopes of winning back Senate control in the November elections as they try to navigate a narrow pathway to the majority. But even as flipping Maine and retaining Michigan look challenging, Democrats have made headway in defending Georgia, capturing North Carolina and competing in redder states including Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Texas.
Write to priscila.barrera@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA Earnings:
Nothing major scheduled today.
Economic Indicators $(ET)$:
083 Q2 Quarterly financial statistics for enterprises Stocks to Watch: