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US stocks wavered on Monday as investors eyed risks around a high-stakes US-Ukraine meeting, kicking off a week dominated by a Federal Reserve speech that could define the outlook for interest rates.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell to just below the flat line, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was also little changed, coming off a second straight winning week for the major gauges. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was roughly flat, too.
Geopolitics are front of mind as Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies head for talks with President Trump in Washington, D.C., with the Ukrainian president facing US pressure to accept a peace deal that favors Russia. Wall Street is watching for more details on what Trump agreed with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at their Alaska summit.
But markets are also looking ahead to the main event this week, Jerome Powell’s comments at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday. His speech — likely to be Powell’s last as Fed chair — will be closely followed for clues to the path of monetary policy, after inflation and retail data prompted Wall Street to temper rate cut hopes last week. The annual gathering of central bankers often brings signals of key shifts in Fed thinking, and its policymakers are facing a dilemma over what action to take.
The release of minutes from the Fed’s July meeting on Wednesday will set the stage for Jackson Hole in a week light on economic data.
Meanwhile, second quarter earnings season is winding down, with Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and Blink Charging (BLNK) reports on Monday’s docket. With most of the reports in, the results have been mostly positive. Highly anticipated earnings from Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Home Depot (HD), and Lowe’s (LOW) are due later in the week, likely to provide insights into consumer spending
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Novo Nordisk gains after the bell as company offers discounted Ozempic
Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk (NVO) saw its US-listed shares gain more than 5% Monday after the open as the company said it would offer patients its diabetes drug Ozempic for less than half the price if they pay cash.
The move makes the medication more affordable for patients who don’t have insurance coverage, though the reduced price still amounts to $499, keeping it out of reach for many Americans. Also on Monday, GoodRx announced it will begin selling both of Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drugs for $499 a month.
Shares had climbed premarket Monday after the company said Friday it received approval from the FDA for its liver disease MASH.
Also boosting shares, Novo Nordisk reportedly will not charge more for pill versions of its weight-loss injections, which are expected to launch in 2026. This would be a departure from drugmakers’ typical practice of charging more for new medications.
The moves come after President Trump has ramped up pressure on drugmakers to lower prices, though his tariffs could raise prices.
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Stocks muted at the open
US stocks stalled at the market open as investors awaited a high-stakes US-Ukraine meeting, kickstarting a week leading up to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s most important policy speech of the year in Jackson Hole on Friday.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell just below the flat line, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was also roughly flat, coming off a second straight winning week for the major gauges. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added nearly 0.1%.
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Trump wants to take Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public. The plan has some problems.
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Solar stocks rally as Trump administration releases new guidance on tax credits
Solar stocks continued rallying in premarket trading on Monday after the Trump administration clarified new eligibility requirements for tax credits that weren’t as burdensome as feared.
Shares of residential solar company Sunrun (RUN) have gained 38% since Friday. SolarEdge shares rose 19%, and First Solar (FSLR) and Enphase Energy (ENPH) stocks are both up more than 10%.
Bloomberg reports:
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Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
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Novo Nordisk stock rises after Wegovy gets new US approval
US-listed shares in Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NVO) are gaining before the bell, as investors welcome a US boost for its flagship Wegovy.
Novo is also reportedly planning to hold off from charging more at next year’s launch of pill versions of its weight-loss injections, a departure from usual practice as President Trump puts pressure on pharma companies to cut US prices.
Reuters reports:
Shares in Novo Nordisk rose on Monday, after the Danish drugmaker got US approval for its weight-loss drug Wegovy to treat a serious liver condition. That was positive news for Novo which has lost more than one-third of its market value in recent weeks. …
Three weeks ago, investors wiped $70 billion off its market value, after Novo — which became Europe’s most valuable listed company following the launch of Wegovy in 2021 — issued a profit warning and named a company veteran as new CEO.
On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for Wegovy to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, making it the first GLP-1 class therapy cleared for the progressive liver condition that affects around 5% of adults in the United States.
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Powell at Jackson Hole, Walmart earnings: What to watch this week
The investing world is gearing up for Jerome Powell’s comments at Jackson Hole — the most important Fed monetary policy speech of the year, says Yahoo Finance’s Myles Udland.
The Fed chair’s appearance dominates the week’s calendar for markets, which also brings a clutch of retail giant earnings.
Myles reports:
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Goldman team likely to stay in Trump’s crosshairs
President Trump has recently offered a few choice words on the work from Goldman Sachs’ economics team, led by long-time economist Jan Hatzius.
The team is unlikely to garner some praise from Trump today. Here’s what Hatzius and his team served up in a new note on Monday morning:
“After the recent downward revisions to payrolls, our estimate of trend job growth is now clearly below even that low bar at 30k per month. And while the picture could change again for better or worse, future revisions to job growth are more likely to be negative because the birth-death model is likely a bit too generous, changes in trend payroll growth can initially be partially misattributed to changes in seasonal factors, revisions to the raw payrolls data tended to be negative in past slowdowns, data from ADP raise doubts about officially reported payroll growth in healthcare, and the household survey is now overstating immigration and employment gains.
The outlook for job growth has dimmed too. Like the slowdown in activity growth this year, the slowdown in job growth appears to have arisen from more than just the direct effects of trade and immigration policy changes. We are particularly worried that “catch-up hiring” in a few industries now appears over and job growth outside those industries has fallen to around zero. And while job openings remain at a decent level, they started to decline again earlier this year.”
