Market Summary — Pre market — 2026-08-18

Market Summary

U.S. equity futures are pointing sharply lower ahead of Tuesday’s open, with S&P 500 futures down 32.00 points and Nasdaq futures off a steep 298.00 points versus fair value as of 8:03 ET. The catalyst is escalating Middle East tension: CNBC reported a ship was struck by a missile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz overnight, and President Trump has ruled out extending the now-expired U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Crude oil is pushing toward $85/bbl and Treasury yields are backing up across the curve in response, pressuring risk assets in early trade.

This follows a weaker session Monday, when the S&P 500 fell 0.5% to 7745.06 (-40.70), the DJIA dropped 0.5% to 53459.78 (-272.63), and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3% to 26665.94 (-84.25). Stocks had already shown a soft undertone during the morning before an afternoon surge in oil prices widened losses into the close, leaving the major averages near session lows. Energy (+0.9%) was the lone S&P 500 sector to finish in the green, while Communication Services and Consumer Staples each fell 1.5% to lead decliners.

Semiconductor strength provided an important counterweight yesterday, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index gaining 1.6% (after being up more than 2.5% intraday) on continued AI enthusiasm and standout moves in Sandisk (+8.88%) and Applied Materials (+5.55%). That relative strength has reversed sharply in the premarket, however, with chip names moving firmly lower alongside broader tech as geopolitical risk dominates the tape. Corporate news flow is otherwise light, with Home Depot’s beat-and-raise report offering a bright spot while Meta faces the start of a high-profile social media addiction trial today.

Market Snapshot

Futures (vs. fair value, 08:03 ET):

• S&P 500 futures: -32.00
• Nasdaq futures: -298.00
• Early morning levels (06:00 ET): S&P -36.00, Nasdaq -321.00

Prior Close (17-Aug-26):

• DJIA: 53,459.78 (-272.63, -0.5%)
• S&P 500: 7,745.06 (-40.70, -0.5%)
• Nasdaq Composite: 26,665.94 (-84.25, -0.3%)
• Russell 2000: -0.4%
• S&P MidCap 400: -0.3%

Year-to-Date Performance:

• Russell 2000: +23.2%
• S&P MidCap 400: +18.5%
• Nasdaq Composite: +14.6%
• S&P 500: +13.1%
• DJIA: +11.2%

Market Breadth (WaveFinder, 18-Aug-26):

• Primary Sentiment: Very Bullish (Bulls 1,258 / Bears 702)
• 4% Sentiment: Neutral (0/0)
• 40 SMA Sentiment: Bearish
• Above 20-day SMA: 62%
• Above 40-day SMA: 56.55%

Sector Performance

Ranked by Briefing.com S&P 500 sector performance (17-Aug-26 close):

1. Energy: +0.9% — only sector to finish higher as oil surged; ATR 2.96% (rising, P100 — highest volatility reading)
2. Information Technology: -0.2% — chip strength offset by broader tech weakness; ATR -0.17% (rising, P95)
3. Financials: -1.0% — broad weakness alongside rising yields; ATR 0.98% (flat, P11)
4. Consumer Discretionary: -1.0% — apparel and homebuilders weighed; ATR 0.08% (falling, P11)
5. Communication Services: -1.5% — Meta pressure ahead of trial; ATR 1.09% (rising, P79)
6. Consumer Staples: -1.5% — alcoholic beverage weakness; ATR 0.16% (flat, P5)

Additional sectors (performance % not specified in source; volatility data only):

• Industrials: ATR 1.68% (falling, P84)
• Health Care: ATR 2.04% (falling, P47)
• Materials: ATR 1.17% (falling, P47)
• Utilities: ATR -0.97% (flat, P21)
• Real Estate: ATR -0.57% (flat, P11)

