US equity futures are lower as oil continues its ascent, pushing Brent above $100 for the first time since July 24 and pushing 10Y yields to 4.81%. As of 8:15am, S&P futures are trading at session lows, down 0.
5% and after erasing early gains, echoing a rally in Asian technology shares that lost momentum as the session progressed. Nasdaq futures are down 0.6% as Mag 7s trade mixed premarket: META +5% after saying early Muse AI usage has “blown way past our projections” with users engaging 10x more than its test cohorts, while AMZN -0.
4%. The Treasury Department is expected to announce on Wednesday the size of the next day’s operation to repurchase outstanding 10-year to 20-year securities. Treasury 10-year yields trade above 4.
81%, rising by 3bps. USD extended losses, trading near a 7 month low.The yen extends gains to trade near 153.
30 per dollar, outperforming its G-10 peers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent challenged traders to test his resolve on boosting the Japanese currency. Hedge funds are betting the yen will strengthen beyond 150 by year-end.
Commodities were mostly higher with WTI surging above $95 and Brent topping $100 (with Shanghai oil trading almost $10 higher) for the first time since July 24 after the US struck Iranian tankers near the Kharg Island export hub and in the Gulf of Oman. Tehran responded by firing missiles at Jordan and warning ships in the Persian Gulf. Precious metals and ags are all higher.
US economic data slate includes weekly ADP employment change at 8:15am. Fed speaker slate is blank during Sept. 5-17 external communications blackout period around the Sept.
15-16 FOMC meetingIn premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks: Meta rises 5% with analysts positive on the Facebook parent after it debuted Muse, an AI assistant; Microsoft +0.04%, Apple -0.2%, Amazon -1.
6%, Nvidia -0.4%, Alphabet -1.8%, Tesla -0.
9%Braze (BRZE) slides 11% after the software company’s adjusted EPS forecast for the third quarter fell short of the average analyst estimate.Casey’s (CASY) drops 11% after the convenience-store operator reported a miss on first-quarter gross margin, as well as fuel gross profit. The stock had surged 33% this year as of Tuesday’s close.
Chime (CHYM) jumps 9% after striking a deal to buy Stride Bank for $590 million in cash, snapping up its longtime partner as the fintech streamlines its operations.Evommune (EVMN) falls 8% after the drug developer said a mid-stage trial of its experimental therapy to treat atopic dermatitis failed to meet primary and secondary endpoints in any of the doses studied.Mission Produce (AVO) gains 4% after the avocado producer reported adjusted earnings per share for the third quarter that beat the average analyst estimate.
ServiceTitan (TTAN) is down 17% after the software company’s third-quarter revenue forecast fell short of expectations. Bloomberg Intelligence highlights that the company slowed scaling of its agentic AI product Max.Tyra Biosciences (TYRA) tumbles 21% after announcing initial results from a Phase 2 study.
In other corporate news, Uber is said to be looking to raise around €4 billion ($4.7 billion) from its debut five-part euro bond. Amazon is selling its debut sterling bonds in a four-part deal.
BP’s North Sea operations have drawn interest from suitors including Adura and NEO Next+, as the oil major works to exit the basin. Top lithium supplier Albemarle reached a preliminary wage agreement with union leaders in Chile on the final day of mediated talks before a strike was due to begin.Oil prices extended gains for a fourth day, pushing Brent above $100 for the first time since July 24 with WTI around $95 - maintaining energy’s position as the key macro driver - after US forces destroyed five Iranian tankers carrying crude in response to two attempts to hit a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles.
Tehran responded by firing missiles at Jordan and warning ships in the Persian Gulf. Treasuries fell across the curve, with the shorter end bearing the brunt. The two-year yield climbed three basis point to hit 4.
42%, the highest since 2024. Europe saw a steeper selloff.Brent reaching a threshold last crossed in July comes days ahead of the latest US inflation print.
The data is widely seen as decisive in tipping the scales for or against a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike next week, with money markets pricing around a 60% chance of a move.“The risks to equity markets continue to pile up as the discount rate which they face gets higher and higher and higher,” said Ashley Lester, chief research officer at MSCI. “The question is to what extent can continued AI earnings growth continue to push equity markets onward.
”Traders are now waiting for an announcement on the size of Thursday’s buyback operation for outstanding 10-year and 20-year Treasuries, part of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s efforts to restrain yields.Bessent stole headlines overnight, offering views on markets, bonds, GDP and the Midterms. He challenged traders to test his resolve on boosting Japan’s currency, saying “I am the house now,” and warned that the US faces dire consequences if it loses out in the AI race with China.
Bessent is also set to reveal today how far he’s initially willing to go to restrain US bond yields via an expanded buyback program, with wide-ranging estimates of as much as $10 billion per operation. Bloomberg strategists said this test to support the market is likely to fail, as years of budget deficits have helped drive the long-term natural rate of interest in the US to the highest in two decades.Barclays strategists raised their S&P 500 target for year-end 2026 to 7,950 from 7,800, citing continued earnings strength.
RBC strategists said the risk of a near-term 5% to 10% pullback in the S&P 500 are rising, citing weak seasonality, US midterms volatility and the Iran war. Conferences season is full steam ahead: conferences include Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference (San Francisco), Jefferies Industrials Conference (New York), Citi Global TMT Conference (New York), Citi GEMS Conference (New York), Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference (Boston), Goldman Sachs European MedTech & Healthcare Services Conference (London), Bernstein’s Annual Pan-European Strategic Decisions Conference (London), Morgan Stanley Industrial CEOs Unplugged (London), UBS Global Materials Conference 2026 (New York), Wells Fargo 21st Annual Healthcare Conference (Boston), Kepler Cheuvreux Autumn Conference (Paris).In tech, Apple is holding its most anticipated event in years: New CEO John Ternus is set to debut a roughly $2,000 foldable iPhone, with larger-storage configurations going up to roughly $3,000.
The shares have surged over the summer, while history shows that they’ve fallen on five of the past eight days when new versions of the iPhone were unveiled.In AI, Google is planning its biggest investment in Europe, an AI infrastructure build out worth at least €13 billion in Finland. And US security agencies accused China’s top AI companies including DeepSeek and Alibaba of using distillation techniques to access and draw information from American AI models “at an industrial scale.
”In politics, Chris Pappas won the Democratic primary for a New Hampshire Senate seat, setting up a November showdown with former Republican Senator John Sununu.Elsewhere, the US escalated its trade war with Canada, moving to block imports of some products, while slapping new tariffs on others and is seeking to bar Canadian companies from selling to government contractors. The import bans for some Canadian dairy products and alcohol will take effect in three weeks, a senior administration official told reporters.
In Europe, sectors sensitive to the economy dragged the Stoxx 600 down 1.5% in a move led by industrials which are sensitive to energy costs. Here are the biggest movers Wednesday:Fortum shares gained as much as 11%, the most since Feb.
2022, after the Finnish energy company said it has signed a 22-year power-purc