5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens on Monday

5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens on Monday News of the day for Aug. 17, 2026

Mon, August 17, 2026 at 3:18 PM GMT+3 4 min read

Stock futures are pointing to a mixed open to kick off a busy week of retail earnings reports; investors will get quarterly results from Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's and others this week; AI-related memory and chip stocks are on the rise this morning; the dollar is trading at its lowest point since early June as investors increasingly bet against a Fed rate hike; and Harvard disclosed a $2.2 billion stake in SpaceX. Here's what you need to know today.

Stock Futures Are Mixed After Another Week of Gains

Stock futures are mixed this morning, with the Nasdaq poised to open higher as AI stocks rise. Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq were up 0.4% recently, while S&P 500 futures added 0.1% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.2%. The major indexes each fell on Friday, though the Nasdaq and S&P 500 managed to post weekly gains for the third week in a row. WTI crude oil futures were holding steady at $82.40 per barrel as the U.S. and Iran appear poised to blow through the 60-day deadline of Monday to reach a deal to end the war. Gold futures rose 0.5% to $4,450 an ounce, while bitcoin was trading around $63,600, up from lows around $62,500 on Friday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked lower to 4.69%.

On Deck This Week: Retail Earnings, Fed Minutes

Investors are set to get a raft of updates on the health of the American consumer this week, with earnings reports coming from several of the country's biggest retailers. Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's (LOW) are scheduled to report on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, respectively. Target (TGT) and TJX Companies (TJX) also report Wednesday, as do cruise operator Viking (VIK) and cosmetics giant Estee Lauder (EL). Thursday will bring results from Walmart (WMT), the nation's largest retailer, along with farm equipment maker Deere (DE), Ross Stores (ROST) and Advance Auto Parts (AAP). On Wednesday afternoon, the minutes of last month's Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates are set to be published, potentially providing investors with insights into how members of the central bank's policy committee board see the outlook for the economy and future rate decisions.

Memory, Chip Stocks Leading Premarket Gainers

The AI trade looks poised for a hot start to the week as several hardware makers are among the market's top gainers ahead of the opening bell. Shares of Sandisk (SNDK) were up 4%, while data storage rivals Seagate Technology (STX) and Western Digital (WDC) each gained roughly 3%. Other chipmakers including Micron (MU), Marvell (MRVL), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel (INTC) are all in the green this morning. While investors have been concerned about the possibility of an AI bubble, many are still betting on chip stocks, with high demand for their hardware boosting sales and profits to record highs in recent quarters.

Dollar at Lowest Levels Since Early June as Rate Hike Fears Fade

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, is trading at its lowest point since early June as concerns that the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates have eased. Reports last week on consumer and producer prices showed that inflation has cooled, which could take pressure off the Fed to possibly hike its benchmark rate at next month's policy meeting. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has said repeatedly that the central bank's top priority is bringing inflation down to the 2% annual target. The CME Group's FedWatch tool, which tracks odds of how investors see rates moving based on futures pricing, puts a 31% chance on a rate hike at next month's meeting, down from a more than 50% chance a week and a month ago. The dollar index was down 0.2% at 99.45 recently.

Harvard Has a New Biggest Stock Holding: SpaceX

Harvard Management Company, the firm that manages the university's massive endowment, reported a new largest stock holding in its latest quarterly filing released after markets closed Friday. The new addition to the filing is SpaceX (SPCX), of which Harvard holds a stake of just under 13 million shares, valued at over $2.2 billion at the time of the filing. The rocket, AI and connectivity company that went public in June received investments from a number of universities over its years as a private company, according to Bloomberg, with Harvard and others reporting the sizes of their stakes now that the company is public. SpaceX shares, which have gained 33% from the record low they hit two weeks ago, were little changed at $140 ahead of the opening bell.

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