【US Pre-Market】US-Iran Conflict Pushes Brent to $90, Warsh's Hawkish Remarks Weigh on Sentiment, Memory Chip Stocks Broadly Fall

TradingKey - On Monday (August 31) Eastern Time, pre-market futures for the three major U.S. stock indices traded lower. Investors were assessing hawkish remarks made by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole annual central bank symposium, while a re-escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict drove a sharp rise in international oil prices, complicating the outlook for inflation and interest rates and keeping overall market sentiment cautious.

As of press time, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.13%, S&P 500 futures dipped 0.16%, and Dow 30 futures declined 0.13%.

Source: Investing

In commodities, gold (XAUUSD) briefly fell below $4,400 per ounce. Warsh reiterated that bringing inflation down to 2% is a firm and unshakeable policy target for the Fed, reinforcing expectations that interest rates will remain higher for longer or even tighten further, weighing on gold prices.

International oil prices rose sharply, with WTI (USOIL) crude rising to around $86 per barrel and Brent crude (UKOIL) breaking back above $90 per barrel. The U.S. and Iran engaged in direct crossfire again after more than a month, causing shipping risks in the Strait of Hormuz to rise rapidly, while market concerns over crude supply disruptions mounted noticeably.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTCUSD) pulled back to near $78,000. Hawkish Fed policy expectations, combined with the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, prompted investors to reduce allocations to high-risk assets.

Market Movements

Memory chip stocks were generally down in pre-market trading. SK Hynix (SKHY) dipped 0.15%, Western Digital (WDC) fell about 0.30%, Seagate Technology (STX) dropped about 0.34%, and Micron Technology (MU) slipped 0.18%.

Energy stocks advanced across the board in pre-market trading. Earlier, U.S. military strikes on Iranian targets on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz drove international oil prices sharply higher, boosting the overall energy sector. Chevron (CVX) rose about 2.20%, ExxonMobil (XOM) gained about 1.92%; oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum (OXY) climbed about 1.98%, and ConocoPhillips (COP) advanced about 1.52%.

Intel (INTC) rose 2% in pre-market trading. Intel Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner stated at the Deutsche Bank 2026 Technology Conference that the current defect density of the Intel 14A process node is better than the company's original target, and the defect rate is declining at the fastest pace of any process node in Intel's history.

Antelope Enterprise Holdings (AEHL) surged over 65% in pre-market trading. The company disclosed a private placement plan of approximately $18.99 million with attached warrants. Given the size of the financing relative to the company's market capitalization, expectations of improved liquidity triggered a dramatic stock reaction. The company is also advancing a Bitcoin reserve strategy named "Plan Genius" and has filed a $200 million mixed securities shelf registration.

Market News

US-Iran conflict escalates again as Brent crude returns to $90. The US military launched strikes over the weekend on rocket launch facilities on Iran's Larak Island, stating that the facilities were preparing to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran subsequently retaliated, causing Middle East tensions to escalate rapidly.

Warsh's hawkish speech reinforces monetary tightening expectations. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh reiterated at the Jackson Hole meeting that the Fed's commitment to bringing inflation down to 2% remains firm. His remarks dampened market expectations for near-term rate cuts while heightening investor concerns that interest rates could remain high or even be raised again.

Intel may secure SK Hynix HBM4E foundry orders. According to reports, SK Hynix is considering outsourcing a portion of its base die production to Intel starting with its next-generation HBM4E, aiming to reduce single-source reliance on TSMC and control costs. Currently, SK Hynix's HBM4 base dies primarily utilize TSMC's 12nm-class process, with industry estimates placing their cost at approximately 3 to 4 times that of SK Hynix's self-produced core DRAM chips.

SB Energy grants stock warrants to OpenAI. SoftBank-backed energy and data center developer SB Energy granted a batch of stock warrants to OpenAI in January this year in an effort to secure OpenAI as a data center customer. SB Energy's valuation rose from approximately $3.6 billion at the time to about $5.5 billion by the end of June. OpenAI also invested $500 million in the company this year and plans to become a tenant for several of its data center projects.

Sony Music and Warner Chappell sue Anthropic. Sony Group (SONY)'s Sony Music Publishing and Warner Music Group (WMG)'s Warner Chappell filed a lawsuit against Anthropic and its co-founders in California federal court, alleging that the company downloaded and used copyrighted songs, lyrics, and sheet music from pirate sites without authorization to train its Claude models. The plaintiffs are seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work.

Key Data/Events Preview

At 9:45 a.m. ET, the U.S. released the August Chicago PMI.