Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Holding Steady as Major Indexes Near Record Highs; Intel Jumps on News of SoftBank Investment

Major stock indexes were mixed in early trading Tuesday at the start of a busy stretch of retail sector earnings, as the market remains in something of a holding pattern ahead of a key speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4% recently, while the benchmark S&P 500 fell fractionally and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) slipped 0.4%. The major indexes closed yesterday’s session essentially unchanged, following two straight weeks of gains that have lifted stocks to all-time highs. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each came into today’s session less than 0.5% away from record closing highs.

Market participants are preparing for Powell’s speech on Friday morning at the Jackson Hole Symposium, an annual gathering of the world’s central bankers. Investors will be looking for signals that the Fed is prepared to cut its benchmark rate at the September meeting of the central bank’s policy committee. When the Fed opted last month to leave the rate unchanged, Powell said that officials needed to see more data on how tariffs were affecting inflation before adjusting policy. Since then, inflation indicators have painted a murky picture, generating market uncertainty about the Fed’s timetable for cuts.

Meanwhile, the calendar is busy with earnings reports from major retailers this week. Home Depot  (HD) shares were up nearly 5% this morning, leading Dow gainers, after the home-improvement chain affirmed its guidance and said demand is improving. Rival Lowe’s (LOW) is due to report tomorrow morning, as are Target (TGT) and TJ Maxx parent TJX (TJX). Walmart (WMT) is scheduled to release its results on Thursday.

Intel (INTC) was the big gainer, rising 10% after Japan’s SoftBank Group said it is making a $2 billion investment in the embattled U.S. chipmaker. The news follows recent reports that the U.S. government is weighing the possibility of taking a stake in the once-storied chipmaker.

Among other noteworthy movers, shares of Palo Alto Networks (PANW) jumped nearly 5% after the cybersecurity company reported better-than-expected earnings and issued a rosy outlook.

Mega-cap technology stocks, which have an outsized influence on the broader market, were mostly lower this morning. Chips giant Broadcom (AVGO) fell 2.5%, while rival Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) each declined about 1%. Tesla (TSLA) ticked lower, while Apple (AAPL) was slightly higher.

Bitcoin was trading at $115,100, down from around $117,000 yesterday afternoon. The digital currency hit a record high of $124,500 last Thursday before falling sharply as market participants scaled back their expectations for a rate cut after worrisome inflation data.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, was at 4.31% recently, down from 4.34% at yesterday’s close. The yield traded as low as 4.20% last week before the disappointing inflation report.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.1% at 98.07, trading near a three-week low.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, slipped 1.2% to $62.65 per barrel, giving back the previous session’s gains and pushing prices back to their lowest levels since early June. Gold futures were up 0.1% at around $3,380 an ounce.