Stocks were steady on Monday, with Wall Street aiming for more record highs. Traders this week are eyeing a key inflation reading, the upcoming summit between President Trump and Russian President Putin, and an unusual sales arrangement between Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), and the US government.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose nearly 0.1%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) hovered around the flatline.

Wall Street is coming off a week that saw the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) notch two consecutive records at its end. The S&P 500 (^GSPC), meanwhile, just missed a record close on Friday.

Tech stocks overperformed as Apple (AAPL) posted its best week since 2020 on the heels of its White House spotlight with President Trump. Nvidia (NVDA) also closed Friday at a fresh record amid signals from Trump that Big Tech companies could avoid looming chip tariffs.

But in another tariff-related twist, reports Sunday said Nvidia and AMD have agreed to give the US government 15% of the money they make from selling certain computer chips to China.

Nvidia shares fell less than 1% on Monday, while AMD shares lost over 1.5%.

Read more: The latest on Trump's tariffs

Trump has claimed that his tariffs are having a "huge positive impact on the stock market," though Wall Street is still navigating the twists and turns in his trade policy. His sweeping duties on dozens of trade partners went into effect last week. Now, investors are turning their attention to his previewed sectoral duties on semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports, as well as a looming Tuesday deadline to extend a tariff pause with China.

Wall Street will get another glimpse this week into how those tariffs are affecting price pressures in the US. The Consumer Price Index is set for release on Tuesday, followed by the Producer Price Index on Thursday and retail sales data on Friday. Inflation reaccelerated in June, and economists have warned that the tariffs will likely continue to seep into price data in the coming months.

Meanwhile, gold futures (GC=F) fell in New York on Monday as traders waited for clarification from the White House over its tariff policy, after a US government agency ruled that 100-ounce and one-kilogram bullion bars would be subject to tariffs.

Read more: Live coverage of earnings season

US stocks were steady at the open on Monday after the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) notched two consecutive records last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose nearly 0.1%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) hovered above the flatline.

Chip stocks were in focus Monday after Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) reportedly inked deals with the US government to sell their chips to China in exchange for sharing 15% of their revenues from the country. Nvidia shares fell less than 1% on Monday, while AMD shares lost over 1.5%.

Looking ahead this week, investors are awaiting a key inflation reading and the upcoming summit between President Trump and Russian President Putin.

Paramount has agreed to a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal to become the exclusive US broadcaster of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The agreement is Paramount's largest since David Ellison took over as chair and CEO last week, following the completion of Skydance's takeover of the company.

Under the contract, Paramount will stream all 13 of UFC’s marquee events and 30 Fight Nights annually on its streaming platform from 2026, with selected events also broadcast on CBS, the Financial Times reported.

The FT reports:

Led by promoter Dana White, an ally of Donald Trump and board member of Instagram owner Meta, UFC’s popularity could help attract new subscribers to Paramount+, the company’s online platform.

“The UFC really is a unicorn sports asset that is year round, which is really critical to our overall sports strategy,” Ellison said in an interview with the Financial Times. ...

As part of the agreement, Paramount has the right to create original content based on UFC — similarly to how Netflix developed F1: The Movie — with approval from the MMA group at the expense of the studio.

The deal is a landmark shift for UFC as it will end its long-standing pay-per-view model in the US, with premium fights made available at no extra cost to Paramount+ subscribers.

Read more here (subscription required).

AMC (AMC) stock jumped 8% in premarket trading after the movie theater chain reported attendance in the second quarter grew nearly 26% as blockbusters drew in moviegoers.

Reuters reports:

AMC Entertainment surpassed Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue on Monday, as top U.S. blockbusters such as \\"A Minecraft Movie\\" and \\"Lilo & Stitch\\" drove more people to its theater chains.

\\"Clearly, moviegoing guests prefer to see their favorite films in the most immersive, most spectacular formats possible,\\" CEO Adam Aron said.

\\"Our premium auditoriums are operating at close to three times the occupancy of a regular auditorium and command a healthy price premium to boot.\\"

The film industry across the globe has benefited from a recovering box office and growing consumer demand for premium moviegoing experiences.

AMC's second-quarter revenue rose 35.6% to $1.40 billion. Analysts on average estimated $1.35 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Its net loss stood at $4.7 million, compared with the loss of $32.8 million a year earlier.

Read more here.

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) fell on Monday after the two companies agreed to pay the US government 15% of the revenue for certain chip sales to China.

