US EQUITY OPEN: Stocks open mixed but with a downward bias as tech stocks slide

US EQUITY OPEN: Stocks have opened mixed on Monday, with the Nasdaq lagging amid renewed weakness in memory and semiconductor names. One of the notable developments in the space was Nvidia (NVDA) announcing it will raise prices on AI servers by over 15%. Sectors are also mixed, with Materials, Consumer Staples and Financials leading the gains, while Technology, Health Care and Industrials lag.

Macro focus is largely on the press conference from US Treasury Secretary Bessent later today, scheduled for 19:00BST/14:00EDT. A full preview is available on the Newsquawk headline feed, but focus will be on the promised escalation of sanctions against Iran and any further details surrounding the Treasury's increased long-end buybacks. CNBC reported that Treasury could tap the Treasury General Account to fund the buybacks, with the TGA balance currently sitting around USD 1tln. The report supported Treasuries, with yields moving lower and the curve bull flattening following the release.

In FX, the Dollar is little changed, although CAD is the clear laggard after US President Trump formally announced new 50% tariffs on Canadian autos, auto parts and steel from 1st January 2027. Gold prices are adding to recent gains, supported by the move lower in Treasury yields.

Crude prices are lower, although geopolitical risks remain elevated ahead of Bessent's update. A broad package targeting Iranian networks and smaller foreign intermediaries is expected, with measures reportedly aimed at Iran's oil revenues, financial networks, shipping infrastructure and foreign entities facilitating trade with Tehran. In response, Iran has threatened to prevent oil exports from leaving the Persian Gulf if the pressure campaign continues.

• Memory stocks in the red; Sandisk (SNDK) -5.5%, Western Digital (WDC) -3.7%, Micron (MU) -3.5%.
• Nvidia (NVDA) customers have been notified of price increases of more than 15% on AI servers
• Alibaba (BABA) prices HKD 80bln share placement
• YMTC plans to raise USD 4.9bln in a Shanghai IPO to expand production and develop next-gen storage products, WSJ reports.
• Boeing's (BA) PEEA engineers union rejected a proposed contract and authorised strike action.

This is a multi-asset session wrap rather than a single catalyst, and the threads separate into distinct channels. The semi and memory weakness alongside Nvidia pushing through double-digit AI server price increases is the familiar margin-versus-volume tension: price hikes of that size have historically read as pricing power while capacity is constrained, but they also test whether downstream buyers absorb or defer, which is what separates a margins story from a demand-peak signal in this complex. The rates leg is the cleaner mechanism: buybacks funded out of the TGA rather than new issuance are mechanically supportive at the long end, consistent with the bull flattening described, and episodes of this kind tend to see the initial bid fade unless the buyback schedule is formalised in a refunding statement. The Iran sanctions thread carries the standard tail: threats to impede Gulf exports have recurred across prior pressure campaigns and have tended to add a freight-and-insurance premium to crude before any physical disruption, with the premium unwinding quickly when exports keep flowing. The Canada auto and steel tariffs land on CAD and the cross-border supply chain first; with a delayed effective date the transmission is through negotiating leverage rather than immediate trade flows, a pattern seen in prior announced-then-deferred tariff episodes. The follow-ons are the Bessent press conference itself, any formal buyback sizing, and whether Tehran's rhetoric shifts from threats to action around shipping.