Wall Street was set for a mixed open Tuesday, Sept. 8, with S&P futures slightly lower and Nasdaq futures higher. Bond yields had retreated from their morning highs, while Brent crude briefly topped $99 a barrel after renewed fighting in the Middle East over the long holiday weekend. August inflation data due later in the week could influence the Federal Reserve’s next decision; after Friday’s strong jobs report, traders were pricing a 60% probability of a rate hike at the following week’s meeting, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool (a market-based rate forecast). Apple’s iPhone launch event was scheduled for the next day, and a September Monthly Meeting for Investing Club subscribers was set for noon ET Thursday. OpenAI’s Astra model drew attention after Melius Research’s Ben Reitzes said it shows OpenAI is so back, potentially supporting AI chip and hardware stocks. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on X that Astra was trained on 100,000 Grace Blackwell GPUs and wrote, 400K GPUS coming online next. Intel shares rose almost 5% premarket after Taiwan’s DigiTimes reported the company could raise CPU prices another 10% this fall, while Northland Securities upgraded the stock to buy from hold and cited turnaround progress and the national security importance of Intel Foundry. UBS raised its price targets for Marathon Petroleum to $405 from $321, Phillips 66 to $300 from $235 and Valero to $450 from $355, reiterating buy ratings as refining margins remained elevated and diesel crack spreads reached an all-time high the previous week. Citi upgraded Old Dominion Freight Line and C.H. Robinson to buy from hold after a summer decline in their shares, saying valuations offered a more reasonable risk/reward and quality at a reasonable price. JPMorgan separately began coverage of FedEx Freight with a buy rating and a $160 price target, arguing that the business can improve profitability and service quality after its spin-off from FedEx Corp. Pivotal Research initiated SpaceX coverage with a buy rating and a $220 price target, while saying the company must successfully develop its reusable Starship rocket. Stifel lifted Hinge Health’s price target to $115 from $96 and maintained its buy rating; the shares were up 47% in three months and nearly doubled year to date. UBS upgraded Eaton to buy from hold, citing potential margin improvement, strong demand from the AI buildout and the company’s acquisition of liquid-cooling provider Boyd Thermal.