Morning briefAfternoon brief
morning

US Pre-Market: Nasdaq Futures Down 1.07% as Semiconductors Hand Back Tuesday's Rally

Memory and storage lead the reversal, SMCI.US jumps 12.75% on a $60 billion order book, and WTI at $87.08 keeps energy bid.

Mixed3 min readBy Swingfolio Research

At a glance

Dow52,225+0.74%
VIX17.65+3.52%
Russell 20002,987+1.53%
US Dollar101.13-0.05%
US 10Y4.64+0.22%
ES_F7,513-0.44%
NQ_F29,002-1.07%

US Pre-Market: Nasdaq Futures Down 1.07% as Semiconductors Hand Back Tuesday's Rally

Sentiment: mixed S&P 500 futures: -0.44% Nasdaq 100 futures: -1.07%

Nasdaq 100 futures trade at 29,001.50 on 22 July 2026, down 1.07%, as the memory and storage names behind Tuesday's rally reverse before the open: SNDK.US -4.42%, WDC.US -4.99%, MU.US -4.14%. SMCI.US runs the other way at +12.75% after booking more than $60 billion of new fourth-quarter orders. WTI crude trades at $87.08, up 3.25% on an 11th consecutive night of US strikes on Iran, and energy is the firmest sector ahead of the bell.

Overnight drivers

Nasdaq 100 futures sit 63 basis points below S&P 500 futures on 22 July 2026, and semiconductors account for nearly all of that gap.

  • Semiconductors reversing: SOXX.US -2.80% pre-market against a +5.45% Tuesday close, its best single day in over a month. Memory and storage led in both directions: SNDK.US -4.42% (Tuesday +14.27%), WDC.US -4.99% (+12.51%), MU.US -4.14% (+12.17%), INTC.US -3.69% (+8.64%), AMD.US -3.93% (+8.11%). Tuesday's move followed a Morgan Stanley call for memory prices to rise 25%.
  • Crude at a near six-week high: WTI $87.08 (+3.25%). US Central Command confirmed an 11th straight night of strikes on Iran, and attacks on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on Russia's Black Sea coast are disrupting Kazakh exports.
  • Hedges bid: gold $4,134.30/oz (+1.42%), VIX 17.65 (+3.52%). NEM.US +2.08% pre-market, NOC.US +1.73%, LMT.US +0.71%, RTX.US +0.67%.
  • Dow futures -0.23%, S&P 500 futures -0.44%, Nasdaq 100 futures -1.07%. The ranking tracks semiconductor exposure rather than a macro input: the US 10-year sits at 4.64% (+0.22%) and the dollar index at 101.13 (-0.05%), neither of them moving.

Tuesday's close

The S&P 500 closed at 7,509.20 on 21 July 2026, up 0.89%, with the Nasdaq Composite up 1.29% at 25,837.21 and the Dow up 0.74% at 52,224.64. The Russell 2000 added 1.53% to 2,987.40, the widest gain of the four.

MMM.US rose 7.32% on a second-quarter beat and raised full-year guidance, GM.US 4.91% after earning an adjusted $3.57 per share against $3.20 consensus on revenue of $48.03 billion, and HAS.US 8.81%. HAL.US fell 5.47% and CME.US 3.15%, both after results that cleared estimates but carried cautious guidance.

Overnight Asia and Europe

The FTSE 100 traded at 10,730.49 through the US pre-market on 22 July 2026, up 1.37% and the strongest of the major indices, tracking crude through its energy weighting.

  • STOXX 600 646.43 (+0.50%), CAC 40 8,440.52 (+0.93%), DAX 25,087.96 (+0.31%).
  • Nikkei 225 closed at 66,115.60 (-0.18%); Hang Seng 24,892.66 (-0.95%).
  • 44,825.78 on Taiwan's TAIEX (+1.34%) and 6,797.70 on South Korea's KOSPI (+0.74%), both set hours before the US semiconductor reversal, so neither reflects it.

Pre-market movers

SMCI.US trades 12.75% higher on 22 July 2026 after the AI server maker reported more than $60 billion in new fourth-quarter orders.

  • SMCI.US +12.75%: order book above $60 billion, gross margin guided above its prior forecast, plus a planned AI data center with SpaceX. It closed Tuesday up 7.01%.
  • ADTN.US -19.60%, the steepest decline on the pre-market screen.
  • GEV.US -5.19% on adjusted EPS of $2.47 against $3.04 consensus. Revenue rose 22% to $11.1 billion and organic orders 88% to $24.2 billion, and the company lifted 2026 free cash flow guidance to between $11.5 billion and $12.5 billion from between $6.5 billion and $7.5 billion.
  • T.US +4.61%: adjusted EPS of 65 cents against 59 cents consensus.
  • RKLB.US +2.45% on a $266 million US Air Force contract covering 12 guaranteed launches. DELL.US +2.44%, OKLO.US +1.56%.
  • Energy tracks crude: OXY.US +1.62%, XOM.US +1.29%, MPC.US +1.14%, COP.US +1.10%, CVX.US +1.02%. UAL.US -1.39% and DAL.US -0.82% on the fuel bill.

US calendar today (ET)

  • No scheduled 8:30am macro release. Earnings are the only dated catalysts on the board.
  • 10:30am: EIA weekly petroleum status report, the first inventory read with WTI above $87.
  • Before the bell: GEV.US, T.US, PM.US, CME.US and CSX.US have reported.
  • After the close: GOOGL.US and TSLA.US, the first two of the largest US technology names to report this quarter, alongside TXN.US, IBM.US and NOW.US.

What to watch

  • GOOGL.US +0.36% and TSLA.US -0.65% pre-market, so positioning into tonight's two reports is close to flat.
  • The 63 basis point gap between Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures measures how much of the open rests on semiconductors alone.
  • VIX 17.65 (+3.52%) alongside Europe up 0.50% on the STOXX 600, a split between US index hedging and a firmer overnight session abroad.

Context only. Not financial advice. Track your own trades with Swingfolio.

Track every trade. Learn from every week.

Swingfolio logs your entries, exits, and R-multiples automatically — so your weekly review writes itself.

Start freeSee features

Disclaimer

This briefing provides market observations and general information only. It is not personal financial advice and does not take into account your objectives, situation or needs. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider seeking independent advice before acting on any information presented here.

Prices and market data sourced from EODHD and Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. Swingfolio does not hold an AFS licence and does not provide personal advice. Editorial standards and methodology →