US Pre-Market, 21 September 2026: S&P 500 Futures 0.68% Higher as Oil Falls 3% Ahead of the Trump-Xi Meeting

Sentiment: bullish S&P 500 futures: +0.68% | Nasdaq 100 futures: +1.07% | Dow futures: +0.86%

S&P 500 futures are 0.68% higher and Nasdaq 100 futures 1.07% higher at 8:36am ET on 21 September 2026 as WTI crude fell 3.01% and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called weekend talks with China's vice premier "a very successful engagement" ahead of Xi Jinping's Washington visit. MSTR.US is 7.33% higher at $165.20 with Bitcoin above US$85,000. The 10-year Treasury yield is near 4.96% against a 4.998% close on Friday, and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said returning inflation to 2% will be challenging.

Overnight drivers

• US-China talks: Bessent said Sunday's talks in New York with Vice Premier He Lifeng covered trade and AI, and the two sides have discussed reciprocal tariff cuts on US$30 billion of goods each. China's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Xi will make a state visit to the US from 23 to 25 September, with the White House meeting on 24 September. The KOSPI closed 1.65% higher, the Hang Seng 1.18% and the Shanghai Composite 0.97%.
• WTI -3.01% to US$97.28: Brent has fallen four sessions in a row, TradingKey reported. Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz picked up, although the Strait remains largely closed, AP reported, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Houthi rebels targeted Riyadh with a ballistic missile on Saturday, and Saudi forces intercepted it. PSX.US is 2.17% lower pre-market, MPC.US 1.92%, COP.US 1.41% and VLO.US 1.28%.
• Bitcoin above US$85,000: CNBC reported the highest price since late January, despite the Senate blocking the Clarity Act crypto bill last week. MSTR.US is 7.33% higher, CRCL.US 5.73%, COIN.US 5.33% and HOOD.US 5.27%.
• Yields and the Fed: The Fed raised its target range 25 bp to 3.75% to 4.00% on Wednesday 16 September. Goolsbee cited persistent energy and tariff supply shocks on top of strong demand and said there is "no ambiguity" about how the Fed would react if demand is adding to inflation.

Friday's close

• S&P 500: 7,650.50 (+0.17%)
• Nasdaq Composite: 26,522.55 (+0.39%)
• Dow: 51,682.64 (-0.18%)
• Russell 2000: 2,860.40 (-0.50%)
• VIX: 14.81 at Friday's close, 14.83 at 8:36am ET

The S&P 500 ended the week 0.08% lower after Wednesday's Fed hike. Nine of eleven sectors fell on Friday while the PHLX Semiconductor index rose 2.78%, and Bitcoin gained 6.37% to US$81,170 as MSTR.US rose 16.39% and COIN.US 11.66%.

Overnight Asia and Europe

• KOSPI: 7,007.72 (+1.65%)
• Hang Seng: 25,042.71 (+1.18%)
• Shanghai Composite: 3,949.91 (+0.97%)
• DAX: 25,602.10 (+1.18%)
• STOXX 600: 642.99 (+1.19%)
• FTSE 100: 10,770.00 (+1.04%)
• CAC 40: 8,145.64 (+1.00%)

All seven are higher, the three Asian indices at their closes and the four European indices at 8:36am ET. Japan's market is closed through Wednesday for holidays.

Pre-market movers

Prices at about 8:36am ET. Of 234 large US stocks and ETFs with a pre-market print, 176 are higher and 58 lower.

• INTC.US +5.56% to $114.64. Intel is partnering with AUO on Micro LED packaging for co-packaged optics, TradingKey reported. ARM.US is 4.84% higher, GLW.US 4.13%, AMD.US 3.34%, STX.US 3.16%, WDC.US 2.91% and MRVL.US 2.86%, with SMH.US up 1.77%.
• ACN.US +4.47% to $189.31, after a 4.73% fall on Friday. Accenture and Anthropic announced on 18 September that each will invest at least US$1 billion over five years in independent evaluations of AI models.
• NVO.US -4.28% to $41.39, the largest fall in the sweep. Novo Nordisk set a 2030 target of more than five launches with multi-blockbuster potential at its capital markets day, and Bloomberg reported investors sought more robust sales targets. TradingKey reported that Novo also raised its 2026 outlook to a decline of up to about 6% from up to 12%.
• WBD.US +7.29% to $29.83 and PSKY.US +5.39% to $10.76. Paramount Skydance and a 12-state coalition led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta spent the weekend negotiating a settlement of the antitrust suit against Paramount's US$81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Terms under discussion include a US$1.5 billion California production pledge, Variety reported.
• CRML.US +28.61% to $8.66 and GLND.US +154.15% to $3.05. President Trump announced a security agreement with Denmark and Greenland. TradingKey reported that the announcement included no funding, permits or commercial arrangements for either company. GLND.US has a market value of about $0.1 billion.
• XLE.US -0.89% with XOM.US -0.85% and CVX.US -0.93%, tracking crude lower.

Commodities, rates and the dollar

The November WTI contract is at US$93.40, down 2.79% from Friday's settlement of US$96.08.

US economic calendar today (ET)

• Monday 21 September, 8:30am: The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell to -0.04 in August from +0.08 in July, and the three-month average rose to +0.01 from -0.01. Production-related indicators contributed -0.07.
• Tuesday 22 September: The Richmond Fed September manufacturing index. AutoZone and KB Home report.
• Wednesday 23 September, 9:45am: S&P Global flash September PMIs. General Mills reports.
• Thursday 24 September: August new home sales at 10:00am, the Trump-Xi White House meeting, and Costco (after the close) and Darden results.
• Friday 25 September: August durable goods orders at 8:30am and University of Michigan consumer sentiment at 10:00am.

What to watch

• The 10-year yield near 4.96% against Friday's 4.998% close, after the Fed's 25 bp hike.
• Brent at US$101.17 after four straight daily falls, with the UN General Assembly opening on Tuesday.
• SMH.US at +1.77% pre-market, with 176 of 234 large stocks and ETFs higher.

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