Markets Focus on Nvidia & Inflation This Week

Equity index futures are slightly lower to kick off the trading week, with S&P 500 futures are down -0.3% after jumping +1.47% on Friday. Markets seem to be taking a pause from Friday’s rally that was fueled by renewed rate cut optimism from Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech, as traders look toward Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings in Wednesday’s postmarket.

Cryptocurrency markets also are falling, with bitcoin futures (/BTC) down almost -5%. Today’s economic data includes the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, New Home Sales, and the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey. Earnings are light to start off the week, but the tech and retail sectors will see heavier activity down the road with names like CRWD, SNOW, and MRVL.

Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)

• Oil (/CL) – Oil prices move higher on U.S. rate cut expectations and continued strikes on Russia energy infrastructure by Ukraine forces.
• Gold (/GC) – Gold futures are down about -0.2% near 3,412 after jumping almost +1% on Friday.
• Bitcoin (/BTC) – Bitcoin futures are sinking almost -5% near 111,230 following Friday’s +4.1% rally after rumors of a whale seller.
• VIX – The VIX fell sharply on Friday, closing at 14.22 from 16.60 the previous day.

Biggest Premarket Movers (Mark % Change as of 7 AM ET)

1. Intel (INTC): +1.53%
2. Lennar (LEN): +0.70%
3. Clorox (CLX): +0.22%

1. Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP): -4.23%
2. Coinbase Global (COIN): -2.78%
3. Palantir Technologies (PLTR): -1.42%

Economic Data

• 10:00 AM ET: New Home Sales
• 10:30 AM ET: Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey
• 11:00 AM ET: Treasury Buyback Announcement (Preliminary)
• 3:15 PM ET: Lorie Logan Speaks
• 7:15 PM ET: John Williams Speaks

Notable Earnings

• Premarket: PDD
• Postmarket: HEI
• Premarket Monday: BMO, BNS
• Postmarket Monday: MDB, OKTA, PVH, BOX

Upgrades/Downgrades

• Venture Global (VG) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS
• FirstEnergy (FE) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays
• Okta (OKTA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Truist
• American Eagle (AEO) downgraded to Underperform at BofA
• SentinelOne (S) downgraded to Neutral at BTIG
• Golar LNG (GLNG) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley