The S&P 500 futures are up five points, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up ten points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down ten points.
Equity futures are trading flat ahead of key events this week, including Tuesday night's presidential debate and Wednesday's release of the August Consumer Price Index at 8:30 ET.
Treasury yields show little change from yesterday. The 10-year note yield is at 3.72%, up two basis points, and the 2-year note yield is at 3.68%, up one basis point.
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Survey fell to 91.2 from 93.7.
In corporate news:
Today's News
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM, Financial) reported a significant rise in August sales, driven by demand for artificial intelligence-related products. The company, which supplies processors to Nvidia, Apple, and AMD, posted revenue of approximately $7.8 billion for the month, up 33% from August 2023, though it was down 2.4% from July. Year-to-date revenue surged 30.8% to about $55.16 billion. Despite the positive news, shares fell 1.2% in premarket trading.
The European Union's top court upheld a €2.42 billion ($2.7 billion) fine on Google (GOOG, GOOGL) for abusing its dominant position by favoring its own comparison shopping service in search results. This decision confirms the European Commission's 2017 ruling that Google's conduct was discriminatory against competitors. The ruling is seen as a significant win for EU competition law.
Apple's (AAPL, Financial) unveiling of the new iPhone 16 has mixed implications for the semiconductor industry. KeyBanc Capital Markets noted that Cirrus Logic (CRUS, Financial), Qualcomm (QCOM, Financial), and Broadcom (AVGO, Financial) are expected to benefit from various upgrades in the new models. Cirrus Logic stands to gain from camera control changes and new haptic drivers, while Broadcom will benefit from the upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 in all new models.
Wall Street's reaction to Apple's (AAPL, Financial) new product announcements was largely muted, with shares falling 1% in premarket trading. Analysts noted that the new hardware products were more evolutionary than revolutionary. While there were some positive surprises, such as sleep apnea detection for the Apple Watch and hearing aid functionality for AirPods Pro, the AI functionalities were seen as underwhelming.
Southwest Airlines (LUV, Financial) announced a significant board refresh as part of its ongoing transformation efforts. The company invited Elliott Investment Management to participate in these changes. Executive Chairman Gary Kelly will retire after the 2025 Annual Meeting, and six directors will step down following the next board meeting. Four new independent directors are expected to be appointed soon.
The European Union will slightly lower proposed tariffs on Tesla (TSLA, Financial) and other automakers importing from China. Tesla's tariff rate will drop to 7.8% from 9%, while Geely Automobile will see a reduction to 18.8% from 19.3%. The tariffs were imposed due to concerns about low-priced electric vehicle exports from China.
Huawei unveiled the world's first triple-fold smartphone, Mate XT, shortly after Apple's (AAPL, Financial) iPhone 16 release. The device features a 10.2-inch display and runs on Huawei’s Harmony OS. Huawei has already received over 3 million pre-orders for the new smartphone.
Apple (AAPL, Financial) lost its EU court battle over a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) tax dispute with Ireland. The European Court of Justice upheld the European Commission's 2016 decision that Ireland granted Apple unlawful tax benefits, which must now be repaid. This ruling is a significant victory for the EU's campaign against preferential tax deals.
Tesla (TSLA, Financial) saw its shares rise after Deutsche Bank resumed coverage with a Buy rating, naming it a top pick in the automobile sector. The firm highlighted Tesla's potential in autonomous driving and humanoid robots, as well as significant growth in energy storage, which is expected to generate over $13 billion in sales by 2025.
Costco (COST, Financial) shares fell slightly after Redburn Atlantic downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. The firm cited that the current 2025 price-to-earnings ratio of 50X may not present a favorable risk-reward balance, despite Costco's strong business model and growing membership base.
Oracle (ORCL, Financial) shares surged over 8% following strong first-quarter results, driven by rising AI demand in its cloud computing business and new partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. Cloud revenue reached $5.6 billion, with infrastructure revenue soaring 45% year-over-year to $2.2 billion.
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