US Pre-Market 8 October 2026: Brent Jumps 5% to $105 on Iran Strike Reports and Hurricane Isaias; Nasdaq Futures -0.65%, ARGX -14%

Sentiment: bearish S&P 500 futures: -0.40%

S&P 500 futures are -0.40% and Nasdaq 100 futures -0.65% at 8:34am ET on 8 October 2026 as Brent crude rose 5.05% to $105.26 after President Trump said a deal with Iran "isn't really something that I want to do", per CNBC, and Hurricane Isaias shut about 25% of Gulf of Mexico oil output. ARGX.US is -13.71% pre-market to $801.11 after argenx stopped a late-stage Vyvgart study in Sjögren's disease. Weekly jobless claims fell 2,000 to 197,000 at 8:30am ET, and the 10-year Treasury yield is around 5.3% before a 30-year bond auction at 1:00pm.

Overnight drivers

• Oil: Brent is +5.05% to $105.26 and WTI +4.96% to $92.66. NBC News reported that Trump's national security team has discussed resuming large-scale military operations against Iran in the coming weeks, and Reuters said tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz last week were the most in any week since the war began. Isaias, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2026, has taken about 511,000 barrels a day of Gulf output offline, per NBC News. XOM.US is +2.23%, OXY.US +2.55% and CVX.US +1.94% pre-market; UAL.US is -2.20% and AAL.US -2.33%.
• Yields: The 10-year yield "continues to trade around 5.3%", Capital.com analyst Daniela Hathorn told TheStreet, a day after it touched 5.365%, its highest since April 2002. Wednesday's Fed minutes said most officials expect another rate increase by year end. TLT.US is -0.36% and Russell 2000 futures -0.79%.
• Chips: SMH.US is -1.57% pre-market. AVGO.US is -1.62%, MU.US -1.33% and NVDA.US -0.93%. Samsung and SK Hynix each fell more than 2% in Seoul, per TradingKey.
• Banks: European banks fell nearly 2% to a more than three-month low as euro zone bond yields rose, per Reuters. GS.US is -1.33% and JPM.US -0.83% pre-market.
• Metals and bitcoin: Gold is +0.24% to $4,150.60 and silver -2.02% to $59.08. The US Dollar Index is +0.09% to 102.34 and bitcoin -1.34% to $82,346.

Wednesday on Wall Street

The S&P 500 closed at 7,801.77 on 7 October 2026, down 0.22% from its record, as the 10-year yield touched 5.365% intraday and CAT.US fell 5.75% on a federal inquiry into farm equipment markets.

• S&P 500: 7,801.77 (-0.22%)
• Nasdaq: 27,538.69 (-0.22%)
• Dow: 51,179.87 (-0.66%)
• Russell 2000: 2,793.20 (-1.31%)
• VIX: 15.08 (+0.47%)

Health care led the 11 sectors at +1.03% and industrials trailed at -2.18%. CAT.US is -1.57% pre-market and DE.US -1.20%. MU.US rose 4.06% to $1,088 on Wednesday and META.US fell 2.38%.

Overnight Asia and Europe

South Korea's KOSPI fell 2.62% to 6,625.93 on 8 October 2026 and Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.42% to 69,042.11, below 70,000; Europe's STOXX 600 is -0.63% at 626.25.

• Nikkei 225: 69,042.11 (-1.42%)
• Hang Seng: 23,785.79 (-1.43%)
• KOSPI: 6,625.93 (-2.62%)
• Shanghai Composite: 3,811.90 (-0.79%)
• STOXX 600: 626.25 (-0.63%)
• DAX: 24,877.87 (-0.90%)
• CAC 40: 7,729.12 (-0.52%)
• FTSE 100: 10,444.14 (-0.14%)

SoftBank Group fell more than 4% in Tokyo, per TradingKey.

Pre-market movers

• PCRX.US +44.21% to $36.34: Viatris agreed to buy Pacira BioSciences for $36.50 a share in cash, a $1.65 billion equity value and a premium of about 44.8%, per Reuters. VTRS.US is +0.06%.
• HAE.US +16.25% to $118.33 after Haemonetics announced a supply agreement with CSL, per GuruFocus.
• WOLF.US +15.35% to $36.22 after the Department of Defense gave a conditional commitment for a 30-year loan of up to $1.5 billion.
• PEP.US +1.97% to $126.17: third-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.34 on revenue of $25.27 billion, up 5.6%, beat estimates of $2.29 and about $25 billion, per Yahoo Finance. PepsiCo cut its 2026 core EPS growth forecast to 2.5% to 3% from the low end of 5% to 7%; tariff refunds added $178 million in the quarter.
• ARGX.US -13.71% to $801.11: argenx discontinued its Phase 3 UNITY study of Vyvgart in adults with Sjögren's disease and reported a positive result in celiac disease, per Endpoints News.
• LEVI.US -3.14% to $18.90 after raising its full-year adjusted EPS range to $1.54 to $1.56 and cutting revenue growth guidance to 7%. APLD.US is -1.01% after fiscal first-quarter revenue rose 322% to $341.9 million.

US economic calendar today (ET)

Initial jobless claims were 197,000 in the week ended 3 October 2026, down 2,000 from a revised 199,000, against a 200,000 forecast, per the Labor Department and Investrade; continuing claims rose 17,000 to 1,716,000.

• 10:00am: wholesale inventories for August, final reading (+0.7% prior)
• 10:30am: EIA weekly natural gas storage
• 1:00pm: $22 billion 30-year Treasury bond auction, after Wednesday's 10-year sale cleared at 5.3%

What to watch

• Earnings season: FactSet estimates S&P 500 third-quarter earnings grew 29.5%, which would be a third straight quarter above 25%, per Yahoo Finance. PEP.US is the first large report.
• Friday 9 October: DAL.US reports before the open; University of Michigan sentiment follows at 10:00am, and MRNA.US rejoins the Nasdaq-100.
• Isaias track: Shell and Chevron have started evacuations and shut-ins at Gulf of Mexico platforms; the Gulf produces about 14% of US crude output, per CNN.

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