Market Movers Before the Bell

1. On Tuesday, September 22, US stock futures showed mixed performance in pre-market trading. As of writing, Dow futures gained 0.41%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.10%, and Nasdaq futures edged down 0.02%.

2. In European markets, Germany's DAX climbed 0.44%, the UK's FTSE 100 added 0.03%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.43%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0.35%.

3. Oil prices slid in early trading, with WTI crude dropping 2.67% to $89.90 per barrel, while Brent crude fell 2.16% to $98.17 per barrel.

Market Developments

Signals of US-Iran engagement emerged, though claims about opening the Strait of Hormuz were denied. Iranian officials stated that a delegation has been authorized to resume contact with the US in New York through mediators to discuss ending hostilities. If Washington eases military pressure and lifts port blockades, Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, with a proposal reportedly submitted to the US on September 16. However, Iran's Fars News Agency denied reports about the strait reopening. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed willingness to meet Iranian counterparts at the United Nations, though no meeting has been arranged between Trump and the Iranian president. Rubio noted that approximately 60% to 70% of oil transport has already resumed.

Houthi forces issued a warning that Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan could become targets in the next phase of conflict. Mohammed Farah, a member of the Houthi political office, cautioned these three nations about an alleged plan designed to drag them into war and internal strife, with Saudi Arabia reportedly playing a role in this effort. He stated that attacks on Iran would not be confined to Iranian territory, and the next step could target Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan. These countries hold significant positions in the Islamic world, and their strength and influence could serve as a barrier to plans linked to the Israeli regime.

Saudi Arabia has reportedly restarted its east-west oil pipeline, potentially resuming exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu. According to three sources with knowledge of the matter, the kingdom has reactivated the pipeline's operations and may resume oil exports from Yanbu later Tuesday evening. Two of the sources indicated that pipeline flow is currently at low levels.

Trump Surpasses Rates and Oil as the Biggest Perceived Risk for US Retail Investors. Recent weeks have brought significant market turbulence driven by a cascade of catalysts: the Federal Reserve's 25-basis-point rate hike, US-Iran tensions pushing oil prices higher, and surging long-term bond yields. Yet retail traders now view Trump's policies as the greatest threat to their portfolios. A Stocktwits survey asking investors to identify the biggest risk to their holdings showed that 41% of voters ranked Trump and political risk as the top concern. Interest rate risk came in second at 23%, 21% of respondents cited oil price volatility, and the remaining 14% pointed to rising long-term Treasury yields.

Strong ASIC and CPU Demand Leads UBS to Raise CoWoS Capacity Forecast, Projecting Significant Growth From This Year. With cloud AI chip demand continuing to surge, UBS has revised its global CoWoS capacity forecast upward to 270,000 wafers per month by the end of 2027, a roughly 69% jump from the end of 2026. Total demand in that year is expected to nearly double to 2.63 million wafer equivalents. This expansion is driven not only by Nvidia but also by AMD, Microsoft, and OpenAI, as ASIC and CPU demand rises across the board.

OpenAI Joins the Personal Agent Race Following the Success of Muse and Grok Bot. With SpaceX's Grok Bot and Meta's Muse both launching, the personal AI agent space has suddenly heated up. Reports indicate that OpenAI is developing new features to directly compete with both products, planning to repackage its existing agent technology, though the launch timeline remains unclear. While ChatGPT's weekly active users have surpassed 1 billion, growth has noticeably slowed.

Stock-Specific News

Meta's 2026 Developer Conference Kicks Off This Week. Meta's most significant annual product event, Meta Connect 2026, runs from September 23 to 24 local time (September 24 to 25 Beijing time). According to disclosed information, Mark Zuckerberg will deliver his keynote address at 7:00 AM Beijing time on September 24, followed by developer-focused sessions the next day. This year's market focus includes next-generation smart glasses, a lightweight mixed-reality device codenamed "Phoenix," and how Meta's recently highlighted personal AI agent Muse will further integrate into its wearables ecosystem. Wells Fargo believes that Meta's recent model releases and early Muse traction give the company "a compelling story to tell" at this year's Connect event.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit Preview: Dual 2nm Chips Take Center Stage, AI Diversification Narrative Faces Key Validation. Qualcomm enters a closely watched window this week. The chipmaker's annual Snapdragon Summit runs from September 22 to 24 local time in Maui, Hawaii, with investors eager to capture fresh signals on next-generation processors and its AI computing strategy.

AMD's Market Cap Crosses $1 Trillion for the First Time, as Meta's Agent Craze Fuels CPU Rally. AMD shares surged nearly 10% on Monday, pushing its market capitalization above $1 trillion for the first time, making it the fourth US chipmaker to join the trillion-dollar club. The popularity of Meta's AI agent Muse has boosted expectations for server CPU demand growth, driving gains across chip stocks including Intel and Arm. Jefferies analyst Jacky He noted that as AI agents achieve broader consumer adoption, higher AI inference, task orchestration, and infrastructure workloads could drive server CPU demand growth.

Big Tech's AI Debt Binge Hits a Wall: Bond Investors Begin Demanding Higher Yields. As bond markets price debt issued to finance AI infrastructure, Alphabet, Meta, and Nvidia are facing rising borrowing costs. Financial analyst Nicholas Mugalli noted that Alphabet's credit spread widened 15 basis points, from 56 to 71 basis points, as its issuance size expanded from $1.25 billion to $3.5 billion. Meta and Nvidia show similar pricing trends, with a $4 billion bond offering pushing spreads wider by 15 to 19 basis points.

Two Tech Giants Clash Over AI Shopping: Amazon Blocks Meta's Muse Agent. Amazon has blocked access to its retail site for Meta's newly launched AI agent Muse. Since Sunday evening local time, users attempting to shop on Amazon through Muse encounter notices stating that unauthorized AI agents' continued access violates the company's terms of use. Amazon said it had previously asked Meta to proactively exclude its e-commerce site from Muse's service scope, but negotiations were unsuccessful.

JPMorgan Tracks Apple Supply: Strong iPhone 18 Pro Series Demand Leads to Rapidly Extending Delivery Times. In the second week of JPMorgan's supply tracking, delivery times extended further, with the iPhone 18 Pro series averaging an additional 4 days. Compared to week one, iPhone 18 Pro delivery times increased by 16 days (last year, iPhone 17 Pro added 9 days from week one to week two), while iPhone 18 Pro Max delivery times grew by 11 days (versus 7 days for iPhone 17 Pro Max during the same period last year).

Alibaba Cloud Data Center Capacity to Surpass 20GW by 2032. On September 22, Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu stated at the Apsara Conference that customer AI demand is currently extremely strong, and the company will fully invest in AI infrastructure construction, targeting global data center capacity exceeding 20GW by 2032. That same day, T-Head unveiled the Zhenwu V900, its most powerful domestic AI chip, with computing power tripled compared to the Zhenwu M890. It was noted that T-Head's annual AI chip shipments will increase substantially.

Key Economic Data and Event Schedule

At 8:15 PM Beijing time: US ADP weekly employment change for the week ending September 5.

At 10:05 PM Beijing time: FOMC permanent voter and New York Fed President John Williams speaks at the 2026 US Treasury Market Conference.

At 10:20 PM Beijing time: Fed Vice Chair Jefferson speaks at the 2026 US Treasury Market Conference.

At 1:00 AM Beijing time the following day: 2027 FOMC voter and Richmond Fed President Barkin delivers remarks.

At 4:30 AM Beijing time the following day: US API crude oil inventory data for the week ending September 18.