NEW YORK, June 26, 2026, 06:03 (EDT)
- U.S. stocks are set to trade as normal Friday. The NYSE’s published 2026 holiday calendar puts Juneteenth on June 19, with the next full market closure July 3 for Independence Day observed.
- Nasdaq 100 futures slid 1.16% ahead of the bell as of 5:29 a.m. ET. S&P 500 futures were down 0.53%. Dow futures dipped 0.11%.
- Russell index changes hit after the close on Friday. FTSE Russell’s preliminary numbers list 62 stocks being added to the Russell 1000 and 237 going into the Russell 2000.
- PCE inflation for May was up 4.1% year over year, while core PCE climbed 3.4%. Rate worries stuck with growth names.
U.S. stock index futures slipped Friday, giving up ground as chip names pulled back after Thursday’s Micron-driven rally. Investors are waiting for the close, with Russell index rebalancing expected to force funds to adjust positions, which may provide a clearer read on the session.
Stock futures slipped early. At 5:29 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis fell 59 points, or 0.11%. S&P 500 E-minis lost 39.25 points, or 0.53%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis dropped 343.5 points, or 1.16%, according to Reuters. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) gave back 4.8% in premarket action after its big jump of more than 15% on Thursday. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) both traded down over 3%, and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) slipped 1.4%.
The Russell event splits the session. FTSE Russell said its reconstituted U.S. indexes will kick in after the U.S. market closes on June 26, and Monday’s open will show the new makeup. The group’s preliminary numbers had 62 companies lined up to join the Russell 1000 and 237 for the Russell 2000. For the Russell 1000, tech and industrials each put up 18 additions.
Why does it matter? The final minutes often see forced buys and sells, not linked to the morning dip in futures. Nasdaq said Russell will take the Nasdaq Closing Cross as the price for Nasdaq-listed stocks when it reconstitutes. Nasdaq also said it started handling closing orders before the open at 4:00 a.m. ET. Early data on closing begins at 3:50 p.m. ET.
Jefferies equity analyst Steven DeSanctis said this week’s reconstitution might bring a “really massive trade” on Friday. At Stephens, analyst Melissa Roberts called it a “key liquidity day” and estimated total trading tied to reconstitution could hit nearly $150 billion. Reuters
Russell’s reshuffle hits the same AI names that took futures lower. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will land in both the Russell 1000 value and growth indexes. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) shifts further into value. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) go 100% growth and are among the biggest names out of Russell 1000 Value. “These companies have gotten larger. They are the market,” said Krishna Chintalapalli, portfolio manager at Parnassus Investments. Reuters
Apple stock barely moved early Friday after it dropped more than 6% Thursday. The company recently hiked some product prices due to pricier memory and storage chips. Weakness in global tech names hit Asia and Europe—MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan index fell 3%, with Korea’s KOSPI tumbling up to 9% at one stage. Mark Ellis, CIO at Nutshell Asset Management, pointed to worries about hyperscalers and “the return on invested capital from all this expenditure.” Reuters
OpenAI may push back its public listing to next year, a report said, putting more weight on AI-heavy stocks. “This move would be heavy with symbolism,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell. OpenAI kicked off the AI rally with ChatGPT in 2022. Reuters
PCE inflation stuck above 4% in May, holding back growth names. The price index climbed 4.1% from a year earlier, the first time above 4% since last April. Core PCE was up 3.4% year on year. “PCE price inflation remains too high and will keep the Fed on hold,” said Scott Anderson at BMO Capital Markets. EY-Parthenon’s Gregory Daco called core inflation “uncomfortably firm” and above the Fed’s 2% goal. Reuters
SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) dropped 1.7% ahead of the bell in rough premarket action, Reuters said. The company just joined Nasdaq with ticker SPCX and is headed for fast-track addition to the Russell index, fueling forced flows. Jefferies put the passive inflow from Russell inclusion at $2.68 billion earlier this week. Options are showing about a 40% chance SPCX slips under $130 by mid-September, per the data.
ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ:ON) is buying Synaptics (NASDAQ:SYNA) in a $7 billion all-stock deal, the biggest in its history. Synaptics shareholders will get 1.350 shares of Onsemi for each Synaptics share they hold, a 19% premium using the 10-day volume-weighted average close. CEO Hassane El-Khoury said Synaptics adds a connected-compute platform in key target sectors.
