5 things to know before the stock market opens

Stock futures remained flat as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s final decision for the year on interest rates. The Federal Reserve begins its two-day policy meeting today, examining signs that the labor market is weakening in the face of persistent concerns about inflation. Nvidia will be allowed to sell its H200 chips to companies in China, with 25% of its revenue going to the US government; The European Union is investigating Google’s use of online data to train its artificial intelligence models; Home Depot shares fell as the company issued forecasts for 2026 that were lower than analysts’ expectations. Here’s what you need to know today.

Stocks were little changed as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates

Stock futures are hovering almost unchanged this morning ahead of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate decision, which is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose less than 0.1% recently, while contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell slightly. Major indexes fell on Monday after ending last week near record levels. The 10-year Treasury yield, which affects borrowing costs on a wide range of consumer loans, was unchanged from yesterday’s close at 4.17%, near its highest level in more than two months. Bitcoin traded at $90,600, up from an overnight low of $89,500. Gold futures rose 0.3% to $4,230 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.2% to about $59 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve is preparing to start its final 2025 interest rate policy meeting

The Federal Reserve Policy Committee is scheduled to hold its two-day meeting today, with a decision on interest rates to be issued at the end of the meeting. The Fed is widely expected to cut its benchmark federal funds rate for the third straight meeting. In addition to waiting for the decision, market participants are looking forward to seeing quarterly forecasts from committee members on key economic indicators and interest rates, and hearing from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The Fed, which is trying to balance concerns about a weak labor market with fears that inflation is still too high, will get an important piece of data on Tuesday with the release of the Jobs and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) report for October.

Nvidia gets the green light to sell certain chipsets to China

Nvidia (NVDA) got some good news Monday afternoon, when President Donald Trump said his administration would allow Nvidia to sell its older generation AI GPUs, the H200, to “authorized customers” in China, with a 25% discount for the US government. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have had concerns about Nvidia and other chipmakers selling their most advanced products to companies in China, amid concerns there could be national security risks in allowing China to develop its own AI models using the technology. Earlier this year, Nvidia agreed to give the government a 15% cut of low-power H20 chip sales in China, but plans collapsed when the Chinese government told companies not to buy them over its security concerns about bringing in American products with government involvement. Nvidia shares rose about 1% in recent premarket trading.

The European Union will investigate Google’s artificial intelligence training, an overview of practices

Alphabet (GOOGL) Google is the subject of a new investigation from the European Commission, in which the EU’s enforcement arm will investigate whether Google acted anticompetitively by using online content and YouTube videos to train its artificial intelligence models. The committee is “concerned” that Google is using content from online publishers to create “AI overviews” at the top of search results pages without adequate compensation and offering unfair terms when compensated, and that it is giving its AI models “privileged access” to online content, putting other companies looking to train AI models at a disadvantage. This investigation is the latest in an antitrust campaign in the region against major technology companies. The European Union last week announced an investigation into whether Meta Platforms (META) is violating antitrust law with policies that prohibit other AI companies from interacting with users on WhatsApp, which could give an advantage to its chatbot Meta AI.

Home Depot stock declines with disappointing 2026 outlook

Shares of Home Depot (HD) fell Tuesday morning after the home improvement retail giant gave a lackluster forecast for next year ahead of its annual investor day. Home Depot expects the broader home improvement market to decline by up to 1% or grow by up to 1% next year, and said it expects its total sales to grow by 2.5% to 4.5%. This compares to analysts’ consensus forecast of 4.3%, according to Visible Alpha. Home Depot’s adjusted earnings per share and comparable sales growth forecasts were also lower than analysts expected. The retailer said it expects sales and profits to grow once the housing market rebounds and “pent-up demand” for home improvement projects can be fulfilled, and said it expects to continue to grow faster than the larger home improvement market and its competitors. Home Depot shares fell nearly 3% before the opening bell.