Early Look
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
|
Futures |
Up/Down |
% |
Last |
|
Dow |
29.00 |
0.06% |
51,731 |
|
S&P 500 |
2.25 |
0.03% |
7,734 |
|
Nasdaq |
-22.50 |
0.07% |
30,591 |
Stock index futures are looking higher as the recent rally in Treasury yields looked to take a breather, though oil prices edge higher as Wall Street turns their attention to several key economic reports, including the all important core PCE inflation report at 8:30 am et along with GDP data. Major U.S. indexes finished modestly lower on Tuesday as longer-dated Treasury yields continued to climb to fresh 20-year highs, though AI-linked stocks bucked the trend. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed to 5.278%, near its highest level since 2007, while the 30-year yield hit its highest mark since 2002. Along with a slide in oil prices Tuesday, Federal Reserve Vice Chair John Williams pushed back against market pricing for back-to-back hikes, taking the implied probability of an October rate rise from around 70% to sub-50%. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index surged 1,272 points or 1.94% to settle at 66,753, the Shanghai Index rose 11 points to 3,842 before its Golden Week holiday kicks off as markets will remain closed until mid-next week, and the Hang Seng Index gained 89 points to 24,613. In Europe, the German DAX is down -44 points to 25,355, while the FTSE 100 rises 13 points to 10,650. Reminder China Golden Week starts this week on 10/1-10/7 as their markets are closed.
Market Closing Prices Yesterday
- The S&P 500 Index slipped -12.85 points, or 0.17%, to 7,670.84
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -131.59 points, or 0.26%, to 51,349.92
- The Nasdaq Composite dropped -22.84 points, or 0.09%, to 26,797.54
- The Russell 2000 Index declined -9.99 points, or 0.35% to 2,807.92
Economic Calendar for Today
- 7:00 AM ET MBA Mortgage Applications Data
- 8:15 AM ET ADP Private Payrolls for September…est. +70K (prior +38K)
- 8:30 AM ET Personal Income M/M for August…est. +0.4%
- 8:30 AM ET Personal Spending M/M for August
- 8:30 AM ET PCE Price Index M/M for August…est. +0.4% (prior +0.2%)
- 8:30 AM ET PCE Price Index Y/Y for August…est. +3.7% (prior +3.7%)
- 8:30 AM ET Core PCE Price Index M/M for August…est. +0.3% (prior +0.2%)
- 8:30 AM ET Core PCE Price Index Y/Y for August…est. +3.3% (prior +3.3%)
- 8:30 AM ET Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Q2-final…est. +1.5%
- 8:30 AM ET GDP Consumer Spending for Q4-final…est. +2.3%
- 8:30 AM ET GDP Price Deflator for Q2-final…est. +6.4%
- 8:30 AM ET GDP PCE Price Index M/M for Q2-final…est.
- 8:30 AM ET GDP Core PCE Price Index Y/Y for Q2-final…est. +3.6%
- 8:30 AM ET Advance goods Trade Balance for August…est. (-$115.0B)
- 9:45 AM ET Chicago PMI for September…est. 51.2 (prior 47.1)
- 10:00 AM ET Dallas Fed PCE for August
- 10:30 AM ET Weekly EIA Inventory Data
Earnings Calendar:
- Earnings Before the Open: CAG CALM FDS JBL
- Earnings After the Close: BSET MU PRGS
Other Key Events:
- Deutsche Bank 34th Annual Leveraged Finance Conference, 9/28-9/30, in Scottsdale, AZ
- G2E Global Gaming Expo Meetings, 9/29-10/1, in Las Vegas
- RBC Capital 2026 Global Communications Infrastructure Conference, 9/29-9/30, in Chicago
- William Blair Biotech Conference, 9/29-9/30, in Chicago, IL
|
Macro |
Up/Down |
Last |
|
Nymex |
1.03 |
90.41 |
|
Brent |
0.91 |
103.50 |
|
Gold |
37.00 |
4,216.70 |
|
EUR/USD |
0.0016 |
1.1358 |
|
JPY/USD |
-0.35 |
156.94 |
|
10-Year Note |
-0.01 |
5.22% |
Sector News Breakdown
Consumer
- American Airlines Group (AAL) and Alaska Airlines (ALK) plan to expand their joint business across the Atlantic and Pacific and will seek regulatory approval.
- Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) reports Q1 EPS loss (-$1.26), vs. consensus loss (-$0.76) as conventional egg prices dropped sharply; Q1 revs fell -41% y/y to $539.61M, missed consensus $561.56M; said Specialty Shell Eggs sales declined due to lower selling prices and higher feed and production costs; said expects over 60% growth in Prepared Foods capacity by H1 fiscal 2028.
- Carnival Corp (CCL) files for mixed shelf offering; size not disclosed
- Century Casinos (CNTY) agrees to sell Century mile and Century Downs properties for about $16.4M on Sept 24; intends to use sale proceeds to reduce indebtedness.
- GameStop (GME) CEO Ryan Cohen reveals the purchase of 447,000 of co’s Class A stock for prices between $23.4753 and $23.4499 per share, roughly worth about $10.56M. Cohen’s direct holdings now stand at 40.95 mln shares, representing a 8.12% stake in GME.
- Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Brakebush Brothers, LLC, a leading value-added chicken company, from the Brakebush family for the purchase price of approximately $1.055 billion.
Energy, Industrials and Materials
- U.S. lawmakers asked federal energy regulators to reject the proposed $33.4B acquisition of AES (AES), according to Reuters. The lawmakers cited potential effects on electricity bills and data center demand, adding scrutiny to a deal involving BlackRock’s (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners and other investors.
- Dow Chemical (DOW) and Lyondell (LYB) both downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup as they say they no longer have conviction on asymmetric upside for PE prices, even at $100 crude. While they pencil in the consultants’ October price increase of 5cpp, they believe demand weakness continues to cap the upside stemming from the higher oil & global feedstock costs. Citigroup also lowers estimates broadly across EMN and CE, noting the weakness in demand across the commodity and intermediates coverage.
- Kenon Holdings Ltd (KEN) agrees to acquire 25% interest in district heating & cooling business in US for about $450M; $1.40B committed debt financing for vicinity acquisition, non-recourse; purchase price for acquisition is based on a total enterprise value for 100% of vicinity of $2.92B.
- Talen Energy (TLN) names Terry Nutt Chief Executive Officer as Mac McFarland to retire as CEO Dec 31, 2026; to serve as Senior advisor through March 2027; company also announces $1.5B accelerated share repurchase.
Financials
- Apple Pay (AAPL) has launched in India through a partnership with Axis Bank, giving the payment service its first foothold in one of the world’s largest digital payments markets, the lender said. Axis Bank is India’s fourth-largest credit card issuer, with 16.3 million cards outstanding as of August, out of 124 million nationwide, central bank data showed.
- Evergrande Property Services said China Evergrande Group and CEG Holdings, its controlling shareholders, have entered an exclusivity agreement with a selected bidder for a potential sale of their shares in the company.
- Robinhood’s (HOOD) said it would offer weekend round-the-clock trading in select US stocks and ETFs. Up to 25% trading on busy days occur outside regular hours since 2023 launch of 24-hour weekday trading.
Healthcare
- AbbVie (ABBV) presented detailed Phase 1 multiple ascending dose data for ABBV-295, its investigational long-acting amylin analog for obesity, with least-squares mean body weight reductions ranging from -7.8% to -9.8% at Week 12 for the once-weekly dosing cohorts.
- Moderna (MRNA) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup following an outsized run (+222%; XBI index: -2%; S&P500: flat) since INTerpath-001’s interim topline, while raise PT to $80 from $60. Citi says while intismeran could become a market leading therapy in melanoma, believes the Re-rating now reflects successful expansion in many tumor types and unrealistic implied sales.
- Sagimet Biosciences (SGMT) announced positive 52-week results from the Phase 3 ASC40-304 OLE clinical trial of denifanstat in patients with moderate to severe acne vulgaris, conducted by license partner Ascletis BioScience in China; also prices 8.8M series a common shares at $10 per share.
- Takeda (TAK) announced new data from three Phase 3 LATITUDE psoriasis studies of zasocitinib (TAK-279), an investigational, next-generation, highly selective and potent oral tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor, in adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Results demonstrate zasocitinib’s superior efficacy compared to deucravacitinib and reinforce the potential for zasocitinib to deliver rapid, durable and consistent skin clearance in a convenient once-daily pill.
Technology, Media & Telecom
- Anthropic routed 47% of its 2025 sales through Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOGL), according to Reuters. Those channels generated $2.16B in sales, while Anthropic paid about $351M in distribution fees, highlighting its growing reliance on major cloud partners.
- Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) announced that KIOXIA Corporation, a leading global supplier of flash memory and solid state drives (SSDs), will join Applied’s EPIC Center in Silicon Valley as an innovation partner to advance next-generation memory technologies.
- Concentrix (CNXC) Q3 adj. EPS $2.92 vs. est. $2.71; revenue $2.45B vs. est. $2.48B; adj. EBITDA $363Mm vs est $355.87Mm; adj. operating Income $309Mm vs est $299.62Mm; adj. operating margin 12.6%; Q4 revenue guidance $2.41B-$2.46B vs. est. $2.52B; Q4 adj. operating Income guidance $310Mm-$320Mm vs est $326.04Mm; Q4 adj. EPS guidance $2.86-$2.98 vs. est. $3.05; FY revenue guidance $9.827B-$9.877B vs. est. $9.96B; FY adj. operating Income guidance $1.206B-$1.216B vs est $1.156B.
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) is evaluating a potential investment in Texas to expand chip production in the United States, as the potential investment would be in addition to the $265B that TSMC has committed to its operations in Arizona, Reuters reported.
- Workday, Inc. (WDAY) reiterating its fiscal 2027 Q3 and full-year financial guidance; announces reduction of about 2.5% of current workforce; estimates charges of $65M-$80M related to reorganization.
Market commentary provided by Hammerstone Markets, Inc, a firm separate from and not affiliated with Regal Securities. Regal Securities has not participated in the creation of the content, and does not explicitly or implicitly endorse the content.