【US Pre-Market】Nonfarm Payrolls Due Tonight as Gold Nears $4,500, Bitcoin Tops $81,000, Lululemon Plunges 19%

TradingKey - On Friday (September 4) ET, futures on the three major US stock indices were mixed in pre-market trading. Dovish signals from Federal Reserve officials prompted the market to reassess the likelihood of a September rate hike. Investors remained cautious ahead of the upcoming US non-farm payrolls report.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.47%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.07%, and Dow 30 futures fell 0.10%.

Source: Investing

In commodities, gold (XAUUSD) touched near $4,500/oz at one point, while silver (XAGUSD) broke above $67/oz. Signals from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller cooling rate-hike expectations pushed US Treasury yields lower and boosted precious metal prices.

International oil prices paused their rally, with WTI (USOIL) crude pulling back to around $90/barrel, while Brent crude (UKOIL) fell to near $95/barrel. Oil prices had previously posted consecutive gains due to the escalation of the US-Iran conflict, seeing short-term profit-taking, though Middle East supply risks have not receded.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTCUSD) surged about 4%, breaking above the $81,000 mark. Cooling expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes prompted capital to flow back into risk assets such as digital assets.

Market Moves

Lululemon (LULU) plunged 19% in pre-market trading. The company's second-quarter fiscal 2026 net revenue fell 4% year-over-year to $2.416 billion, down 5% on a constant currency basis; net income decreased from $371 million in the prior-year period to $329 million, and diluted earnings per share dropped from $3.10 to $2.92.

Following the earnings release, Piper Sandler lowered its price target on Lululemon from $110 to $80.

Samsara (IOT) rose over 14% in pre-market trading. The company's revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2027 grew 30% year-over-year to $508.4 million, beating the market expectation of $483 million. GAAP net income reached $16.24 million, turning a profit from a net loss of $16.80 million in the same period last year. Management also raised its full-year revenue and adjusted EPS guidance.

Planet Labs (PL) gained over 9% in pre-market trading. The company's second-quarter revenue exceeded market expectations. Additionally, reports indicate that it is considering expanding into data center monitoring, with the market optimistic about the application prospects of satellite imagery and geospatial data in AI infrastructure.

Adobe (ADBE) fell about 3.6% in pre-market trading. The company appointed Anil Chakravarthy as its next CEO, succeeding Shantanu Narayen, who previously announced his stepping down. Chakravarthy will assume office and join the board of directors on December 1.

DocuSign (DOCU) rose about 3% in pre-market trading. The company's second-quarter revenue grew 9.4% year-over-year to $875.7 million, with adjusted EPS at $1.16, beating the market expectation of $1.09. The company raised its full-year revenue guidance to $3.5 billion–$3.51 billion and increased its adjusted operating margin guidance to 31%–31.5%.

Memory chip stocks generally rose in pre-market trading. Micron Technology (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) rose over 1.7%, Seagate Technology (STX) gained over 1.5%, while SK Hynix (SKHY) and Western Digital (WDC) climbed over 1%.

Market News

U.S. nonfarm payrolls report to be released soon. The U.S. will release August nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The previously released ADP employment report showed an increase of only 38,000 jobs, falling short of market expectations for 47,000 and marking the lowest level since January this year, fueling market concerns over slowing employment growth.

If the nonfarm payrolls data is also weaker than expected, the market may further reduce the probability of a rate hike in September, benefiting gold, tech stocks, and other rate-sensitive assets. Conversely, if employment performance remains strong, it could push U.S. Treasury yields higher again and intensify volatility in U.S. equities.

Waller strikes dovish tone, cooling rate-hike expectations. Federal Reserve Governor Waller stated that recent economic data shows encouraging signs of cooling inflation. If subsequent data continues to indicate easing inflationary pressures, he leans toward keeping interest rates unchanged at the policy meeting on September 15-16.

Anthropic plans to expand revolving credit facility to $15 billion. According to people familiar with the matter, Claude developer Anthropic is close to finalizing a $15 billion revolving credit facility, with Morgan Stanley leading the deal, and Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Citi also playing key roles. The four banks are reportedly also the lead underwriters for Anthropic's IPO.

Tesla officially unveils Cybercab. Tesla (TSLA) officially unveiled the Cybercab without a steering wheel or pedals in Austin, Texas, targeting a price of under $30,000, with plans to begin small-scale deployment within the year.

Tesla's Robotaxi app has added the Cybercab model, allowing passengers in certain regions to choose between the Model Y and the Cybercab. The company has also launched a procurement intent form for commercial customers to prepare for future partnerships with third-party fleets.

Apple's foldable iPhone faces slow mass production progress. According to reports, daily production of Apple's (AAPL) first foldable iPhone averaged only a few hundred units as of late August, well below the level required for large-scale commercial shipments. If the subsequent capacity ramp-up continues to fall short of expectations, tight supply could emerge during the initial launch period.

Samsung Electronics and Arm jointly develop next-generation on-device AI chips. According to reports, Samsung Electronics and Arm (ARM) have officially launched joint development of next-generation on-device AI SoCs. Arm approved payment for the project's non-recurring engineering fees in late August and will provide core technology, while Samsung Electronics will handle chip integration and commercialization. The two companies plan to develop customized chips for end customers, indicating that competition in AI computing power is extending further from cloud data centers to smartphones, PCs, and other edge devices.

Nvidia steps up AI investment, planning $2.5 billion investment in Thinking Machines Lab and $12.9 billion acquisition of open-source AI platform Hugging Face. Nvidia (NVDA) reportedly plans to invest about $2.5 billion in AI startup Thinking Machines Lab, further expanding its footprint in foundational models and generative AI. Meanwhile, Nvidia also intends to acquire open-source AI platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion. If both transactions are successfully completed, Nvidia's AI footprint will extend further from chips and computing infrastructure to model development, the open-source community, and the application ecosystem.

Key Data/Events Preview

At 8:30 a.m. ET, the U.S. released August seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate.