S&P 500 futures held steady Tuesday as bank earnings kicked off Q3, offsetting a deepening selloff in chipmakers. Futures tied to the index were down less than 0.1% at 7:50 a.m. in New York, after the benchmark remained little changed near a record high on Monday. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.7% amid continued pressure on semiconductor stocks.
An ETF tracking chipmakers dropped nearly 2% premarket, with Micron Technology Inc. and US-listed SK Hynix Inc. sliding 3.8% and 5.5%, respectively. Sandisk Corp. declined 4.5%. China’s CXMT is narrowing the tech gap with Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron, raising competition concerns that could erode pricing power of the top three DRAM makers.
Other chip stocks also fell: Nvidia Corp. down 0.8%, AMD off 1.7%, and Broadcom Inc. lower by 1.5%. In banking, JPMorgan Chase rose 1% premarket despite a surprise drop in fixed-income trading revenue, while Goldman Sachs climbed 3.3% after equities traders beat expectations. US banking stocks remain in a correction, with the KBW Bank Index down 12% from its mid-August peak.
Citigroup and Wells Fargo are set to report before the open. Analysts note banks are still lending and credit demand persists despite high rates, though inflation and geopolitical risks linger. Meanwhile, investors remain uneasy about AI spending returns as funding concerns and 'casino'-like market sentiment grow, per Broadcom CEO Hock Tan.
Yet Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet edged higher premarket. The S&P 500 has avoided a 1% drop for 52 straight trading days through Monday — on track to match the longest such streak since January 2020 if it holds through Tuesday’s close. Oil prices slipped to around $104 per barrel for Brent crude, still above pre-Iran war levels near $72 in late February.
Energy shares were flat, with Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobil slightly higher. CPI data is due Wednesday, followed by PPI on Thursday, with options markets projecting a 0.75% swing in either direction for the S&P 500.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing