US Pre-Market 29 September 2026: Futures Edge Up as Brent Falls 1.6% on Renewed US-Iran Talks
Sentiment: mixed S&P 500 futures: +0.20%
S&P 500 futures are up 0.20% and Nasdaq 100 futures 0.40% at 8:35am ET after Brent crude fell 1.58% to US$96.28, as Saudi Arabia resumed exports through its East-West pipeline and US and Iranian officials met mediators to restart talks. Fair Isaac FICO.US is -22.05% pre-market to $655.43 after FHFA director Bill Pulte said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will move to one mortgage pricing grid that adds VantageScore alongside FICO. The bounce follows Monday's 0.77% fall in the S&P 500, with the 10-year Treasury yield at 5.24% late Monday, a 19-year high, two weeks after the Federal Reserve raised rates to 3.75% to 4.00%.
Overnight drivers
- Oil and Iran: Brent -1.58% to US$96.28 and WTI -1.89% to US$90.85, reversing part of Monday's jump after Donald Trump rejected Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Energy is the weak group before the bell: XOM.US -1.16%, CVX.US -1.17%.
- Chips rebound: AMD.US +1.32% after agreeing to acquire Fei-Fei Li's World Labs for $8.2 billion, ARM.US +1.72%, MU.US +1.36% into Wednesday's results, NVDA.US +0.75% after a record $150 billion addition to its share repurchase plan. ARM.US closed -8.70% and AMD.US -3.61% on Monday.
- Rates and the dollar: the 10-year yield printed 5.24% late Monday and the 30-year 5.56%. Fed Governor Lisa Cook said on Monday the labour market "appears to be well positioned to handle an increase in rates." The dollar index is 101.30, up 0.10%. Gold is +0.32% to US$4,181.60 an ounce.
- AI safety headlines: Reuters reported a leaked Anthropic IPO prospectus targeting a valuation of up to $2 trillion, and the Wall Street Journal reported OpenAI shelved a new model after internal safety tests. Tech chief executives including Jensen Huang, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai lunch with Trump at the White House this afternoon.
Monday's close
The S&P 500 closed at 7,683.69 on 28 September 2026, down 59.72 points or 0.77%, after Trump rejected an Iranian peace proposal and Brent settled at US$97.83. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.92% to 26,820.38, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 347.11 points or 0.67% to 51,481.51, and the Russell 2000 slipped 0.69% to 2,817.91. More than 65% of US issues declined.
Communication services led the declines at -1.56%, followed by consumer discretionary -1.43%, financials -1.14% and industrials -1.00%. Three sectors rose: health care +0.29%, staples +0.22% and energy +0.11%.
BA.US closed -6.91% at $184.39, a 2026 low, after the FAA said it would not certify the 737 MAX 10 until it assesses a new navigation software glitch. MDB.US fell 18.46% after chief executive CJ Desai left to join Meta Platforms, with Dev Ittycheria returning as interim CEO. RBLX.US lost 9.86% on a Jefferies downgrade to underperform. KOD.US rose 177.96% on Phase 3 DAYBREAK results in wet age-related macular degeneration. NVDA.US gained 1.68% on the buyback.
Overnight Asia and Europe
- Nikkei 225 closed at 65,481.27, -0.60%.
- Hang Seng 24,523.57, -0.48%, and KOSPI 6,870.81, -0.27%.
- STOXX 600 641.84 (+0.49%), DAX 25,579.99 (+0.81%) and FTSE 100 10,696.29 (+0.11%) at 8:35am ET.
Pre-market movers
| Ticker | Pre-market | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|
| FICO.US | -22.05% | FHFA moves Fannie and Freddie to one pricing grid that adds VantageScore |
| UEC.US | +6.21% | Uranium Energy reports results today |
| BLMN.US | +5.94% | JPMorgan upgraded Bloomin' Brands to neutral from underweight |
| KMX.US | +5.15% | Fiscal second-quarter EPS of $1.16 against $0.68 expected; revenue $7.88 billion, up 19.5% |
| MDB.US | +2.28% | Partial rebound after Monday's 18.46% fall on the CEO departure |
| AIR.US | +2.25% | AAR reports quarterly results today |
| MTN.US | -1.19% | Vail Resorts posted mixed fiscal fourth-quarter results |
CCL.US is +0.70% ahead of Carnival's third-quarter report today, where consensus sits at EPS of $1.35 on revenue of $8.4 billion. META.US is +1.15% pre-market after closing -4.79% on Monday. AAPL.US -0.37% and MSFT.US -0.09% trail the chip names.
US economic calendar today (ET)
- 09:00 FHFA house price index for July; June was flat.
- 10:00 JOLTS job openings for August, 7.225 million expected against 7.271 million in July.
- 10:00 Conference Board consumer confidence for September, 90.0 expected against 89.4 in August.
- 10:30 Dallas Fed Texas service sector outlook for September, 4.2 prior.
- Wednesday 16:30 Micron fiscal fourth-quarter results, after the close.
- Friday September payrolls report, the week's main labour print ahead of the Fed's next decision.
What to watch
- Nasdaq 100 futures +0.40% against Dow futures +0.19%, with AMD.US, ARM.US and MU.US leading the pre-market chip rebound.
- JOLTS and consumer confidence at 10:00 are the first labour and household reads since the 16 September rate increase, with the 10-year at 5.24%.
- Iran wants the US-Iran talks to cover Hormuz and the US naval blockade; Washington is pressing for nuclear concessions. Brent is US$96.28 before the open.
- FICO.US is -22.05% pre-market; VantageScore joins the FICO Classic grid at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- BA.US is +0.45% pre-market after Monday's 6.91% drop on the 737 MAX 10 delay.
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