Stock futures steady ahead of Micron earnings as traders debate how far tech sell-off will go, Kospi jumps over 3%: Live updates
U.S. stock futures were near flat Tuesday night as traders looked ahead to the release of Micron Technology's earnings.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped less than 0.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45 points, or roughly 0.1%.
Shares of Micron and Sandisk were both up about 1% in extended trading. The two memory stocks tumbled 13% in the regular session. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM), down 14% in the regular session, gained 2%.
Alphabet also traded marginally higher after S&P Global said the Google parent would join the 30-stock Dow ahead of trading next Monday.
A rout in the technology sector dragged the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lower on Tuesday, with the averages losing 1.44% and 2.21%, respectively. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 45.87 points, or 0.09%.
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday as investors assessed whether a rebound in technology shares could stabilize sentiment after a sharp Wall Street sell-off triggered steep losses across the region a day earlier.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.2%, while South Korea's Kospi jumped over 3% after posting a 10% decline the day before. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.3%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.6%, while the mainland CSI 300 was little changed.
Investors sold off semiconductor-adjacent stocks in Tuesday's session, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) ending the day 7% lower. Intel fell 6%, and Qualcomm shed 8%. Traders rotated into more defensive names, lifting Walmart nearly 2% and boosting tech stalwart IBM 5%.
Arguments around technical positioning exhaustion "may be true, but I would argue there might be some fundamental risk emerging as well," said Dan Skelly, head of market research and strategy at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, on CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime" on Tuesday afternoon.
"We've heard about pricing wars among some of the model builders, we've heard about rental prices for old GPUs starting to decline, and we've also seen a shift in tone from Microsoft, who led the AI launch three years ago with ChatGPT and their partnership with Open AI," he added. "Microsoft [is] now talking about a change in strategic direction for lower-cost models."
Micron will report its latest earnings after the market closes on Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet see earnings of $20.83 per share on revenue of $35.75 billion.
Micron has had an astronomical run in 2026, with shares hitting a new all-time high on Monday and ending Tuesday at $1,051.77 per share. But Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, warned the stock could fall after the earnings report.
It might go "down to $1,000. That's going to sound like a big drawdown, but it's something that traders will be watching as it starts to get in line with this 20-day moving average," he said.
Paychex will report earnings before Wednesday's opening bell. Investors will also watch for building permits and new home sales readings for May.
VIX owner Cboe jumps into prediction markets
Global markets operator Cboe has launched its first prediction markets product, the latest financial-markets company working to capitalize on consumer demand in the fast-growing sector.
The offering includes binary option contracts based on the Mini-S&P 500 Index, the company said in a press release on Tuesday.
Cboe's contracts are available on Interactive Brokers and will roll out at Charles Schwab over the coming months, the company said. Additional retail brokerage platforms will offer access over time, it added.
The firm is looking to build on the fast growth of its zero-day-to-expiry, or 0DTE, options, according to JJ Kinahan, head of retail expansion and alternative investment products at Cboe, in the statement
Prediction markets, which allow users to speculate on real-world events such as sports and even political outcomes, have been gaining popularity among investors.
— Justina Lee
Asian tech stocks rebound after global rout; Samsung up 9%
Asia's technology stocks rebounded on Wednesday after a bruising session that sent global equities lower.
South Korea's semiconductor heavyweights led Wednesday's bounce during early Asia hours. Shares of Samsung Electronics rose over 9%, while SK Hynix gained more than 4%, recovering part of the more than 12% decline posted by both on Tuesday.
Both chip giants are major constituents of the benchmark Kospi Index, which is up more than 3% after falling 10% in the previous session.
Samsung SDI climbed 2.99%, while Seoul Semiconductor advanced 5.2%.
The rebound extended to Japan's technology sector, where chip-equipment maker Advantest rose 0.6%, SoftBank Group added 1.5% and laser equipment manufacturer Lasertec gained 0.3%.
Chinese technology stocks also advanced, with heavyweight names including Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi and Kuaishou trading higher in Hong Kong. Baidu climbed more than 2%, while Xiaomi, Tencent and Kuaishou rose between 0.9% and 1.3%.
