Stock Market

As of Sep 28, U.S. stock index futures performed as follows: Dow Jones futures fell 0.46%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.35%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.59%. The tone pointed to a softer start for U.S. equities, with technology under the heaviest pressure and the broad market also losing ground. By contrast, the prior cash-session major indexes had closed higher, suggesting the pre-open weakness was driven by fresh overnight risk repricing rather than a broad deterioration in the prior day’s trading.

Notable Stock Movers: NVIDIA up 1.91% after its board approved an additional $150 billion share repurchase authorization, lifting remaining authorized buybacks to $235 billion; the company also introduced an open AI-agent safety platform.

Snowflake fell more than 3% after announcing a $3.5 billion private placement of convertible senior notes. Micron Technology fell 1.78% at $1,063.00, while Intel fell 3.17% at $119.10 and Apple fell 0.42% at $339.62.

Among other active names, Tesla fell 0.5% at $370.26, Meta fell 1.13%, and AMD fell 1.15%.

NetEase rose 4.63% at $120.75, while KE Holdings (BEKE) rose 2.57% at $16.75 and Bilibili (BILI) rose 2.00% at $15.19.

Broad pre-market trading showed weakness in chip and optical-communications shares, while a handful of internet and China-linked names held up better. The move lower in semiconductors was consistent with the softer Nasdaq futures tone and suggested investors were trimming exposure to high-beta growth stocks ahead of the open. At the same time, several China-related ADRs and consumer internet names posted modest gains, helping offset some of the pressure.

Other Markets

• 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 0.74%, to 5.22%.

• U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.0990% to 101.12.

• WTI crude oil futures rose 3.99% to 96.10 USD/barrel; COMEX gold futures fell 3.27% to 4180.00 USD/ounce.

Key News

1. NVIDIA approved an additional $150 billion share buyback and expanded shareholder-return capacity. The company said remaining authorized repurchases now total $235 billion, with completion expected by the end of fiscal 2028. It also said the buyback underscores confidence in cash generation from AI and accelerated-computing demand, helping support the stock in pre-market trading.

2. NVIDIA launched an open AI-agent safety platform. The new platform provides end-to-end protections from testing through deployment for AI agents. The release adds another product layer to NVIDIA’s AI ecosystem and reinforces the company’s push into software and infrastructure tools around model deployment.

3. Snowflake announced a $3.5 billion convertible-note offering. The company plans a private placement of unsecured 0.00% notes split between 2029 and 2031 maturities. Proceeds are intended to fund capped-call transactions, repurchase part of its 2027 notes, and support general corporate purposes, but the financing plan pressured the shares.

4. SpaceX scheduled another Starship launch test with orbital ambitions. The mission is intended to be the first Starship flight to circle the Earth if conditions allow, and it will also deploy working V3 Starlink satellites. The test highlights SpaceX’s broader push to expand its satellite broadband and future AI-computing ambitions.

5. The U.S. stock market’s leadership narrowed further as technology remained the main support. A Dow Jones analysis noted that rising Treasury yields have weighed on rate-sensitive areas such as utilities, REITs, and homebuilders. The piece also said a relatively small group of tech and semiconductor names has carried much of the broader index performance recently.

6. Micron is approaching an earnings report that could reshape S&P 500 profit leadership. Dow Jones said analysts expect very strong profit growth as AI demand tightens memory-chip supply and lifts pricing. The report could become an important gauge of whether AI spending remains durable and whether the current market leadership remains concentrated.

7. Gold prices fell after rising oil prices revived inflation concerns and rate-hike expectations. Reuters said spot gold and U.S. gold futures both declined as higher energy costs and firmer bond yields increased the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding metals. The move also pressured gold-related shares in multiple markets.

8. U.S. tariff and policy uncertainty remained a market backdrop as investors assessed yield pressure. Dow Jones reported that elevated yields have made investors more selective, with a growing number of NYSE-listed shares hitting new 52-week lows. The note underscored how breadth has weakened even as headline indexes have stayed resilient.

9. Circle expanded hiring for a South Korea stablecoin push. The company is recruiting a senior director to lead ecosystem growth and market-entry strategy in South Korea. The move signals an effort to deepen its digital-asset infrastructure and local partnerships in Asia.

10. OpenAI halted development work on some advanced AI models, adding to tech-sector caution. Media reports said the decision weighed on sentiment toward artificial-intelligence names and helped set a weaker tone for tech shares before the U.S. open. The announcement added another layer of uncertainty to a sector that has already been highly sensitive to product and spending updates.

Sources: Reuters, Dow Jones, Tiger Newspress, public market data

Disclaimer: For informational purposes only; not investment advice.