A trader reacts on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., August 22, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
U.S. equity futures fell slightly on Monday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average catapulted to intraday and closing records, and as investors looked ahead to Nvidia earnings.
Futures tied to the Dow fell by 153 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures edged 0.3% lower, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.4%.
Intel shares extended its gains Monday on the heels of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick revealing Friday that the U.S. government has taken a 10% stake in the chipmaker. That could be a sign of more to come from the Trump administration, as White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Monday that the stake is part of broader strategy to create a sovereign wealth fund.
“I’m sure that at some point there’ll be more transactions, if not in this industry then other industries,” the director of the National Economic Council said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
The moves come after stocks closed out last week with a winning session. On Friday, the blue-chip Dow soared more than 800 points, or nearly 2%, to score new all-time intraday and closing highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also gained almost 2%, while the broad market S&P 500 rose more than 1%. The latter came within three points of its record at its session high.
Stocks rallied after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s widely anticipated annual speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, during which he signaled the central bank could begin easing monetary policy next month. Expectations for a quarter-point rate cut in September jumped to about 84%, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, from about 75% earlier in the week.
“We have seen the ingredients of a potential rotation trade out of tech into more cyclical and value stocks, and so to the extent you do see more anticipation of a Fed easing cycle, that momentum trade out of tech can continue,” said Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge. “That puts a lot of pressure on biggest reports this coming Wednesday.”
That includes Nvidia, as the company is scheduled to report after the bell Wednesday. Meanwhile, Dell and Marvell will report earnings on Thursday. Those names could play a key role in determining whether the tech rally is back on or if there’s further to go in the rotation trade, Crisafulli said.
In the week ahead, traders are also looking forward to Friday’s July personal consumption expenditure price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect core PCE, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, will rise 2.9% on a year-over-year basis, compared to its 2.8% increase in June.
