US Pre-Market, 14 September 2026: Nasdaq 100 Futures 1.60% Lower as AI Leaders Call for a Slowdown and Brent Tops US$108

Sentiment: bearish S&P 500 futures: -0.65% at 7,609.75 | Nasdaq 100 futures: -1.60% at 28,918 | Dow futures: -0.41% at 52,785

Nasdaq 100 futures are 1.60% lower at 28,918 at 8:32am ET after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, backed by OpenAI's Sam Altman and Elon Musk, called over the weekend for AI companies to slow how fast they improve their most advanced models. GLW.US is down 8.87% to $151.60, the largest fall among the 250 largest US stocks, with chip-equipment makers LRCX.US -8.19% and KLAC.US -7.41% next. Brent is 3.35% higher at US$108.11 with Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline still shut after drone attacks, and fed funds futures price about an 86% chance of a 25 basis point hike at Wednesday's FOMC decision.

Overnight drivers

• AI slowdown call, SMH.US -4.70%: Amodei's essay on Saturday proposed external evaluators with employee-like access, common safety standards and limits on the rate of AI progress. Altman said on X that he agreed on the need to "pace the frontier" and posted on Monday that pacing does not mean stopping. President Trump said on Sunday that a slowdown was not needed and would put the US lead over China at risk. QQQ.US is 1.58% lower pre-market against SPY.US -0.64%.
• Brent +3.35% to US$108.11, WTI +2.95% to US$103.00: Saudi Arabia shut the East-West pipeline on 11 September after drones from Iraq struck pumping stations. The line had carried 4 to 5 million barrels a day around the Strait of Hormuz, and the Saudi energy ministry has given no restart date. Houthi forces seized Perim Island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait over the weekend. XLE.US is 1.23% higher, with OXY.US +2.00%, APA.US +1.88% and CVX.US +1.54%.
• FOMC hike odds about 86%: The two-day meeting starts Tuesday and the decision is due Wednesday at 2:00pm ET, with new projections and a press conference from Chair Kevin Warsh. The 10-year yield closed Friday at 4.975%. The US Dollar Index is 0.43% higher at 99.55, and gold futures are 1.88% lower at US$4,326/oz.
• AI listings: Bloomberg reported on Sunday that Anthropic picked Nasdaq for a listing targeted for October. Altman ruled out an OpenAI listing in 2026 in a Fortune interview published Saturday.

Friday's close

• S&P 500: 7,656.98 (+0.86%)
• Nasdaq Composite: 26,333.04 (+0.96%)
• Dow: 52,573.29 (+509.19, +0.98%)
• Russell 2000: 2,903.94 (+0.45%)
• VIX: 15.84 at Friday's close, 17.55 (+10.75%) at 8:32am ET

Friday's 0.86% S&P 500 gain ended a four-session decline after August CPI printed in line at 3.4% a year. HPE.US +12.44% and DELL.US +11.98% led after Oracle's CFO named both as suppliers for fiscal 2027 capex of $90 billion to $95 billion. The index fell 0.80% over the four-session week. S&P 500 futures at 7,609.75 sit 0.62% under Friday's cash close.

Overnight Asia and Europe

• KOSPI: 6,684.37 (-3.26%)
• Nikkei 225: 63,492.99 (-0.81%)
• Shanghai Composite: 3,885.33 (-0.07%)
• Hang Seng: 24,917.60 (+0.45%)
• STOXX 600: 637.14 (-0.31%)
• DAX: 25,442.14 (-0.49%)
• CAC 40: 8,116.69 (-0.77%)
• FTSE 100: 10,713.12 (+0.59%)

SK Hynix fell 6.35% and Samsung Electronics 4.05% in Seoul, leading the KOSPI's 3.26% loss. SoftBank Group, an OpenAI investor, fell 10.72% in Tokyo and Advantest 2.02%. ASML is 6.18% lower in Amsterdam and Infineon 8.50% lower in Frankfurt. The FTSE 100 is the only major European index higher.

Pre-market movers

Prices at about 8:32am ET. Of the 234 large US stocks with a pre-market print, 127 are higher and 107 lower, and most of the pre-market selling is in chips and data-center suppliers.

• GLW.US -8.87% to $151.60. Data-center suppliers are lower with it: VRT.US -8.40%, GEV.US -6.65%, ETN.US -6.54%.
• LRCX.US -8.19% to $273.79, KLAC.US -7.41%, AMAT.US -7.26%. Memory and processor makers follow: MU.US -5.84%, INTC.US -6.53%, AMD.US -5.57%, AVGO.US -3.76%, TSM.US -3.49%.
• HPE.US -7.89% at $57.18 gives back most of Friday's 12.44% gain. DELL.US is 4.87% lower, SMCI.US 5.69% and ORCL.US 4.76%.
• CRWD.US +5.40% to $217.90. Security software names are higher with it: PANW.US +4.74%, ZS.US +4.32%, FTNT.US +3.34%.
• NOW.US +4.54%, SAP.US +3.95% and CRM.US +2.97%. No company-specific catalyst found for the application software group.
• GOOGL.US +1.64% and META.US +2.12% lead the largest companies by market value, with MSFT.US +0.63% and AAPL.US +0.07%. NVDA.US -2.52% and TSLA.US -1.76% are lower.
• AFRM.US +1.88% after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to outperform.

Commodities, rates and the dollar

Gold is 1.88% lower and silver 2.70% lower with the dollar index up 0.43%. Copper at US$6.41/lb is 2.08% lower. Bitcoin is 1.66% higher at $78,008.

US economic calendar today (ET)

• Monday 14 September: No major US data scheduled.
• Tuesday 15 September, 8:30am: Empire State manufacturing for September. The FOMC meeting begins.
• Wednesday 16 September, 8:30am: August retail sales and import prices. 2:00pm: FOMC decision and projections, then Chair Warsh's press conference.
• Thursday 17 September, 8:30am: Weekly jobless claims, August housing starts and the September Philadelphia Fed index.
• Friday 18 September, 9:15am: August industrial production. The Bank of Japan also decides on Friday.

What to watch

• Nasdaq 100 futures at -1.60% against S&P 500 futures at -0.65%, with 127 of 234 large stocks higher pre-market.
• SMH.US at -4.70% pre-market after Friday's 1.47% gain in the cash session.
• Brent at US$108.11 and the East-West pipeline restart timing, two days before the FOMC decision.
• VIX at 17.55, up from Friday's 15.84 close.

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