Nvidia stock was off by 0.4% premarket, while AMD stock dropped 1.4% as investors digested the unusual deal in which the chipmakers will essentially pay for export licenses.

While the details are still being worked out, the chips in question reportedly include Nvidia’s H20 AI chip and AMD’s MI308 chips, which previously faced export controls from the Trump administration.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made the deal at the White House last Wednesday, the same day Apple (AAPL) agreed to increase its US investment to $600 billion, ostensibly to help the company avoid tariffs, as the Trump administration looks to monetize trade policy.

An Nvidia spokesperson told Yahoo Finance: “We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets. While we haven't shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide. America cannot repeat 5G and lose telecommunication leadership. America’s AI tech stack can be the world’s standard if we race.\\"

As for other chip stocks, Intel (INTC) and Qualcomm (QCOM) shares rose, while Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) fell modestly.

Read more here.

Earnings: BigBear.AI (BBAI), Monday.com (MNDY), Oklo (OKLO), Plug Power (PLUG)

Economic calendar: No notable releases.

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

Nvidia, AMD revenue deal brings 'monetization of US trade policy'

Yahoo Finance poll: Americans face new, complex financial challenges

Earnings live: Monday.com stock tanks, AMC to report

Debate over Fed rate cuts heats up: What to watch this week

Fed's Bowman makes case for 3 interest rate cuts in 2025

Intel CEO to visit White House on Monday

Citi strategists raise S&P 500 target on resilient earnings

Bitcoin Nears Record as Treasury Investors Boost Crypto Market

BofA poll shows record number of investors say stocks overvalued

Lithium market soars as CATL shuts one of world's biggest mines

Monday.com stock plunged aorund 20% in premarket trading on Monday after the Israeli-based software company reported earnings.

In the second quarter, Monday.com reported earnings of $0.03 per share and revenue of $299 million. While revenue beat analyst expectations of $293 million, GAAP profits fell short, as Wall Street was looking for $0.20 per share, per S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Investors have been looking for signs that economic uncertainty is pushing companies to pull back their spending on technology and software.

The company's operating loss fell to $11.6 million from $1.8 million a year ago, and the operating margin fell to negative 4% from 1% last year.

Read more live coverage of corporate earnings here

US gold futures (GC=F) in New York fell 2% as traders waited for the White House to clarify its tariff policy. Last week, the US Customs and Border agency surprised the market by ruling that 100oz and 1kg gold bars would face tariffs.

Bloomberg News reports:

Futures were trading about $62 an ounce over the global spot benchmark on Monday, after surging to a record on Friday before erasing gains as the administration told Bloomberg that it would clarify what it called “misinformation” on the tariffing of gold and other specialty products. The price differential between trading hubs in the US and London fell below $60 an ounce in reaction to the news, after earlier surging to above $100 in response to the initial levy shock.

Washington’s policy has sweeping implications for the flow of bullion around the world, and potentially for the smooth functioning of the US futures contract. The administration had exempted the precious metal from duties back in April, and until there is long-term clarity, traders say, precious metals markets will remain on edge.

Read more here.

Good WSJ story this morning on Target (TGT) and its many challenges, one of them finding its next CEO. I wrote more on this a couple months ago.

I would expect an abysmal quarter (another one) from Target when it reports second quarter earnings on August 20. The company is not only dealing with operational challenges, but it has totally lost the value perception battle with Walmart.

I don't see these dynamics changing this year, and maybe not until deep into 2026 provided an outside CEO is brought in to run a full assessment of the business.

Bitcoin looks to be breaking out of its recent trading range, nearing a fresh record this morning.

There doesn't appear to be a clear catalyst for the pop today, though this Sunday X post from bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor may have stoked the bulls. It suggests he will continue to be a buyer of bitcoin — perhaps no surprise, but the crypto market likes to be coddled.

\\"If you don't stop buying Bitcoin, you won't stop making Money,\\" Saylor wrote.

Shares of C3.ai (AI) are getting crushed pre-market to the tune of 30%.

And the rout is 100% deserved.

Late Friday the company said it sees preliminary first fiscal quarter revenue of $70.2 million to $70.4 million, about 33% below the mid-point of its prior guidance for $100 million to $109 million. Sales would be down 19% from the prior year.

The adjusted operating loss will be $57.7 million to $59.9 million, roughly twice the $23.5 million to $33.5 million loss that it had expected.

I don't think there is anything to read into the AI trade here — this seems very company-specific, and tied to a sales reorg.