US stock futures held steady on Tuesday after another record-setting day, as Wall Street waited for the first speech from Chair Jerome Powell since the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates again.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) nudged up 0.2%. Meanwhile, contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) both hovered near the flat line.

Stocks jumped on Monday to clinch a third straight day of record-high closes, lifted by optimism that the AI trade and further Fed policy easing will continue to fuel the rally.

On the Fed-watching side, Powell is scheduled to deliver a speech on monetary policy later Tuesday, in high focus after policymakers last week lowered rates for the first time in 2025.

His comments will set the stage for the release on Friday of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index. Wall Street will look for signs that already sticky inflation isn't heating up, which could dent high expectations for two more rate reductions this year.

In the meantime, updates on US manufacturing and services activity in September are on Tuesday's docket, while Fed officials Michelle Bowman and Raphael Bostic are expected to speak.

Gold (GC=F) also climbed to another fresh record high as optimism for Fed rate cuts grows.

On the tech side, the spotlight is on Micron Technology's (MU) quarterly earnings due after the bell. The chipmaker's results will be watched for updates on AI-driven demand and revenue guidance, with analysts expecting an almost 40% jump in sales.

On Monday, the Nasdaq (^IXIC) led gains as Nvidia stock surged (NVDA) stock thanks to an $100 billion OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) deal.

The S&P 500's (^GSPC) has made impressive returns in a year of economic tumult and historical parallels that hint at overextension, notes Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban in today's Morning Brief.

He reports:

That's not to say that we're on the verge of an epic sell-off. The math is more suggestive than prophetic. But it does prompt people interested in the stock market to consider what it would take to keep the party going.

\\"The S&P 500 is not just historically expensive on 2026 earnings but also based on an optimistic view of 2027 results,\\" [DataTrek co-founder Nicholas] Colas wrote in a note to clients Sunday.

For the S&P to maintain its estimated earnings multiple, the index would need to grow its earnings 13.4% next year and another 15% in 2027.

\\"Investor confidence must remain well above average over the next two years for the S&P to match its long-run rate of return,\\" he wrote.

Corporate profit margins holding up exceptionally well is one way to get there. ... But there's a delicate balancing act at play.

Read more here.

An order of 500 Boeing (BA) aircraft for China, which has been years in the making, is in the final stages of negotiations and is seen as the potential centerpiece of a US-China trade deal.

US Ambassador to China David Perdue did not offer any details on the size of the order but said, \\"This is a huge order.\\"

Shares of Boeing moved up over 2% in premarket trading on the sign that President Trump's plane diplomacy could deliver another deal.

Bloomberg News reports:

\\"It’s very important to the president. Very important for Boeing. I think it’s very important to China,” Perdue said Tuesday.

Boeing has been working toward finalizing a deal with China to sell as many as 500 aircraft, in a transaction that would end a sales drought that stretches back to US President Donald Trump’s last visit in 2017, Bloomberg News reported last month.

The landmark order, which has been years in the making, would be the centerpiece of a trade agreement between the two nations but has been contingent on an easing in tensions.

Read more here.

Economic data: Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing index (September); S&P Global US manufacturing PMI (September preliminary reading); S&P Global US services PMI (September preliminary reading); S&P Global US composite PMI (September preliminary reading)

Earnings calendar: Micron Technology (MU), AutoZone (AZO), THOR Industries (THO)

Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:

It's not just 2025 optimism lifting the stock market

US, China close to 'huge' Boeing order

China buys Argentina soybeans, leaving US farmers sidelined

Kenvue stock bounces as Trump's Tylenol claims draw pushback

Nvidia's $100 billion OpenAI play raises big antitrust issues

Crypto traders bet on more volatility after $1.5 billion wipeout

Some PepsiCo investors wary of Elliott plan to spin out bottling

China floods the world with cheap exports after tariffs

An $800 billion revenue shortfall looms over AI

Here's a look at some of the top stocks trending in premarket trading:

Kenvue Inc (KVUE) stock rebounded and rose 5% in premarket trading on Tuesday after President Trump linked its popular pain medication Tylenol to autism risk during pregnancy.

Boeing (BA) stock rose 2% in premarket trading following news that the US and China were close to finalizing a deal for 500 aircrafts that some say could be the \\"centerpiece of a trade agreement.\\"

Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) stock rose 1% before the bell on Tuesday. The company will report its fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday afternoon and Wall Street analysts are expecting continued strength and growing demand.

Gold (GC=F) hit a new record high as traders were unfazed by comments from Fed officials about forthcoming monetary policy.

Bloomberg reports:

Bullion edged up to hit $3,749.27 on ounce in Asia on Tuesday, following gains in the previous two sessions which included record highs. Investors have piled into exchange-traded funds — with holdings expanding at the fastest pace in more than three years on Friday — following a brief dip in prices last week as Fed Chair Jerome Powell curbed expectations for rapid easing, after the central bank reduced rates on Wednesday. Lower rates benefit typically benefit non-interest bearing precious metals.

“After pulling back the day after the Fed’s 25 basis-point rate cut — potentially on some perceived caution in Powell’s FOMC comments — new upward momentum has taken root with ETF inflows still the driving force,” BMO Capital Markets analysts including Helen Amos and George Heppel said in a note late Monday. “With a rate-cutting cycle firmly on the table we think risk-reward remains positive for prices into” the fourth quarter.

Powell is due to give a highly anticipated speech on the economic outlook later on Tuesday, after the quarterly rate forecasts that accompanied last week’s rate decision — known as the dot plot — showed a wide dispersion of views. Meanwhile, several Fed officials on Monday reiterated the need for taking a cautious approach to rate decisions moving forward, including St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem who said that he sees limited room for more reductions amid elevated price pressures.

Read more here.