Markets Pre-Open
U.S. futures are firmer heading into the open after a choppy start to September:
- S&P 500 futures: 7,701.50 (+25.00, +0.33%)
- Dow futures: 53,438.00 (+317.00, +0.60%)
- Nasdaq futures: 29,229.50 (+43.25, +0.15%)
- Russell 2000 futures: 2,976.20 (+17.40, +0.59%)
- VIX: 15.04 (-0.16, -1.05%) — vol staying contained
Yesterday’s close (Sep 2): S&P 500 +0.46% to 7,666.60; Nasdaq Composite +0.45% to 26,217.83; Dow +295.07 (+0.56%) to 53,061.95 — a bounce-back after Sep 1’s selloff (Dow -419pts, Nasdaq -1.03%) driven by AI-stock weakness and a soft ADP jobs print.
Commodities & Currencies:
- Gold: $4,528.90 (+114.30, +2.59%) — a standout move, safe-haven bid building
- Crude Oil (Oct ‘26): $91.70 (+0.69, +0.76%)
- Bitcoin: $78,497.15 (+1,384.51, +1.80%)
Geopolitical Intel (ThinkCreate Threat Feed)
- [LVL 4/10] Sinabung volcano (Indonesia) eruption ongoing — GDACS
- [LVL 3/10] Xi Jinping visits Egypt, first in a decade — NPR
- [LVL 3/10] Investment banks warn the Venezuela deal won’t bring down fuel prices — Mercopress
- [LVL 3/10] UN warns of “supersized” El Niño as countries prepare — BBC
- [LVL 3/10] Russia-Ukraine: “escalating spiral with no end in sight” — NYT
- [LVL 3/10] Kenya’s aviation strike over, dispute unresolved — AlJazeera
Live data snapshot: 23,523 vessels tracked · 546 active satellites · 33 earthquakes (24h) · 869 GDELT global incidents.
Defense stocks sliding this morning despite the overnight risk backdrop: RTX $200.78 (-2.13%), LMT $531.55 (-2.38%), NOC $523.82 (-1.71%), GD $364.07 (-1.45%), PLTR $169.46 (-5.81%) — Palantir the outlier to the downside. BA the lone gainer, $208.87 (+1.56%).
Earnings — Today (Sep 3, BMO/AMC — 54 reporting)
Notable large caps:
- CIEN (Ciena, $50.1B) — BMO, beat estimates, lifted FY26 revenue outlook on AI-driven demand; shares rising premarket
- ZS (Zscaler, $27.9B) — AMC, EPS est. $1.09
- IOT (Samsara, $21.4B) — AMC, EPS est. $0.16
- GWRE (Guidewire, $16.1B) — AMC, EPS est. $0.94
- LULU (Lululemon, $13.6B) — AMC, EPS est. $2.85 — stock rose overnight on renewed investor interest
- DOCU (DocuSign, $12.5B) — AMC, EPS est. $1.09
- TTC (Toro, $9.4B) — BMO, beat on revenue
- PATH (UiPath, $9.3B) — AMC, EPS est. $0.15
- CPB (Campbell’s, $7.1B) — BMO, missed, slashed dividend after sales/profit declines — stock plunged
- VSXY (Victoria’s Secret, $6.7B) — BMO, missed on weak Q3 outlook — shares down ~16%
- BRC (Brady Corp, $4.3B) — BMO, beat on revenue
Overnight carryover from Tuesday’s after-hours slate still moving markets: AVGO (Broadcom) beat, SNOW (Snowflake) topped estimates, NTAP (NetApp) beat — all cited in this morning’s “why are futures rising” narrative alongside TSLA and PLTR.
Earnings — Tomorrow (Sep 4)
A light day by comparison — Yahoo’s calendar shows roughly 6-8 companies reporting, a sharp step-down from today’s 54-name slate. No $10B+ names currently flagged; watch for late additions/confirmations as the day progresses.
Bottom Line
Futures are shaking off Tuesday’s AI-stock wobble, but the internals are mixed: gold’s 2.6% pop and a soft-ish defense-stock tape (PLTR -5.8%) suggest some risk-off positioning even as major indices point higher. Today is the peak of this week’s earnings wave — Ciena’s raised guidance and Toro’s beat are early positives, while Campbell’s dividend cut and Victoria’s Secret’s guidance miss are the cautionary notes. With AMC prints from Zscaler, Lululemon, DocuSign, and UiPath still to come, expect volatility into the close.