NEW YORK, July 9, 2026, 05:00 (EDT)
- U.S. stock futures traded higher ahead of the open, with Nasdaq 100 contracts leading gains after Wednesday’s selloff tied to oil.
- Risk appetite is still facing pressure from Middle East tension, crude prices and Fed rate-hike bets.
- Investors will watch for weekly jobless claims before the open as the numbers could stir up the rate debate.
U.S. stock index futures moved up early Thursday. Tech names were set to help markets bounce back a bit after oil prices jumped and U.S.-Iran tensions dragged the Dow down almost 600 points Wednesday. Dow futures traded up 47 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.3%. Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 0.8%, Barron’s said.
This is getting attention because traders are trying to figure out if the oil shock is just a short-term worry or something that could stall the year’s stock gains. Premarket trading had started — it runs before the main New York open at 9:30 a.m. Nasdaq’s premarket session is 4:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Eastern, with regular hours 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This isn’t a holiday week. NYSE’s 2026 schedule shows markets are closed for Independence Day on Friday, July 3. After that, the next full-day closure is Labor Day, Sept. 7.
S&P 500 closed down 0.28% at 7,482.71 on Wednesday. The Dow slid 1.09% to 52,348.39. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.20% to 25,870.65. Industrials and materials led losses as nine out of 11 S&P 500 sectors fell, but the Philadelphia semiconductor index climbed 2.23%.
Oil is still the swing factor. Brent crude futures dropped 1.32% to $76.99 a barrel early Thursday. That follows a jump to the highest since June 22 on Wednesday. Traders are looking at the new U.S. strikes on Iran, along with Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain, and possible shipping risks through the Strait of Hormuz. “Things are very much up in the air” for oil flows, KCM Trade chief market analyst Tim Waterer said. Reuters
The mood was a bit more relaxed. Reuters said Wall Street futures edged up around 0.2% in global trading. Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, said markets look like they still expect the Iran conflict to cool off, but that’s not real conviction. Weston also said the timing is tough to call.
The bond market is another brake here. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was around 4.56% on Reuters’ market page after rising this week. Higher yields can put pressure on stocks, since investors get a better return from safer assets and future corporate earnings are discounted more.
Federal Reserve minutes out Wednesday left traders with lingering worries around inflation. Some policymakers argued for a rate hike at the June meeting, but the Fed left rates at 3.50% to 3.75%. Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, said there was “some ambiguity in the minutes” and said policy is closely linked to the Middle East. Reuters
Traders will be watching the labor market next. Initial jobless claims numbers are out Thursday. The weekly read on layoffs, tracked by FRED, had seasonally adjusted claims at 215,000 for the previous week and the next release is July 9.
Tech stayed in focus as Nvidia moved higher on Wednesday. The Information said China could let major AI players like Alibaba, ByteDance and DeepSeek pick up a limited supply of Nvidia H200 chips. Reuters later said Nvidia shares were up 1% after the story.
Broadcom held investor attention after Apple announced plans to spend over $30 billion with the chipmaker under a multi-year supply deal. Broadcom is putting $1.5 billion into expanding its Fort Collins, Colorado, site. Apple CEO Tim Cook said components made in Fort Collins are “essential” for performance and connectivity in Apple devices. Reuters
The worry is oil could reverse and push inflation bets higher again. Any new trouble in the Strait of Hormuz, missed talks, or another move up in Treasury yields could flip a futures uptick into a risk-off session, especially for rate-sensitive tech and travel companies like airlines and cruise lines. Right now, markets are staying steady. Traders have not fully written off the risk.