Wedbush Securities' Dan Ives said recent channel checks across Asia and enterprise AI demand trends showed "no cracks in the armor," arguing that the selloff in South Korean technology stocks was more likely a pause after a near 100% rally in the Kospi this year, rather than a sign of weakening fundamentals.
—Lee Ying Shan
Oil slips as markets focus on tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz
Oil prices edged lower Wednesday as investors watched developments around tanker traffic and maritime operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
International benchmark Brent crude futures for August fell 0.45% to $76.73 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for August dropped 0.48% to $72.86 per barrel.
Over 11,000 seafarers stuck in the Persian Gulf will begin to exit through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organization.
"We have secured the necessary safety guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations," IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.
Dominguez added that it will be carried out "in close cooperation with Iran, Oman, all other coastal States in the region, the United States and the maritime industry."
The Strait of Hormuz is a key route for global energy supplies, with about 20% of oil shipments passing through the waterway before the Iran conflict.
— Justina Lee
Asia-Pacific markets open mixed amid choppy trading; Kospi up 3%
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Wednesday as investors assessed whether a rebound in technology shares could stabilize sentiment after a sharp Wall Street sell-off triggered steep losses across the region a day earlier.
South Korea's Kospi jumped over 3% after posting a 10% fall the day before. Index heavyweights SK Hynix rose 2.7%, while Samsung Electronics was up over 8%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.28%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded around the flatline.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 23,498, higher than the index's last close of 23,336.28.
— Lee Ying Shan
MSCI keeps South Korea as emerging market, delays Indonesia review amid downgrade risk
Index provider MSCI kept South Korea classified as an "emerging market" in its most recent review on Tuesday, while extending its assessment of Indonesia's status until November.
The decision dashed hopes that Seoul could be included in MSCI's Developed Markets watchlist, a crucial step before a market can be upgraded to developed-market status. For Indonesia, the extended review comes after MSCI raised concerns about market accessibility earlier this year and froze the country's stocks from its indexes in January, citing investability concerns.
MSCI said that it would continue evaluating reforms introduced by Indonesian authorities, but should these measures prove insufficient, the index provider would "consider a range of options for the appropriate treatment for the Indonesia market," including a potential downgrade to frontier-market status.
Read the full story here.
— Lim Hui Jie
Asia-Pacific markets set to fall, tracking Wall Street tech slide
Asia-Pacific markets were set to fall on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street losses as a tech sell-off that began during the prior session picked up steam overnight.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was poised to fall, with the Chicago futures contract at 69,425 and its Osaka counterpart last trading at 69,290, compared with the index's previous close of 69,788.38.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 23,498, higher than the index's last close of 23,336.28.
In Australia, futures traded around the same levels as the S&P/ASX 200's previous close of 8,787.
— Lee Ying Shan
Six of the 11 GICS sectors rise on Tuesday
On Tuesday, six of the 11 GICS sectors ended the session higher.
Gains were led by the consumer staples sector, up 1.77%. Healthcare and real estate stocks were the day's second- and third-best performers, respectively rising 1.37% and 1.35%.
On the other hand, a rout in technology stocks made the sector the day's worst performers, down 3.66%. The industrials and materials sectors followed, notching losses of 2.03% and 1.60%, respectively.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Stocks making the biggest moves after the bell: FedEx, Cerebras and more
These are the stocks moving the most in extended-hours trading:
- FedEx — Shares shed about 6% after revenue in the fourth quarter narrowly beat Wall Street's expectations.
- Cerebras — The semiconductor company dropped 11% after posting its first earnings report since going public in May. Cerebras forecast a decline in core gross margin.
- KB Home — The homebuilder added 3% after posting a fiscal second-quarter revenue of $1.11 billion, beating the $1.10 billion analysts had penciled in, per LSEG.
Read the full list of stocks moving here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Nasdaq 100 futures open higher
Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3% on Tuesday evening.
S&P 500 futures added 0.1%, while Dow futures were trading marginally higher.
— Lisa Kailai Han