Dow Jones, S&P, Nasdaq, Wall Street Futures, Fed Meeting Begins; Paramount Escalates WBD Battle: Here’s What’s Moving Markets

Fiona Craig

Futures edge up

U.S. index futures hovered just above unchanged, with investors awaiting the Fed’s latest interest rate call.

By 02:55 ET, Dow futures were up 26 points (0.1%), S&P 500 futures gained 8 points (0.1%), and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 26 points (0.1%).

Major U.S. indices finished lower Monday as Treasury yields climbed, signalling caution ahead of Wednesday’s Fed announcement. Ten-year Treasury yields also picked up momentum following a strong earthquake off Japan’s coast.

Beyond central-bank watching, traders are preparing for earnings from Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) — both closely watched given ongoing concerns about heavy AI-driven capital spending.

Individual movers included Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT), which rallied after IBM (NYSE:IBM) agreed to acquire the data-infrastructure firm, while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) dipped 3% after a downbeat Morgan Stanley outlook.

Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery

The Hollywood takeover drama surrounding Warner Bros Discovery intensified again.

Just days after reports suggested Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) had emerged as the winning bidder for parts of the studio behind “The Godfather,” Paramount Skydance revealed a hostile takeover offer valued at $108.4 billion.

That price would eclipse Netflix’s $72 billion equity bid for the TV, film, and streaming divisions — and represents a 139% premium over Warner’s pre-negotiation valuation. Paramount’s proposal covers the entire company, including cable networks.

Warner’s board said Monday it will review the Paramount offer but has not withdrawn support for the Netflix deal, and advised the company “not to take any action” on the rival bid for now.

Trump administration allows Nvidia to export H200 chips to China

President Donald Trump said Nvidia will be permitted to ship its H200 AI processors to China and collect a 25% fee on those sales.

The move marks a partial softening of U.S. export restrictions, which until now allowed Nvidia to sell only the lower-tier H20 chip into China, given long-running U.S. concerns about China’s military and industrial advances.

The H200 is expected to be about six times more powerful than the H20, according to Reuters, citing research from the Institute for Progress.

Still, Beijing’s recent crackdown on domestic firms using U.S. technology raises uncertainty about how much this policy shift will boost Nvidia’s China revenue.

Nvidia shares rose in after-hours trading, building on Monday’s 3% gain.

Fed begins two-day policy meeting

Markets are now turning their attention to the Fed’s two-day meeting, widely expected to conclude with a rate cut on Wednesday.

Expectations for a 25-basis-point reduction have strengthened after recent soft economic data, showing labour-market strain, a mild uptick in consumer spending, and steady but elevated inflation. FedWatch places the probability at roughly 89%.

Still, there remains a small chance the central bank leaves rates unchanged, as some policymakers have expressed reservations about approving a third cut since September given limited new economic data during the record-length government shutdown.

Analysts warn this could be one of the most divisive Fed decisions in years.

Bitcoin drifts lower

Bitcoin eased slightly as traders avoided big bets ahead of the Fed announcement.

Lower interest rates often weaken the dollar and reduce yields on cash and bonds — dynamics that can make alternative assets like Bitcoin more appealing. But 2025 has been volatile for the cryptocurrency, with sharp swings tied to debates over monetary policy, tariffs, and AI.

This year’s turbulence has reinforced the growing perception that Bitcoin is behaving more like a high-beta risk asset, increasingly correlated with equities.

Warner Brothers Discovery stock price

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