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Nvidia, Fed Outlooks Dull Wall Street Bell; Asia Off, Europe Up

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Wall Street futures pointed moderately lower pre-bell Monday as traders awaited a thinner week of earnings reports, but one marked by chip colossus Nvidia's (NVDA) results, to be posted after the close on Wednesday.

On deck, the Federal Reserve will hold its annual two-day Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium starting Thursday, with Fed Chair Kevin Warsh speaking on Friday.

In the futures, the S&P 500 fell 0.3%, the Nasdaq declined 0.7%, and the Dow Jones was off 0.1%.

The VanEck Semiconductor fund (SMH) traded down 1.7% pre-bell.

However, West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded down 2.2% at $85.19 in morning action.

Investors also look ahead this week to the core personal consumption price index for July, from Washington on Wednesday, and sure to be parsed for clues to domestic inflation given global crude prices.

Asian exchanges traded mostly lower overnight on tech-sector weakness, while European bourses edged north midday on the continent.

On the economic calendar is the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for July, at 8:30 am ET.

In pre-market action, Bitcoin traded at $77,913 and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.71%. Spot gold commanded $4,648 an ounce.

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Tadawul Shares Surge on Sunday; Saudi Arabia's July Construction Cost Index Ticks Up

The Tadawul All Share Index closed 1.13% in the green on Sunday as investors focus on Saudi Arabia's latest economic release and tariff updates.According to the General Authority of Statistics, the kingdom's construction cost index rose 2.3% annually in July after a 2.7% rise in the prior month. Month over month, the construction index remained steady."CCI for the residential sector recorded an annual increase of 2.2%. This was driven by a 4.2% rise in the costs of renting equipment and machinery, mainly due to a 5.7% increase in the costs of renting equipment and machinery with operators," the regulatory body said in its report. "CCI for the non-residential sector recorded an annual increase of 2.6% compared to the corresponding month of 2025, due to an increase in the costs of renting equipment and machinery by 5.8%, driven by an 7.3% increase in the rental of equipment and machinery with operators, a 1.8% increase in labor costs, and a 3.0% increase in energy costs."Speaking of economic releases, the local economic calendar will see the release of the kingdom's export and import numbers for June on Tuesday. Market watchers will also look out for the estimated quarterly GDP growth rate data of the US on Wednesday.In other news, Canada decided to impose retaliatory tariffs on certain US goods after President Donald Trump ordered a 50% levy on Canadian products. The "dollar for dollar" tariffs will become effective on Sept. 8.Back at home, Saudi Energy Co. (SASE:5110) and Acwa Power (SASE:2082) entered into 15-year storage services deals for the Al-Muwaih, Haden, and Kahafah battery energy storage system independent storage projects in Hail and Makkah.Saudi Energy and Acwa shares closed 0.29% and 1.18% higher, respectively.

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US Equity Indexes Rise Despite Surging Bond Yields as US Nears Tariff Deal With Canada

US equity indexes rose markedly on Friday, even as bond yields continued to rise after Canada's trade minister Dominic LeBlanc reportedly said the countries are "very close" to finalizing a deal before the Saturday midnight deadline.LeBlanc met US trade representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday and said the two sides were close to finalizing a deal, but added that more work was required, according to a Friday Reuters report.President Donald Trump said in a Thursday Truth Social post that he paused tariffs on certain Canadian goods, adding that the canceled Keystone XL Pipeline may also be revived.In a separate Truth Social post on Friday, Trump said that he had closed a deal to "substantially" lower the price of ground beef for US consumers and will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of the commodity to be imported with no out-of-quota tariff.The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to 26,180.4, and the S&P 500 gained 0.4% to 7,674.3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% to 53,276.8. Materials and financial sectors led the gainers, while utilities and energy led the decliners.The yield on 30-year Treasuries rose 3.7 basis points to 5.274%, while the 10-year yield gained 3.8 basis points to 4.736%.The US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract fell 0.2% to $86.64 per barrel.In economic news, Bureau of Labor Statistics data revealed that the unemployment rate fell in 10 US States in July and remained steady elsewhere. The largest unemployment rate declines were observed in South Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Washington, Pennsylvania, New York, and Rhode Island.The August flash reading of manufacturing conditions from S&P Global fell to 53.2 from 53.9 in July, compared with expectations for no change in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The index for services conditions rose to 56.8 in August from 54.6 in July, compared with expectations for a decrease to 54.Gold futures gained 2.3% to $4,677.3 per ounce, and silver futures rose 2% to $69.495.Jupiter Neurosciences (JUNS) shares rose 16% after it said it priced a direct offering of 307,692 shares for gross proceeds of $2 million. The offering is expected to occur Aug. 24, with D. Boral Capital as placement agent.In equity news, Ross Stores (ROST) shares rose 4.4%, a day after the company posted a Q2 beat and raise. The company reported fiscal Q2 earnings late Thursday of $2.66 per diluted share, up from $1.56 a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.95. Revenue for the three months ended Aug. 1 rose to $6.26 billion from $5.53 billion a year earlier. Analysts projected $6.16 billion. The company boosted its full-year EPS guidance to $8.61 to $8.77 from the prior forecast of $7.50 to $7.74. Analysts project $7.89.RF Acquisition Corp II (RFAI) shares rose more than 350% after the company's shareholders approved its merger with Nanyang Biologics at an extraordinary general meeting, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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Asia Markets

US Equity Indexes Lower This Week as Trump Threatens Major Economic War on Iran

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