Pre-Bell｜U.S. Futures Subdued; Tesla Soars More Than 8%; Nvidia Falls 1.7%; Bitfarms Rallies 15%; Opendoor Jumps over 6%; NIO Gains 3%

U.S. stock index futures were muted on Monday, kicking off a week where the Federal Reserve is expected to resume its interest rate cutting cycle.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to ease its monetary policy by 25 basis points on Wednesday after a series of economic indicators pointed to a worsening jobs market in the world's biggest economy.

Market Snapshot

At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 73 points, or 0.16%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 12.5 points, or 0.19%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 28.75 points, or 0.12%.

Pre-Market Movers

Shares of Tesla were up 8.41% after CEO Elon Musk disclosed purchases of 2.6 million shares in the electric-vehicle maker worth about $1 billion. The purchases raised Musk's total, excluding any stock options, to about 413 million shares. The stock rose 7.4% on Friday to close at $395.94, the stock's highest close since Jan. 31. Tesla shares gained nearly 13% last week and have closed higher for seven of the eight past trading days.

Nvidia fell 1.7% after China's market regulator said a preliminary investigation found the chip maker had breached antimonopoly laws. While the regulator said it plans to conduct further investigations, the inquiry is a blow to Nvidia as it appears unlikely that China would allow it to sell new hardware in the country while saying it violated antitrust regulations. The leading maker of artificial-intelligence chips already is restricted by the U.S. from selling its most advanced products in China.

Bitfarms Ltd. stock soared 14.8% in pre-market trading on Monday, continuing its strong performance from overnight trading. The significant uptick comes as crypto-related stocks showed mixed results, with Bitfarms emerging as one of the top performers in the sector.

Opendoor stock jumped 6.3% in premarket trading. Eric Jackson, founder of EMJ Capital, has pushed back on comparisons to legendary GameStop retail investor “Roaring Kitty,” asserting that his conviction in Opendoor Technologies Inc. stems from fundamental value rather than internet virality.

Nio’s U.S.-listed shares rose 3% in premarket trading as the Chinese EV maker has begun shipping the third-generation ES8 to its stores in China as part of preparations for rapid delivery of the SUV (sport utility vehicle).

Texas Instruments declined 2.7% and Analog Devices was down 2.6% as China over the weekend launched an anti-dumping investigation for certain U.S.-made analog chips, the kind made by the two companies.

Warner Bros. Discovery fell 0.5% after shares of the entertainment company jumped 17% on Friday and 56% for the week -- the stock's best weekly performance on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data -- following a report from The Wall Street Journal that said Paramount Skydance was preparing a takeover bid that would be backed by the Ellison family.

Gemini Space Station was up 2% after jumping 14% in its trading debut Friday and closing at $32. The stock rose as high as $45.89 during Friday's session. The initial public offering of the company, a crypto brokerage that is run by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, was priced Thursday evening at $28 a share.

Oracle was up 0.4%, coming off a week that saw shares of the database-software company rise almost 26% for their best weekly performance in 26 years following a significant increase in its backlog of contracted work. Shares lost steam at the end of last week, however, declining a total 11% on Thursday and Friday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Moderna rose 1.1% after tumbling 7.4% on Friday, while Pfizer was up 0.3% after falling 3.9% in the previous session following reports that said Food and Drug Administration officials plan to make the case at a meeting this week that Covid-19 shots are linked to the deaths of 25 children.

Market News

US Says It Will Press Ahead with TikTok Ban If China Doesn't Drop Tariff, Tech Demands

The U.S. will go ahead with a ban on short-video app TikTok if China won’t drop demands for reducing tariffs and technological restrictions as part of a divestiture deal, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of negotiations said on Monday.

U.S. and China delegations are discussing the divestment from TikTok by Chinese owner Bytedance as part of a round of broader talks on tariffs and economic policy taking place in Madrid. TikTok faces being shut down as early as Sept. 17 in the U.S. unless it moves to U.S. ownership.

UK and US to Announce Tech, Energy Deals During Trump Visit

The United States and Britain will announce agreements on technology and civil nuclear energy during U.S. President Donald Trump's unprecedented second state visit this week, as the UK hopes to finalise steel tariffs under a much-vaunted trade deal.

Trump and his wife, Melania, will be treated to a display of British royal pageantry during their visit on Wednesday, including a carriage tour, a state banquet, a flypast by military aircraft and a gun salute.