U.S. stock-index futures pushed higher in Tuesday's premarket session as selling pressure on technology shares eased, setting a cautiously constructive tone into the New York open ahead of a pivotal week of earnings that will test the endurance of the artificial intelligence (AI) trade.
Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4% after the underlying gauge fell almost 1% on Monday due to a selloff in chip stocks. On Monday, the broader S&P 500 Index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index moved to the downside, while the 30-stock blue-chip average, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) rose modestly.
Geopolitics remained a key overhang: Iran vowed retaliation after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expanded sanctions to sever Tehran's economic lifelines, warning that no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions, and the escalating friction and threats to Gulf energy chokepoints come as oil prices attempt to stabilize following a steep decline.
On the rates side, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.67%, and the two-year bond was at 4.22%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing a 40.4% likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking the current interest rates during its September meeting.
Premarket Snapshot
| Instrument | Level / Change |
|---|---|
| S&P 500 futures | Higher |
| Nasdaq 100 futures | +0.4% |
| Dow futures | Higher |
| US 10-year yield | 4.71% |
| WTI crude | ~$83.32 / bbl (-1.99%) |
| Brent crude | Lower, tracking WTI |
| Gold (spot) | ~$4,628.38 / oz (-0.49%) |
| DXY | 99.03 (+0.03%) |
| VIX | Softer with risk-on tone |
| Bitcoin | ~$79,955 (+3.80%) |
Nasdaq futures continue to push higher, but positioning data shows profitable traders are increasingly betting against the rally while losing traders remain aggressively long—creating one of the widest bearish divergences in sentiment.
US Stocks in Focus
Deal news and earnings reactions dominated single-stock action. Navitas Semiconductor jumped nearly 7% after it signed an agreement to acquire power-management firm Claros, which develops vertical power delivery and integrated voltage regulator technology for AI data centers.
On the downside, Gorilla Technology Group plunged nearly 10% after missing EPS estimates of 20 cents by 590% for the first six months of the year. Longeveron dropped 11.6% in premarket on Tuesday after disclosing a 1-for-10 reverse stock split.
Those reporting earnings before the market opens include Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) and Canadian banks Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) and Bank of Montreal (BMO). Among those reporting after the market close are Intuit (INTU), Box, Inc. (BOX), nCino (NCNO), Semtech (SMTC) and Zoom Communications (ZM).
The broader tape remained tethered to the AI complex, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF, which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 respectively, higher in premarket on Tuesday as traders positioned into Nvidia's quarterly print due Wednesday.
Commodities and Crypto
Crude Oil WTI futures were trading lower in the early New York session by more than 3% to hover around $82 per barrel. Gold futures fell 0.49% modestly, easing after a torrid August run.The U.S. Dollar Index was little changed, while Bitcoin was trading higher over the past 24 hours.
Asian Markets Recap
Asian markets ended mostly higher Tuesday, as Australia's ASX 200, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 indices rose, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended marginally lower. Sentiment stabilized as the region tracked the reversal in U.S. futures. MSCI's Asia Pacific share benchmark erased losses of as much as 0.7% to climb 0.41%, a modest recovery after Monday's regional weakness led by Korean chipmakers.
European Early Trend
European shares were higher in early afternoon trading taking cues from firmer U.S. futures and a steadier tech tape after Monday's chip-led drawdown.
Macro Data Preview
The domestic calendar is compact but market-moving. July's new home sales data, along with August's Conference Board consumer confidence index data, will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET. Both prints will be scrutinized for signs of housing traction and household resilience as the market debates the Fed's September path.
Technical Levels to Watch
- Nasdaq 100: The index is approaching a support around 29,000, a break upwards through 29,600 will be a positive signal.
- Nasdaq trend backdrop: NASDAQ is in a rising trend channel in the medium long term, showing that investors over time have bought the index at higher prices and indicating good development for the market.
- US 10-year yield: 4.71% is the pivot; a decisive break above 4.75% would tighten financial conditions into the Nvidia print.
- WTI crude: $83 handle is the near-term battle line, with Iran-sanctions headline risk capping downside despite Tuesday's slide.
- Gold: Watch the $4,600 shelf after the pullback from the $4,700 area struck earlier in the month.
- Bitcoin: Reclaim of $80,000 opens the door to a retest of prior resistance zones.
