US futures fell as Brent crude approached $100 a barrel, chasing Shanghai crude which is now trading above $102, reinforcing expectations that central banks will have to raise interest rates to contain inflation while a key CPI print looms on Friday. As of 8:15am, S&P 500 futures were 0.3% lower while Nasdaq futures were fractionally negative after reversing an earlier rise.
In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are mostly lower:Stocks in Europe and Asia were also weaker. Brent traded around $99 after Saudi Arabia said operations at facilities in the kingdom’s south were halted by attacks. As discussed here, strong Chinese purchases added to tightness in oil markets.
The dollar gained as the yen erased gains of as much as 1% deriving support from expectations of more restrictive Bank of Japan policy, which had pushed the USDJPY as low as 152, levels last seen in February. Treasuries slipped ahead of a $58 billion auction of three-year notes. Today's US economic data slate includes August NY Fed 1-year inflation expectations (11 a.
m.) and July consumer credit (3 p.m.
). Fed speaker slate is blank during Sept. 5-17 external communications blackout period around the Sept.
15-16 FOMC meeting.In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are mostly lower: Nvidia +0.3%, Tesla +0.
2%, Alphabet -0.7%, Apple -0.4%, Amazon -0.
9%, Microsoft -0.8%, Meta Platforms -0.5%Best Buy (BBY) slips 2% after DA Davidson cut the recommendation on the consumer electronics retailer to neutral, citing the stock’s valuation following a 35% year-to-date gain.
Bloom Energy (BE) rises 6% and Everpure (P) gains 2% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the companies will join the S&P 500 Index.Boston Scientific (BSX) slips 2% after the company said that the cyber attack that recently affected operations is likely to have a material impact on third quarter and fiscal 2026 results.Herbalife (HLF) rises 7% after the maker of dietary supplements announced a $250 million share buyback.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) falls 10% and Amgen (AMGN) slumps 5% after Novartis AG said its heart medication, pelacarsen, failed in a final-stage study.Pharvaris (PHVS) soars 25% after a Phase 3 trial of its deucrictibant extended-release tablet for the prevention of hereditary angioedema attacks met its primary and secondary endpoints.Rigetti Computing (RGTI) rises 5% after the quantum computing firm signed a $100 million pact with the US Department of Commerce to accelerate superconducting quantum computing R&D.
Roivant (ROIV) gains 20% after the drugmaker said a mid-stage study of its inhaled drug, mosliciguat, met its primary endpoint in the treatment for a lung disease.Sigma Lithium (SGML) drops 16% after a Brazilian court ordered the suspension of all environmental permits for an operating subsidiary of the company and the complete halt of mining activities for the firm’s Grota do Cirilo lithium project.Sweetgreen (SG) is up 5% after KeyBanc raised its recommendation on the salad restaurant chain to overweight, calling it a compelling turnaround opportunity.
In other corporate news, Brookfield landed a $1 billion commitment from the UK’s Nuclear Liabilities Fund to invest across several strategies, as the New York-based firm builds a new division that packages and sells multi-asset portfolios. Volkswagen is considering offloading motorcycle manufacturer Ducati as part of a sweeping overhaul of its portfolio. Novartis shares plunged after its del-desiran treatment for a muscle-wasting disease failed to meet the primary endpoint in a phase 3 trial; it’s the third drug setback in a week for the Swiss drugmaker.
Fear of upheaval in the Middle East is driving markets in the early part of a week that builds toward Friday’s US inflation print, data that may be decisive in whether the Federal Reserve raises rates or holds them steady this month. September hikes by the European Central Bank and BOJ are largely priced in.“We are likely to be in some sort of period of digestion, because we are going through a pretty meaningful adjustment in terms of central bank policy around the world,” Anastasia Amoroso at Partners Group told Bloomberg TV.
“So we might give a little bit of those gains back or at least some consolidation here.”Stock futures are lower as traders return to their desks after the Labor Day holiday, with markets facing multiple tests including PPI and CPI prints, Oracle earnings and a conference season that includes tech events on both coasts. On top of that, a flare-up in Middle East hostilities and an escalating trade war between the US and Canada are adding risk.
As BBG notes, stocks have been trading sideways for a month, caught between strong earnings and mounting macro risks. Events like next week’s Fed decision carry binary outcomes that argue for some protection, according to today’s Taking Stock column. Fed officials have made it clear that Friday’s inflation print will be key for rates.
While the bond market sees a 60% chance of a hike next week, such a move isn’t fully priced in until December. In fact, Fed funds futures signal the most uncertainty in years.The tech trade is also in focus, with traders looking to Oracle earnings and conference comments for clues on current dynamics within the sector.
Of note, software implied volatility has firmed up recently versus other areas of the tech complex. The implied volatility ratio of software vs semiconductors has been unstable this year as option volumes and open interest have exploded in both groups.In AI, there’s been a rapid change in narrative around AGI, or Artificial General Intelligence.
OpenAI’s rollout of GPT-6 on Thursday prompted Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to proclaim that “AGI has arrived,” sparking a renewed melt-up in Asian tech stocks and especially SoftBank which is a big backer of OpenAi. Still, the definition of AGI is nebulous, and not everyone is convinced. JonesTrading chief strategist Mike O’Rourke noted that the whole AGI conversation “was started by self-interested promotional individuals,” which damages credibility.
Elsewhere, ByteDance is readying an AI model geared for real-time spatial video generation, taking on Meta and Alphabet. An experimental lung disease drug developed using AI showed promise in reversing biological signs of aging. Anthropic is said to have walked away from $6 billion Decart purchase.
Global stocks may now be poised for a period of consolidation given the outlook for tightening, said Anastasia Amoroso, chief investment strategist at Partners Group. “We are likely to be in some sort of period of digestion, because we are going through a pretty meaningful adjustment in terms of central bank policy around the world,” Anastasia Amoroso at Partners Group told Bloomberg TV. “So we might give a little bit of those gains back or at least some consolidation here.
”Other assets have been active, with Yen strength triggering stop-loss orders, volatility gauges ticking up and copper hitting all-time highs. Oil prices are rising and Brent is grinding closer to $100/bbl after attacks halted several facilities in Saudi Arabia. That sent global bonds, European stocks, US futures and gold lower.
German 10-year yields hit the highest since 2011, a UK 30-year sale is set for the highest borrowing costs since at least 1998, and Amazon has mandated banks for a four-part sterling-denominated sale.Copper’s rally added to the inflationary pressure from commodities. The metal hit a record for a second straight session, with constrained near-term supplies and expectations of US tariffs on imports of refined metal buoying prices.
In geopolitics, Canada imposed tariffs of 15% to 50% on hundreds of products from the US, risking a wider trade war. Trump threatened to bar Bombardier Jets, while the manufacturer noted it creates tens of thousands of US jobs.The Stoxx 600 is falling by 0.
4%, with health care the underperformer owing to a big drop for Swiss pharma group Novartis. Banks, insurance and tech stocks are weaker too. Asian stocks fell, reversing