【US Pre-Market】US Stock Futures Mixed on Triple Witching; Optical Communication, Storage, and Crypto Stocks Gain as WTI Crude Plunges Over 5%

TradingKey - On Friday (September 18) Eastern Time, futures on the three major U.S. stock indices were mixed in pre-market trading. A pullback in international oil prices eased inflationary pressure, while Federal Reserve rate hikes further fortified policy credibility. Coupled with marginal cooling of Middle East tensions, market risk appetite improved noticeably. Nvidia's optimistic earnings outlook also led a rebound in tech and chip-related sectors.

Friday coincides with "Triple Witching," when derivative contracts including single-stock options, index options, and stock index futures expire simultaneously. Analysts estimate the total notional value of expiring contracts exceeds $2 trillion, which could amplify intraday volume and short-term volatility.

As of press time, Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.36%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.11%, and Dow 30 futures were down 0.02%.

Source: Investing

In commodities, gold (XAUUSD) continued to rebound, approaching $4,400/oz; silver (XAGUSD) rose above $67/oz. Easing market concerns over sustained aggressive rate hikes helped push precious metal prices higher.

International oil prices fell, with WTI crude futures (USOIL-F) dropping over 5% intraday to retreat near $95/barrel, while Brent crude futures (UKOIL-F) fell to near $103/barrel. Signs of easing in the Middle East situation cooled market concerns over energy supply disruptions.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTCUSD) reclaimed $78,000. Rebounding risk appetite, coupled with U.S. regulators advancing tokenized securities pilots, boosted digital assets and related concept stocks.

Market Action

Optical communication stocks rose across the board in pre-market trading. Viavi Solutions (VIAV) gained nearly 5%, and Himax Technologies (HIMX) rose about 3%; Corning (GLW), Lumentum (LITE), Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI), Ciena (CIEN), AXT (AXTI), Coherent (COHR), Nokia (NOK), and Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) jumped over 2%, while Marvell Technology (MRVL) advanced over 1%.

Memory chip stocks extended their gains. Silicon Motion (SIMO) rose over 2%, while SK Hynix (SKHY), SanDisk (SNDK), Western Digital (WDC), Micron Technology (MU), Seagate Technology (STX), and Rambus (RMBS) advanced over 1%.

Crypto and digital asset stocks strengthened in pre-market trading. Robinhood (HOOD) rose about 3.7%, Coinbase (COIN) gained about 3.5%, and Gemini Space Station (GEMI) climbed roughly 1.8%.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched an "innovation exemption," providing a temporary regulatory pathway for eligible tokenized U.S. stocks to trade on-chain, serving as a major catalyst driving up related shares.

Generac (GNRC) extended pre-market gains by about 1.6%. The company surged 18.34% in the previous trading session after announcing it secured an order for Amazon (AMZN) data center backup generators. The first batch of equipment is expected to be delivered between 2027 and 2028, with an initial order totaling approximately $2.4 billion, and the agreement could ultimately yield up to $8 billion in revenue for Generac and its affiliates. Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on the company from $275 to $375 while maintaining a "Buy" rating.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (XENE) plunged over 27% in pre-market trading. The company is advancing two Phase 3 studies evaluating azetukalner for focal onset seizures and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures, respectively, and continues patient enrollment to support expansion into broader seizure types and global markets. The sharp pre-market drop indicates a marked weakening in investor expectations regarding clinical development progress and commercialization prospects.

Market News

Goldman Sachs expects the S&P 500 Index to reach 8,700 points over the next year. A Goldman Sachs strategist team led by Ben Snider believes that rapid U.S. corporate earnings growth is supported by a strong economic outlook and an AI investment boom, and that market concerns over an "earnings bubble" are exaggerated.

S&P 500 constituent companies saw profits grow by about 30% in each of the first two quarters of this year. Goldman Sachs projects that earnings growth will gradually slow over the next few years rather than collapse suddenly; over the coming year, the S&P 500 Index is expected to rise by about 14% to 8,700 points, driven primarily by earnings growth rather than continued valuation expansion.

Waymo plans to enter Singapore in 2028. Alphabet (GOOGL)'s Waymo plans to launch a Robotaxi service in Singapore, further expanding its autonomous driving footprint outside the United States. Waymo will deploy Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles to Singapore in the coming months, with professional drivers operating the vehicles starting next year to collect mapping, road, and monsoon weather data in preparation for the official launch of driverless services.

Solidigm considers building a NAND production base in the eastern U.S. Solidigm, a subsidiary of SK Hynix, is evaluating site selection and construction conditions with plans to build a large-scale NAND flash production line in the eastern United States. If implemented, it will become Solidigm's first domestic manufacturing base in the U.S. Solidigm is a U.S. subsidiary established after SK Hynix acquired Intel's NAND business in 2021. Recent market rumors also suggested potential memory production cooperation with Intel and a potential Nasdaq listing, but the company stated that related plans are still in the evaluation phase.

Anthropic and OpenAI seek small-scale data center projects. According to reports, the two companies are engaging in discussions for 20-to-30 megawatt data center deals in the UK, the Nordic region, and the U.S. to secure available computing power more quickly. Unlike large model training, which requires a massive number of chips working in close coordination, AI inference tasks can be distributed across multiple smaller clusters. As AI applications accelerate deployment, computing power demand is gradually shifting from training to inference. JLL projects that by 2027, global data center capacity allocated to AI inference will surpass that of model training.

Bank of Japan raises interest rate to 1.25%. The Bank of Japan voted 7-2 to approve a rate hike, raising its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%, reaching the highest level in 31 years and meeting market expectations. Coming just three months after the previous hike, this move marks the shortest interval between two BOJ rate hikes since 1990, demonstrating that the normalization of its monetary policy continues to progress.

U.S. SEC grants five-year exemption for tokenized stock trading. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is allowing eligible platforms offering blockchain or tokenized stock trading a temporary five-year exemption from certain regulatory rules applicable to traditional stock exchanges.

Key Data/Events Preview

At 9:15 ET, the U.S. releases August Industrial Production YoY and MoM rates.

At 9:30 ET, Fed Governor Michelle W. Bowman delivers a speech.

At 10:00 ET, the U.S. releases August Leading Indicators MoM rate.