U.S. stock index futures were muted on Monday, as investors awaited comments from a bunch of policymakers and data to gauge the outlook for interest rates and the economy's health, days after the Federal Reserve commenced its easing cycle.

Market Snapshot

At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 28 points, or 0.07%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 8.75 points, or 0.15% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 45.75 points, or 0.23%.

Pre-Market Movers

Intel - Intel was rising 4% in premarket trading. Apollo Global Management offered to make an investment of as much as $5 billion in the chip maker, according to a report from Bloomberg. The news follows a report from The Wall Street Journal   that said Qualcomm had approached the struggling rival chip company in recent days about a takeover. Qualcomm shares were down 0.7%. Intel shares have fallen 57% this year. The company last week said its   contract-chip-manufacturing business will become an independent subsidiary, and last month announced   a flurry of bad news — including cutting 15,000 jobs, suspending its dividend, issuing disappointing second-quarter earnings, and issuing weak guidance.

Palantir - Palantir Technologies was falling 1.2% to $36.75. Shares of the software company were downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James without a target price. Palantir, Dell Technologies, and Erie Indemnity will be added to the S&P 500 index on Monday.

Meta Platforms - Meta shares gained 1.4% in premarket trading. Citi analyst Ronald Josey raised the firm ’ s price target on Meta Platforms to $645 from $580 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares.

Super Micro Computer - Super Micro Computer received a notification letter from Nasdaq stating that the company is not in compliance with Nasdaq listing rule 5250 ( c ) ( 1 ) . The shares dropped 1.3% in premarket trading.

NIO, Tesla - NIO shares dropped 2.5% while Tesla rose 1.6% in premarket trading. The U.S. Commerce Department is expected on Monday to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on American roads due to national security concerns, two sources told Reuters.

MicroStrategy - MicroStrategy shares rose 2.1% in premarket trading. MicroStrategy price target raised by $27 at Barclays and raised by $5 at TD Cowen.

Market News

Apollo to Offer Multibillion-Dollar Investment in Intel

Apollo Global Management Inc. has offered to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Intel Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would be a vote of confidence in the chipmaker ’ s turnaround strategy.

The alternative asset manager has indicated in recent days it would be willing to make an equity-like investment of as much as $5 billion in Intel, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Intel executives have been weighing Apollo ’ s proposal, the people said.

Nothing has been finalized, the size of the potential investment could change and discussions could fall through, resulting in no deal, the people added.

The development comes as San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. floats a friendly takeover of Intel, people with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever M&A deals.

Chip Giants TSMC and Samsung Discuss Building Middle Eastern Megafactories

Two chip-making giants have discussed building huge factory complexes in the United Arab Emirates that could transform the industry in the coming years and become a cornerstone for artificial-intelligence investments in the Middle East.

Top executives at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world ’ s largest chip maker, have visited the U.A.E. recently and talked about a plant complex on par with some of the company ’ s largest and most advanced facilities in Taiwan, according to people familiar with the interactions.

Samsung Electronics also is considering major new chip-making operations in the country in the years ahead, according to other people with knowledge of its strategy. Senior leaders of the South Korean company have visited the U.A.E. recently and discussed the possibility, they said.