Key Earnings & Movers

• Home Depot (HD) 342.25, +4.37 (+1.3%) — Beat EPS estimates by $0.19, beat on revenue, and reaffirmed FY27 EPS and revenue guidance.
• Meta Platforms (META) 563.29, -5.68 (-1.0%) premarket — Social media addiction trial begins today; stock closed Monday at 568.97, -20.88 (-3.54%).
• Sandisk (SNDK) 1786.85, +145.74 (+8.88%) — Extended surge after Commerce Secretary Lutnick said the administration does not want Apple purchasing Chinese memory chips.
• Applied Materials (AMAT) 535.31, +28.13 (+5.55%) — Rebounded on strong beat-and-raise earnings.
• NIKE (NKE) 39.09, -1.64 (-4.03%) — Fell to lowest level since late 2014, weighing on Consumer Discretionary.
• SpaceX (SPCX) 146.23, +6.23 (+4.45%) — Extended recovery from post-IPO lows on newly disclosed NVIDIA and AMD stakes.
• NVIDIA (NVDA) 225.01, -0.15 (-0.07%); AMD 506.00, -8.39 (-1.63%) — Mixed following SpaceX stake disclosures.
• Apple (AAPL) 305.59, -0.34 (-0.11%).
• Fabrinet (FN) — Beat by $0.29, beat on revenue, provided Q1 (Mar) and FY27 guidance, yet shares fell 5.6% after hours.
• After-hours movers: AMLX +14.3% (topline Phase 3 data due today), FLXS +8.7% (record diluted EPS), DUOT +4.2%, COHR +0.4% (300mm SiC substrate sampling), ANDG -4.5% (secondary offering), XP -1.1%.

Stock Spotlight

HIVE Digital Technologies (HIVE) is trading sharply higher after its BUZZ HPC subsidiary signed a five-year, $350 million AI cloud services agreement, adding roughly $70 million in contracted annualized revenue. The deal could lift active and contracted BUZZ HPC ARR to approximately $180 million once planned deployments are completed, with projected HPC/AI daily revenue of about $500,000 following an expected Q4 2026 deployment. The news overshadowed a Q1 revenue miss ($79.1 million vs. $81.7 million FactSet consensus) and a wider-than-expected loss — though revenue still rose 73.5% yr/yr, with gross operating margin of $24.2 million (30.6%) and adjusted EBITDA of $13.4 million.

HIVE plans to install 2,016 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs in GB300 NVL72 systems at its Bell AI Fabric facility in Merritt, British Columbia, powered by renewable hydroelectric energy with closed-loop liquid cooling. The buildout will require approximately $185 million in capex, partially offset by a $35 million customer deposit, with the balance funded via HIVE’s June 2026 0% convertible issuance and additional equipment financing — creating leverage and dilution considerations despite $208 million of quarter-end cash. Digital-currency revenue remains the core business, at $72.1 million (+76.6% yr/yr), still representing over 90% of quarterly revenue, meaning the AI diversification story remains largely prospective pending execution on the two GPU deployments.

Bond Market & Treasuries

Treasuries are on track for a lower start Tuesday, with weakness concentrated in longer tenors pushing the 30-year yield toward a fresh high for the year. The overnight selling followed news of the missile strike on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

Overnight Yield Check (18-Aug-26, 08:00 ET):

• 2-yr: 4.19% (+1 bp)
• 3-yr: 4.27% (+1 bp)
• 5-yr: 4.39% (+1 bp)
• 10-yr: 4.744% (+2 bps)
• 30-yr: 5.33% (+2 bps)

Monday’s Close (17-Aug-26):

• 2-yr: 4.18% (+1 bp)
• 10-yr: 4.72% (+3 bps)
• 30-yr: 5.31% (+4 bps) — fresh 19-year high

The long bond has been the epicenter of selling, reflecting persistent inflation concerns, deficit worries, and uncertainty tied to massive AI investment spending. The U.S. Dollar Index is roughly flat at 99.66.

Commodities

Overnight (18-Aug-26):

• WTI Crude: +0.6% to $84.97/bbl
• Gold: -0.6% to $4,449.30/ozt
• Copper: -0.9% to $6.555/lb

Monday’s Close (17-Aug-26):

• Crude Oil: +$2.06 to $84.46/bbl (+2.5%)
• Natural Gas: -$0.04 to $2.69
• Gold: +$37.10 to $4,474.00/ozt
• Silver: +$1.12 to $66.23
• Copper: +$0.01 to $6.62

Oil remains the key macro driver, climbing toward $85/bbl on Middle East tensions and providing the primary headwind for equity futures this morning.

