Stocks Rise Pre-Bell as Trump Approves Nvidia AI Chip Sales to China; Fed Policy Meeting on Deck

07:36 AM EST, 12/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were trending higher on Tuesday as President Donald Trump said he will allow Nvidia (NVDA) to sell its H200 artificial intelligence chips to China, while traders await a decision on interest rates from the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq edged up 0.1% each in premarket activity. The indexes finished Monday lower, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq snapping a four-day winning streak.

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) nudged 0.3% higher pre-bell after closing the previous trading session up 1.7%. In a social media post on Monday, Trump said his administration cleared the tech bellwether to ship its H200 products to "approved customers" in China and other countries, in return for 25% of the sales going to the US. Chinese President Xi Jinping "responded positively" to the deal, according to Trump.

The Department of Commerce is finalizing the details, while the same approach will apply to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) , Intel (INTC) and other US companies, Trump added. AMD and Intel (INTC) were both up early Tuesday.

In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump said he has authorized documentation to impose a 5% tariff on Mexico if it fails to release water under a treaty with the US.

The Fed's monetary policy committee is set to kick off its meeting on interest rates today, with a decision due tomorrow. There's an 89% probability that the central bank will reduce its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points Wednesday, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

"The most important aspect of the Fed's communication on Wednesday is going to be whether Powell characterizes policy as 'in a good place', as he did for the first several months of 2025 when the Fed was on hold, or if he repeats his description of policy being 'modestly restrictive' or 'somewhat above neutral,'" Jefferies Chief US Economist Thomas Simons said in a note e-mailed to MT Newswires on Monday. "In the case of the latter, the door will remain open to further cuts in early 2026."

US Treasury yields were down in premarket action, with the two-year rate retreating 0.4 basis points to 3.58% and the 10-year rate off 1.4 basis points to 4.16%.

Tuesday's economic calendar has the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for October at 10 am ET. The National Federation of Independent Business small business optimism index posted a 0.8-point increase for November to 99.

Paramount Skydance (PSKY) rose 1.8% early Tuesday after finishing Monday with a 9% jump. The company launched a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) at $30 a share, pitching it as a "superior" and more certain alternative to Netflix's (NFLX) recent offer.

PepsiCo (PEP) inclined 0.3% as the beverage and snacks giant unveiled plans to lower prices and eliminate some of its products in the US to accelerate organic revenue growth and boost shareholder value. Alexander & Baldwin (ALEX) climbed 37% after the company agreed to be acquired and taken private by an investor group for roughly $2.3 billion, including debt.

AutoZone (AZO) , Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) , SailPoint (SAIL) , Core & Main (CNM) , Campbell's (CPB), Ollie's Bargain Outlet (OLLI) and Academy Sports and Outdoors (ASO) report their latest financial results before the bell, among others. Casey's General Stores (CASY) and GameStop (GME) post earnings after the markets close.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil ticked up 0.1% to $58.95 a barrel before the opening bell. Gold advanced 0.3% to $4,231 per troy ounce, while bitcoin declined 0.4% to $90,287.

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