US Pre-Market: SpaceX Bucks Trend to Turn Positive After Falling Below IPO Debut Price, Chip Stocks’ Collective Slump Drags Nasdaq Futures Down 2.7%

TradingKey - On June 23, Eastern Time, the three major U.S. stock index futures fell collectively in pre-market trading. As of press time, Dow futures (YM) fell 0.48%, S&P 500 futures (ES) fell 1.32%, and Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ) dropped 2.70%, shed more than 800 points.

[Source: CME Group]

Asia-Pacific markets were the first to reflect the pessimistic sentiment. The Nikkei 225 closed down 3.55% at 69,788 points, with Kioxia falling over 15% and SoftBank down more than 10%; South Korea's KOSPI tumbled 9.99% to 8,203 points, marking its largest single-day drop since March 4, while Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both fell over 12%.

In commodities, international oil prices faced significant selling pressure, impacted by a breakthrough in U.S.-Iran negotiations. WTI crude oil futures (CL) fell about 2% to $73.19/barrel, and Brent crude oil futures (BRN) fell 0.72% to $76.96/barrel. Spot gold in London ( XAUUSD) once fell over 2% to $4,094/ounce, losing the $4,100 level; spot silver in London ( XAGUSD) fell 4.8% to $61.9/ounce.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) broke below $63,000, falling over 3%; Ethereum (ETH) dropped nearly 6% to around $1,660, while SOL and XRP plummeted in tandem.

Unusual Market Movements

Memory chip concepts plummeted across the board, becoming the worst-hit area in pre-market trading. As of press time, SanDisk ( SNDK) fell over 7.5%, Micron Technology ( MU ), Western Digital ( WDC ), Intel ( INTC) fell over 6%, Marvell Technology ( MRVL) fell nearly 8%, AMD ( AMD) fell nearly 6%, TSMC ( TSM) fell nearly 5%. Optical communication concept stocks also plunged, with Tower Semiconductor ( TSEM) falling nearly 10%, Coherent ( COHR ), Credo Technology ( CRDO) falling nearly 6%.

SpaceX (SPCX) once fell nearly 5% in pre-market trading to around $147, below its opening price of $150 on its first day of listing. As of press time, SpaceX was trading at $155.74 in pre-market, up 0.74%, after having fallen about 23% cumulatively over the previous three trading days. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son stated that the space data center proposal championed by Elon Musk has limited value, and the winner of the AI race will be decided by terrestrial computing power.

Large-cap tech stocks were under collective pressure. NVIDIA ( NVDA ), Tesla ( TSLA) fell over 2%, Apple ( AAPL ), Meta ( META ), Amazon ( AMZN) all fell slightly, while Microsoft ( MSFT) rose 1.19%.

IBM ( IBM) rose nearly 6% in pre-market trading after Trump publicly praised IBM and signed an executive order on quantum computing. Qualcomm ( QCOM) fell over 5% on reports that it is in deep acquisition talks with AI infrastructure software company Modular, with the deal valued at approximately $4 billion.

Market Headlines

U.S.-Iran talks have made breakthrough progress. The U.S. Treasury Department issued a 60-day general license, allowing the continued production, transport, and export of Iranian crude oil until August 21. Vice President Vance stated that a major breakthrough had been achieved in the negotiations, with Iran agreeing to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to return to the country and committing to maintain freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Hawkish Federal Reserve expectations continue to build. Fed official Goolsbee stated that inflation is far above target and moving in the wrong direction, supporting Chairman Warsh's approach to reducing interest rate speculation and weakening forward guidance. Market expectations for a September rate hike continue to heat up.

The 'New Bond King' has issued a stern warning. Jeffrey Gundlach, founder of DoubleLine Capital, stated that the AI-driven rally in U.S. stocks is nearing its end, and U.S. equities could peak as early as the third quarter before entering a bear market under the weight of economic recession and valuation contraction, with potential declines of 30% to 50%.

Key Data/Events Preview

Tuesday, June 23

9:45 US June S&P Global Flash Manufacturing PMI (Est. 54.6, Prev. 55.1) and Flash Services PMI

10:00 US May New Home Sales Data

Wednesday, June 24

Fed Chair Powell delivers semi-annual monetary policy testimony to Congress

Nvidia Annual Shareholders Meeting (9:00 AM PT), focusing on Blackwell and Vera architecture capacity and AI infrastructure outlook

Micron Technology reports quarterly earnings after market close