U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Monday as caution prevailed ahead of the Federal Reserve's pivotal monetary policy decision later in the week, with investors pricing in a steep reduction in borrowing costs.

Market Snapshot

At 8:20 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis rose 85 points, or 0.20%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 4.75 points, or 0.08%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 82.75 points, or 0.42%.

Pre-Market Movers

Apple shares slid 2.52% in premarket trading. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said demand for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max has been "lower than expected" since the devices became available to pre-order in the U.S. and dozens of other countries on Friday. Kuo said his data is based on a "supply chain survey" and shipping estimates listed on Apple's online store.

Nvidia was slipping early on Monday as the chip maker looks set to give back some gains from the previous week's rally. Nvidia shares were down 1.64% in premarket trading on Monday. The stock closed broadly flat on Friday but has risen 12% over the past five trading sessions.

Trump Media & Technology Group, the social media business owned by former President Donald Trump, was rising 1.2% in premarket trading, extending gains from Friday when the stock jumped 12% after Trump said he wouldn ’ t sell his stake when his lockup period expires on Sept. 20. The former president also was the target of a second apparent assassination attempt on Sunday.

Boeing rose 0.3% after slumping 3.7% following the start of a strike by the aerospace company ’ s biggest union, which represents about 33,000 workers. Moody ’ s Ratings last week placed all of Boeing ’ s credit ratings on review for a possible downgrade, saying it would assess the strike ’ s duration and impact on cash flow.

Intel rose 1.2% following a report from Bloomberg that said the chip maker officially has qualified for as much as $3.5 billion in federal grants to make semiconductors for the Pentagon. The report cited people familiar with the matter.

Shares of Tesla were up 0.2%. The electric-vehicle maker tweeted Saturday that it had manufactured its 100 millionth 4680 battery cell. The batteries are Tesla ’ s larger, most advanced batteries that allow for more energy, longer range, and lower manufacturing costs.

The price target on shares of Alphabet was lowered to $200 from $225 at Evercore ISI. Analysts at the firm cited the "probable medium-term uncertainty" over the potential outcomes of ongoing Department of Justice antitrust trials. The maintained an Outperform rating on the shares. The stock was up 0.3% to $157.97.

Zillow Group rose 2.7% to $61.34 after Wedbush analysts upgraded shares of the home-listing site to Outperform from Neutral and raised the price target to $80 from $50. "In addition to the potentially positive catalyst of lower mortgage rates, we see Zillow ’ s software and services initiatives adding to potential upside risk to our estimates," the analysts wrote in a research note.

Market News

Intel Said to Lose PlayStation 6 Chip Contracts to AMD, TSM in 2022

Intel lost out on a contract to design and fabricate Sony ’ s PlayStation 6 chip in 2022, which dealt a significant blow to its effort to build its fledgling contract manufacturing business, according to three sources with knowledge of the events.

The effort by Intel to win out over Advanced Micro Devices in a competitive bidding process to supply the design for the forthcoming PlayStation 6 chip and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co as the contract manufacturer would have amounted to billions of dollars of revenue and fabricating thousands of silicon wafers a month, two sources said.

Target to Hire 100,000 Seasonal Workers for Holiday Season

Target said on Monday that it would hire about 100,000 seasonal employees, in-line with what it had hired for the last three years, as the retailer gears up for its all-important holiday period.

Holiday retail sales are expected to grow at their slowest pace in six years, according to data from Deloitte, as persistent inflationary pressures have exhausted consumer savings and turned shoppers more frugal.

Pfizer Plans Late-Stage Studies of Drug for Cancer Wasting Disorder

Pfizer plans to advance an experimental treatment for a wasting disorder in cancer patients into late-stage studies following a successful mid-stage trial.

Pfizer said a Phase 2 study of ponsegromab met its primary endpoint of change from baseline in body weight compared with placebo in people with cachexia, a common, life-threatening condition in cancer patients that is associated with weight loss, functional decline and poor outcomes.