Stock Futures Point Towards More August Losses

Wall Street is looking to extend its shaky start to August, with futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), and S&P 500 Index (SPX) all sitting just below fair market value. Investors are looking towards this week's retail earnings reports, as well as retail sales data, to gauge the state of the U.S. consumer. 

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

• In case you missed it: last week's headlines.
• Blue chip lands pre-earnings bull note.
• Plus, U.S. Steel's buyout rejection, and 2 EV stock's making premarket moves.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.8 million call and 1.5 million put contracts exchanged on Friday. The single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.80 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.65.
2. United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) shares sports a 28% premarket lead, after the steel producer rejected a $7.3 billion buy from rival Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF). The company said it's reviewing "strategic alternatives," amid a 9.3% year-to-date deficit.
3. Electric Vehicle (EV) name Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is already 97% higher year to date, but is down 2.6% before the bell, after the company slashed the price on its Model Y long-range and performance models in China. According to a post on China-based social channel Weibo, the Model Y is now 14,000 yuan cheaper.
4. Nikola Corp (NASDAQ:NKLA) is plummeting before the open, last seen 14.4% lower following a recall of 209 EV trucks. The moves stems from an independent investigation of a fire from June, which found a "probable cause of previously reported battery pack thermal event," though Nikola said it doesn't affect its hydrogen fuel cell trucks. Coming into today, NKLA was already down nearly 10% in 2023.
5. There's no relevant economic data scheduled to start the week. 

Europe's Biggest Economy Showing Signs of Life

Stocks in Asia took a hit today, with Chinese real estate firm Country Garden Holding’s financial woes weighing on the region. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.6%, with consumer cyclical stocks leading the losses, while China’s Shanghai Composite gave back 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei shed 1.3% ahead of pivotal gross domestic product (GDP) data due out tomorrow, and South Korea’s Kospi finished 0.8% lower.

Over in Europe, bourses are mostly lower. Germany’s DAX is bucking the broad market trend with a 0.4% gain, after wholesale prices fell 2.8% for July, the third straight monthly drop. London’s FTSE 100 and French CAC 40 are 0.5% lower and flat at last check, respectively.