Overseas Markets

Asia-Pacific (mixed session):

• Nikkei 225: -2.5% (67,460.73, -1,759.50)
• Hang Seng: +0.1% (25,471.16, +17.90)
• Shanghai Composite: +0.2%
• Kospi: -1.6% (reversed after approaching a five-week high)
• Sensex: -0.6%
• ASX All Ordinaries: -0.1%

Sentiment was hurt by the Strait of Hormuz missile strike; South Korea is reportedly discussing military cooperation with U.S. forces in the Middle East. Concerns persist that China’s consumer subsidies pulled demand forward rather than generating sustainable growth; China’s National Bureau of Statistics expects CPI to increase mildly in H2.

Europe (mostly lower):

• STOXX Europe 600: -0.5%
• DAX: -0.4%
• FTSE 100: +0.1%
• CAC 40: -0.4%
• FTSE MIB: -0.6%
• IBEX 35: +0.3%

Technology stocks are under pressure while energy names outperform. ECB Chief Economist Lane said inflation is expected to remain around 3.0% for the remainder of the year. Germany’s ZEW Economic Sentiment for August beat expectations (34.2 vs. 30.1 expected), reflecting benefit from infrastructure spending.

Economic Data

Overnight/International:

• Australia August Westpac Consumer Sentiment: +6.0% (prior +4.1%)
• Eurozone August ZEW Economic Sentiment: 31.4 (expected 25.9; prior 23.4)
• Germany August ZEW Economic Sentiment: 34.2 (expected 30.1; prior 26.3); ZEW Current Conditions: -61.1 (expected -68.8; prior -77.6)
• U.K. June 3-month Employment Change: +83,000 (prior +147,000)
• U.K. June Average Earnings Index + Bonus: +4.1% yr/yr (expected +4.0%; prior +4.4%)
• U.K. June Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (expected 4.8%; prior 4.9%)
• U.K. July Claimant Count Change: -11,000 (expected +16,500; prior -6,400)
• U.K. Q1 Labor Productivity: +0.5% (expected -0.5%; prior -0.7%)

Yesterday’s U.S. Data (17-Aug-26):

• August Empire State Manufacturing: 20.6 (Briefing.com consensus 11.0; prior 15.6) — signaled accelerated manufacturing expansion
• August NAHB Housing Market Index: 35 (consensus 34; prior 34)

Today’s U.S. Data Calendar:

• 8:30 ET: July Housing Starts (consensus 1.360 mln; prior 1.427 mln), Building Permits (consensus 1.390 mln; prior 1.367 mln), Import Prices (prior 0.3%), Import Prices ex-oil (prior 0.4%), Export Prices (prior -0.6%), Export Prices ex-agriculture (prior -0.7%)
• 9:15 ET: July Industrial Production (consensus 0.3%; prior 0.1%), Capacity Utilization (consensus 76.3%; prior 76.1%)
• 10:00 ET: July Pending Home Sales (consensus 1.3%; prior -5.4%)

Looking Ahead

• Today’s data: Housing Starts and Building Permits (8:30 ET), Import/Export Prices (8:30 ET), Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization (9:15 ET), Pending Home Sales (10:00 ET)
• Geopolitical watch: Continued monitoring of Strait of Hormuz developments following the missile strike on a transiting vessel and the formal expiration of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire; oil price trajectory remains a key swing factor for equities
• Corporate events: Meta Platforms’ social media addiction trial opens today; ongoing focus on AI capex and semiconductor sector direction after Monday’s outperformance reversed sharply in premarket trade
• Treasury watch: 30-year yield trajectory remains in focus after setting a fresh 19-year high (5.31%) Monday and continuing higher overnight (5.33%); market watching for a potential test of the 2007 high (5.408%)
• Earnings: Amylyx Pharmaceuticals (AMLX) set to announce topline Phase 3 LUCIDITY trial results today