Stock futures slip after Dow's record close, traders await Nvidia earnings this

In a Monday note, Raymond James upgrades shares of Alaska Air Group to an outperform rating from market perform, citing current demand and competitive capacity trends.

Analyst Savanthi Syth introduced a target price of $70 per share, which implies that shares of Alaska Air Group could climb 18% from their Friday closing price. The stock has shed 8% this year.

“As previously noted, Alaska’s dominant market position at key airports (thus, better ability to control its destiny), idiosyncratic earnings drivers related to Alaska Elevate along with a long history of good execution, and a reasonably strong balance sheet make ALK an attractive option for long-term focused investors,” the analyst wrote. “Moreover, current demand and competitive capacity trends increase the conviction in our earnings forecasts and, in turn, attractiveness of the risk-reward.”

In the same note, Syth also downgraded shares of American Airlines to a market perform rating from outperform. The catalyst for the downgrade, the analyst wrote, was a more balanced risk-reward as the stock approaches Raymond James’ prior price target of $14.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Orsted shares plummeted on Monday after the Trump administration ordered the Denmark-based wind farm developer to halt construction of a nearly completed project.

Shares of the company had fallen around 17% and hit a record low, according to LSEG data.

The U.S.′ Bureau of Ocean Energy Management late on Friday had issued a stop-work order for the Revolution Wind Project off of Rhode Island, a project that is 80% complete and has seen 45 out of 65 wind turbines installed, according to Orsted.

The company said that it would comply with the order and that it was considering options to resolve the issue and press ahead with construction.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Stifel is reiterating its optimistic view of Nvidia in the leadup to the graphic processing unit designer’s upcoming quarterly results on Wednesday.

Analyst Ruben Roy, who maintained his overweight rating on the stock, raised his price target to $212 from $202, which implies 19% upside from Friday’s close.

The analyst said “accelerating broad-based demand” for Nvidia’s GB300 platform could serve as a tailwind for the artificial intelligence chip darling.

“Our supply chain discussions continue to point to expectations for ramping GB300 orders into year-end even as sustained GB200 demand continues,” he wrote. “We expect a modest F2Q beat relative to consensus, as a function of prudent guidance, still-strong CapEx commentary from CSPs, de-risked China headwind with potential sales benefit, and healthily-ramping product sales with seemingly limited supply-chain disruption.”

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— Lisa Kailai Han

Ether ETFs posted $341 million in inflows Friday and its second day in a row of positive flows, according to SoSoValue, led by Fidelity’s FETH fund. Meanwhile, bitcoin ETFs saw their sixth consecutive day of net outflows — primarily from BlackRock’s popular IBIT fund, while others saw minor inflows.

For the week ending Aug. 22, the ether posted $237 million in net ouflows, which was its first week of negative flows since May 9. Bitcoin ETFs saw more than $1 billion in net outflows in the same week.

The price of ether is pulling back to start the week, after hitting a fresh record of almost $5,000 over the weekend. It was last lower by 6% at under $4,600, according to Coin Metrics.

ETH hit an earlier all-time high late Friday for the first time since 2021.

— Tanaya Macheel

Intel shares were up more than 2% in the premarket, adding to its 5.5% jump on Friday after the U.S. government confirmed it had taken a 10% stake in the chipmaker.

“BIG NEWS: The United States of America now owns 10% of Intel, one of our great American technology companies,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a post on X.

Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper dropped more than 3% in the premarket after the company announced a deal to buy Dutch coffee company JDE Peet’s for $18 billion.

Following the deal’s completion, Keurig plans to split up its beverage and coffee units into two separate, U.S.-listed companies. This move would effectively unwind the 2018 merger between Keurig and Dr Pepper Snapple.

— Fred Imbert, Ruxandra Iordache

Asia markets climbed Monday, led by China and Hong Kong stocks, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled that the central bank could begin easing monetary policy next month in his widely anticipated annual speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 extended its gains for the fourth consecutive session, climbing 2.08% to end the day at 4,469.22 after hitting a 37-month high earlier in the day.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 1.94% to 25,829.91, after coming within range of a four-year high. Gains were led by Zijin Mining Group, which gained 6.38% and NetEase, which jumped 6.04%.

The tech sector was among the key contributors to the HSI’s gains. The Hang Seng Tech index rose 3.14% to 5,825.09, with strong moves seen in Nio, which gained 15.17% and semiconductor and electronics manufacturer ASMPT, which added 7.6%.

Strong gains were also seen in Taiwan’s Taiex index, which advanced 2.16% to 24,277.38.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi index increased by 1.3% to end the day at 3,209.86, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 1.98% to 798.02.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 benchmark rose 0.41% to close at 42,807.82, while the broader Topix index ticked up 0.15% to 3,105.49.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark ended flat at 8,972.40, after crossing the 9,000 threshold earlier in the session.

Over in India, the benchmark Nifty 50 added 0.53%, while the BSE Sensex index moved up 0.51% as of 1:50 p.m. Indian Standard Time (4:20 a.m. ET).

— Amala Balakrishner

Ether rose to a new record over the weekend, after hitting an all-time high Friday for the first time since 2021.

The price of the second largest cryptocurrency rose as high as $4,954.81 on Sunday afternoon. It was last higher by less than 1% at $4,776.46.

Meanwhile, bitcoin at one point erased all the gains from its Friday rally, falling as low as $110,779.01, its lowest level since July 10. It was last trading lower by 2% at about $112,000. The flagship cryptocurrency hit its most recent record on Aug. 13.

— Tanaya Macheel

The market may have rallied last week on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks hinting at rate cuts, but August’s CPI and employment reports, and potentially a “few” other indicators, might convince the FOMC to hold off on easing if they are hotter than expected, according to Wall Street strategist Ed Yardeni.

“That’s why we are sticking we are sticking with our associated targets for the S&P 500 of 6,600 by year-end 2025 and 7,700 at the end of next year,” Yardeni wrote Sunday. “We assign that base-case scenario a subjective probability of 55% … A meltup will be more likely if the Fed eases in September, as widely expected,” which could lift the index to 7,000 by year-end 2025, he added. “We expect that the bull market will be increasingly earnings-led rather than valuation-led through 2026.”

— Tanaya Macheel