NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 08:21 ET
- Nvidia completed a $5 billion purchase of Intel shares under a September deal, an Intel filing showed.
- U.S. stock index futures edged lower early Monday after the S&P 500 and Dow ended last week at record highs.
- Investors are bracing for a thin, holiday-shortened week with Fed minutes and jobless claims on the calendar.
U.S. stock index futures slipped on Monday as Nvidia completed a $5 billion purchase of Intel shares, adding a fresh headline to a year-end rally led by technology and AI-linked stocks. Intel disclosed the transaction in a filing on Monday source.
The move lands as markets head into the final, holiday-shortened trading week of 2025 with benchmarks sitting at record highs and investors looking for signs the late-December “Santa Claus rally” can extend. The term refers to a seasonal pattern of gains in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January, according to Stock Trader’s Almanac source. Reuters
Rate expectations are also shaping positioning, with traders watching whether the Federal Reserve will keep tilting toward cuts in 2026 as inflation cools. “We’re not seeing runaway inflation risk as a base case so we’re still thinking the Fed has room to cut,” Fidelity International multi-asset portfolio manager Becky Qin said source. Reuters
At 5:40 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 3 points, or 0.01%, while S&P 500 E-minis fell 0.22% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis dropped 0.40%, a Reuters report showed source. E-mini futures are derivatives contracts that track major stock indexes.
In premarket trading, Nvidia fell 1.1% and Oracle slid 1.6%, while Tesla was down 1.4% after hitting a record high last week, the Reuters report said source.
Wall Street’s main indexes finished flat on Friday but are set for gains in December, helped by a rally in technology stocks after an upbeat Micron forecast earlier in the month, Reuters reported source.
Investors will also watch the minutes from the Fed’s prior meeting and weekly jobless claims in an otherwise light data week, Reuters said source.
The Intel filing showed Nvidia paid $23.28 per share for more than 214.7 million Intel shares in a private placement, meaning shares were sold directly to an investor rather than in the open market. U.S. antitrust agencies cleared the investment earlier this month, Reuters reported source.
Nvidia’s stake is viewed as a financial boost for Intel after years of strategic missteps and heavy spending on production capacity strained its finances, the Reuters report said source. Nvidia shares were down 1.3% in premarket trading, while Intel stock was little changed.
On the deal front elsewhere, DigitalBridge jumped 34% after Bloomberg News reported Japan’s SoftBank was in advanced talks to acquire the digital infrastructure firm, Reuters said source.
Precious-metals miners fell as gold and silver pulled back after last week’s record highs, weighing on some materials names in early trading, Reuters reported source.
Some traders are also watching whether high-profile names remain in so-called “buy areas,” a chart-based range that technical analysts view as a favorable entry point after a stock breaks above a key level. Investor’s Business Daily highlighted Tesla, Nvidia and GE Aerospace among stocks in focus into year-end source.
The broader backdrop remains an AI-driven advance in global equities, with investors hesitant to cut exposure while rate-cut bets persist, Reuters reported source.
