Early Look

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

U.S. stock futures have stalled after two days of market chop, as the U.S. Federal Reserve wraps up its 2-day FOMC meeting Wednesday afternoon with broad expectations for a 25-bps cut, though fed fund future expectations have grown for a possible bigger 50-bps cut. Wall Street will also be eager to hear Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks at a press conference following the decision, which begins at 2:30 p.m. ET. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all closed lower on Tuesday, pulling back from record highs as investors await Fed’s rate decision, snapping the 9-day win streak for the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ). In stock news, China has told its biggest tech companies including Alibaba not to buy the Nvidia (NVDA) AI chip tailor-made for the country, the Financial Times reported. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index slipped -111 points to 44,790, the Shanghai Index rose 14 points to 3,876, and the Hang Seng Index jumped 469 points or 1.78% to 26,908. In Europe, the German DAX is up 18 points to 23,347, while the FTSE 100 is up 20 points to 9,215. December gold prices slid -0.65% to $3,700 an ounce, off record highs into Fed. Looking ahead to the end of the week, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to speak on Friday.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -125.55 points, or 0.27%, to 45,757.90
• The Nasdaq Composite slipped -14.79 points, or 0.07%, to 22,333.96
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -2.10 points, or 0.09% to 2,403.03

• 8:30 AM ET                  Housing Starts M/M for August
• 8:30 AM ET                  Building Permits M/M for August
• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly DOE Inventory Data
• 2:00 PM ET FOMC Policy meeting; rate cut of at least 25 bps widely anticipated

• Earnings After the Close: BLSH CBRL NNDM SANG

• DA Davidson 24th Diversified Industrials and Services Conference, 9/17-9/19, in Nashville, TN
• Goldman Sachs European Communacopia Conference, 9/16-9/17, in London
• JP Morgan All Stars Conference, 9/16-9/17, in London
• RBC Capital 2025 Global Communications Infrastructure Conference, 9/16-9/17, in Chicago, IL
• RBC Capital Global Industrials Conference, 9/16-9/17, in New York
• Stephen’s 15th Annual Bank Forum, 9/16-9/17, in Little Rock, AR
• Truist MedTech West Coast Bus Tour, 9/16-9/17
• Wells Fargo Consumer Conference, 9/16-9/17

• StubHub (STUB) 34.04M share IPO priced at $23.50, the midpoint of $22.00-$25.00 target range.

• New Fortress Energy (NFE) shares soar 40%, set to extend Tuesday’s record 45% rally, after billionaire Wes Edens’ firm finalized a seven-year deal worth $4 billion to supply liquefied natural gas to Puerto Rico.
• Vitol and Glencore (GLNCY) are expected to make bids for Chevron’s (CVX) 50% stake in Singapore’s second-largest refinery, with the value of the entire refinery estimated at about $1B – Reuters.
• Weatherford International Plc (WFRD) awarded $147M contract by Petrobras (PBR).
• The API reported US crude inventories fell 3.4m bbl last week; weekly EIA data due later Wednesday.

• Novo Nordisk (NVO) Products and Portfolio Strategy Chief states the company offers a more compelling proposition for Wegovy pill compared to rival Eli Lilly (LLY).
• Oruka Therapeutics (ORKA) announces $180M private placement.

• Alibaba’s (BABA) shares jump after it lands a major customer for its AI chips. China Unicom will deploy Alibaba’s AI chips through the e-commerce giant’s cloud computing unit, according to state media CCTV. The chips are developed by Alibaba’s semiconductor unit called Pingtouge or T-Head – CNBC
• Cohu (COHU) secures additional neon orders, raises 2025 forecasted HBM revenue to $10-$11M.
• Ming Chi Kuo of TF International Securities said on Apple (AAPL), “MacBook models will feature a touch panel for the first time, further blurring the line with the iPad. This shift appears to reflect Apple’s long-term observation of iPad user behavior, indicating that in certain scenarios, touch controls can enhance both productivity and the overall user experience.”
• Netflix (NFLX) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Loop Capital and raised tgt to $1,350 from $1,150.
• Nokia (NOK) announces leadership changes and forms new technology, AI and development divisions.
• Nvidia (NVDA) shares slip after the Financial Times reported China’s internet regulator has ordered top technology firms to halt purchases of Nvidia artificial intelligence chips and cancel existing orders as part of a broader push to cut reliance on U.S. technology https://tinyurl.com/3x5v3utn
• STMicroelectronics (STM) to invest $60M in new PLP pilot line in tours France to advance next generation chip manufacturing.
• Workday (WDAY) shares rise after activist investor Elliott Management builds more than $2 billion stake in co, while voicing support for WDAY’s leadership; the company also said plans $5B stock repurchase by FY27 after authorized $4B share repurchase on 9/16; shares were also upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Piper saying it has seen early signs that Workday’s efforts to increase relevancy in AI have accelerated.