New York, June 12, 2026, 06:03 ET
- Stock index futures in the U.S. pointed slightly higher ahead of the open. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%, Dow futures added 0.4%. Nasdaq futures stayed near unchanged.
- Oil tumbled, with Brent losing over 4% to $86.57 and WTI sliding to $83.91. Worries about supply from Iran cooled.
- Markets are watching the $75 billion SpaceX IPO and a jump in May producer inflation. The two are setting the tone for risk today.
Stocks on Wall Street were poised to open a bit higher Friday, with U.S. futures steady to slightly up after a steep rally on Thursday. The S&P 500 futures edged up 0.2%. Dow futures gained 0.4%. Nasdaq futures barely moved, early AP market data showed. On Thursday, the Dow finished up 929.97 points, or 1.86%. The S&P 500 ended 1.75% higher at 7,394.30. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2.54% to 25,809.66.
Oil prices tumbled in premarket trading after President Donald Trump scrapped planned strikes on Iran and said a peace agreement that might reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be signed as early as this weekend. Brent fell 4.22% to $86.57 a barrel. U.S. WTI crude dropped 4.33% to $83.91 a barrel, the lowest for both since April 17. “Headlines are driving the market once again,” Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates, told Reuters. ING analysts said oil could still jump if flows remain disrupted through late July. Reuters
U.S. ETF premarket moves were positive, with buyers showing some risk appetite. SPY was up 0.61%, QQQ up 0.51%, DIA up 0.84%, and IWM up 0.83% at 6:00 a.m. ET, according to Investing.com. Premarket action saw AMD rise 1.96%, Nvidia gain 0.62%, Tesla add 0.40%, and Alphabet Class A advance 1.51%. Micron was down 0.77%. Adobe dropped 4.71% before the open, ranking among the bigger decliners.
Relief came with caution as inflation stayed high. The Producer Price Index gained 1.1% in May, ahead of the 0.7% rise economists in a Reuters poll had forecast. From a year ago, PPI jumped 6.5%, the biggest annual growth since November 2022. John Ryding at Brean Capital said the Fed is “missing its inflation target.” Ryding said this PPI print could push some policymakers to back a rate hike later this year. Reuters
SpaceX is in focus ahead of its Nasdaq debut. The IPO came in at $135 a share, raising $75 billion from 555.56 million shares and giving SpaceX a $1.77 trillion valuation. That puts it at the top of the list for biggest IPOs. Reuters said trading might not kick off until midday as the exchange sorts orders from both sides. The listing is viewed as a test for demand before more AI-driven IPOs like Anthropic and OpenAI.
Debate is swirling around the SpaceX launch and the recent AI rally. Oppenheimer started coverage on SpaceX at outperform, slapping a $190 target on it. Analyst Timothy Horan called SpaceX the “only vertically integrated AI company” with everything from capital to data and hardware. Reuters, though, said Morningstar analysts put SpaceX’s value closer to $780 billion—less than half the number set by the IPO. They pointed to questions about the company’s AI and social media outlook. Reuters
Investors weighing whether to put money to work today will want to stay selective instead of jumping in. Broad-based bets can still fit for long-term holders using staggered buys, especially if cheaper oil tames inflation and helps company margins. But piling into AI, chip, or SpaceX names right after a steep one-day rally, hot producer inflation numbers, and Iran risks isn’t a sure bet. Jay Woods, Freedom Capital Markets’ chief market strategist, said retail traders “can be the most vulnerable if momentum reverses.” He pointed to possible better entry points for SpaceX down the road. Reuters
The market is watching for the University of Michigan’s early consumer survey at 10:00 a.m. ET. Consensus on Investing.com puts sentiment at 46.1, up from 44.8. If sentiment lands higher, that would help the soft-landing view. Traders say inflation expectations could have a bigger impact, as the Fed’s patience is already in doubt after this week’s PPI jump.
