Stocks Futures Near Breakeven as U.S.-China Tensions Rise

The Federal Reserve's highly anticipated interest rate decision is due out later today. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are trading near breakeven, despite broad investor confidence in a rate cut. Wall Street is also unpacking news that China banned tech companies from buying chips from Nvidia (NVDA), with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson calling the country an "adversary" to the U.S.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• Gold's rally could soon hit a ceiling. 
• Options bulls are eating up Chipotle stock.
• Plus, NFLX upgraded, and 2 China-based stocks making AI noise.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw over 2 million call contracts and more than 1.1 million put contracts exchanged on Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.54, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.59.
2. Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) stock is up 1.5% in premarket trading, after an upgrade from Loop Capital to "buy" from "hold," and a price-target hike to $1,350 from $1,150. The firm noted the company "won the streaming wars." NFLX is up 34.7% so far in 2025.
3. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) stock is up 2.6% before the open, after Chinese state media reported the tech company secured a deal with China Unicom, which will deploy its AI accelerators through its cloud computing unit. BABA sports a 95.6% year-to-date lead.
4. Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) stock is up 8.5% ahead of the bell, following news that it secured an AI-related deal with state-owned China Merchants Group. Additionally, the company disclosed a $56.2 million offshore bond offering. BIDU is up 46.8% this year.
5. All eyes will be on Friday's "triple witching."

Asian, European Markets Struggling

Asian markets were a mixed bag, with several indexes logging their worst sessions in days. Japan’s Nikkei snapped an impressive hot streak and slipped 0.3% after reports of weaker U.S.-bound exports, particularly among automakers facing tariff pressures. South’s Korea’s Kospi saw the biggest dip in the region, falling 1.1%. By contrast, Chinese markets outperformed, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbing 1.8%, boosted by AI-driven gains in stocks such as Baidu (BIDU).

European markets are struggling as well, though London’s FTSE 100 has managed a 0.2% rise, at last count, after U.K. inflation data showed the overall rate held steady in August despite higher food, alcohol, and tobacco costs. France’s CAC 40 is off 0.3%, while Germany’s DAX was last seen hovering around a 0.03% loss, after China overtook the latter in the United Nations’ (UN) list of the world’s top 10 most innovative nations.