US Pre-Market: July CPI Lands In Line, Super Micro Jumps 9.8% Before the Open
Sentiment: neutral S&P 500 futures: +0.30% Nasdaq 100 futures: +0.70%
July CPI landed exactly on consensus at 8:30am ET on 12 August 2026, with the all-items index up 0.1% on the month and 3.4% over the year, and core up 0.2% and 2.5%. S&P 500 futures read +0.30% before the release and +0.30% after it. SMCI.US is the largest move into the open at +9.81% pre-market, and Nasdaq futures lead at +0.70% while AAPL.US and MSFT.US trade lower.
Overnight drivers
- July CPI matched consensus on all four measures: 0.1% monthly and 3.4% annual on all items, 0.2% monthly and 2.5% annual on core. Core annual inflation eased from 2.6% in June.
- Energy fell 1.5% on the month, with gasoline down 2.9%. Shelter rose 0.1% and accounted for roughly two-thirds of the monthly all-items increase, per the BLS.
- SMCI.US +9.81% at $34.70 on fiscal Q4 revenue of $11.12 billion, non-GAAP earnings of $1.70 a share against consensus near $0.62 to $0.96, non-GAAP gross margin of 17.6% against guidance of 8.2% to 8.4%, and a record $60 billion backlog.
- AAPL.US -0.17%, MSFT.US -0.56% and GOOGL.US +0.65% pre-market: the largest index weights sat out the morning bid, capping S&P 500 futures at +0.30% against +0.70% on the Nasdaq. GOOGL.US recovers a fraction of Tuesday's 3.84% fall on its raised 2026 capital spending guidance.
- ZN=F +0.20% and ZB=F +0.29% lifted Treasury futures once the core print removed the upside inflation risk, and the dollar index eased to 99.78, down 0.05%.
Tuesday's close
- S&P 500: 7,728.20 (-0.32%)
- Nasdaq Composite: 26,445.44 (-0.60%)
- Dow: 53,791.85 (-0.34%)
- Russell 2000: 3,027.12 (+0.32%)
- VIX: 15.38
GOOGL.US -3.84% and AMZN.US -2.09% accounted for most of Tuesday's 0.60% Nasdaq decline. The Russell 2000 rose 0.32% on the same session, so the selling stayed inside the largest technology weights.
Overnight Asia and Europe
- Nikkei 225: 67,524.06 (+0.83%)
- Hang Seng: 25,440.17 (-0.83%)
- STOXX 600: 661.15 (+0.10%)
- DAX: 26,495.90 (+0.40%)
- FTSE 100: 10,841.65 (-0.02%)
Japan closed 0.83% higher, the strongest of the overnight sessions, and Hong Kong fell 0.83%. European indices were little changed into the US inflation release, with the DAX at +0.40% the only gain above a tenth of a percent.
Pre-market movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| CAVA.US | +17.95% | Q2 results beat consensus |
| HRB.US | +12.91% | Fiscal Q4 results beat |
| SMCI.US | +9.81% | FQ4 earnings beat, $60 billion backlog |
| SNDK.US | +5.30% | AI memory demand |
| MU.US | +3.74% | AI memory demand |
| NBIX.US | -6.80% | Safety concerns on Vykat XR |
| PFGC.US | -4.91% | Fiscal Q4 miss |
| PLTR.US | -1.67% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven |
AVGO.US +1.83%, AMD.US +1.72% and INTC.US +1.67% extend the same AI hardware bid that lifted SMCI.US and the memory names.
US economic calendar today (ET)
- 07:00 MBA 30-year mortgage rate at 6.77%, down from 6.81%, with applications +3.6% after -2.9%
- 08:30 July CPI, released in line on headline and core
- 10:30 EIA crude oil stocks, consensus -1.4 million barrels after a +2.479 million build
- 11:30 17-week bill auction
- 12:00 10-year note auction
- 14:00 Monthly budget statement
What to watch
- 12:00 ET brings a 10-year note auction on the same day as an in-line CPI, the first read on demand at current yields.
- 10:30 ET EIA inventories land with WTI at $83.66, up 0.55%, and Brent at $89.14, up 0.26%.
- Thursday at 08:30 ET brings July PPI and weekly jobless claims, with Fed speakers Hammack at 08:15 and Barkin at 08:40, then a 30-year bond auction at 13:00.
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