【US Pre-Market】Middle East Energy Risks Escalate, Brent Crude Nears $100, Oil and Gas Stocks Rise; Novartis Plunges 13%

TradingKey - On Tuesday (September 8) Eastern Time, US stock index futures traded mixed in pre-market action. Iran announced new restrictions in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, while Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked Saudi energy facilities, driving international oil prices higher. Rising energy prices reignited inflation concerns, and with the Japanese yen climbing to its highest level since February, market risk appetite was suppressed.

As of press time, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.02%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.29%, and Dow 30 futures fell 0.83%.

Source: Investing

In commodities, gold (XAUUSD) hovered near $4,400/oz, while silver (XAGUSD) pulled back to around $65/oz. Middle East tensions provided safe-haven support, but rising oil prices exacerbated concerns over inflation and high interest rates, capping gains in precious metals.

International oil prices rose, with WTI (USOIL) crude breaking above $94/barrel and Brent crude (UKOIL) briefly surpassing $99/barrel. Multiple energy and utility facilities in Saudi Arabia were attacked by Houthi rebels, temporarily interrupting operations at some facilities and further escalating energy supply risks in the Middle East.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTCUSD) fell toward $78,000.

Market Moves

Novartis (NVS) plunged 13% premarket. The company announced that the Phase 3 HARBOR study evaluating del-desiran for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1 failed to meet its primary endpoint. Compared with placebo, patients showed no statistically significant improvement in video hand opening time.

Novartis stated that signs of clinical activity were observed in certain secondary endpoints and exploratory analyses, with the safety profile remaining largely consistent with previous data. The company will further analyze the complete data and decide on subsequent development plans after communicating with regulatory authorities.

Amgen (AMGN) fell more than 6% premarket. The previous failure of Pelacarsen, a lipid-lowering drug co-developed by Novartis and Ionis, to meet the primary endpoint of its Phase 3 trial eroded market confidence in the development pathway for Lp(a)-lowering drugs. Amgen is developing a drug in the same class, Olpasiran, and its subsequent complete trial data will serve as an important basis for evaluating the prospects of this target.

Bloom Energy, Everpure, and Illumina were added to the S&P 500 Index. Bloom Energy (BE) rose 6.4% premarket, Everpure (P) rose about 2.6%, and Illumina (ILMN) gained over 1%. The changes will take effect before the market opens on September 21. Inclusion in the index means the three companies are expected to receive allocation funds from passive index funds.

Oil and gas stocks rose collectively in premarket trading. Equinor (EQNR) and BP (BP) gained over 3%, Shell (SHEL), Petrobras (PBR), and TotalEnergies (TTE) rose over 2%, while Eni (E), Suncor Energy (SU), and ExxonMobil (XOM) rose over 1%.

Waterdrop (WDH) rose nearly 9% premarket. The company will announce its second-quarter results before the U.S. market opens on September 8. Waterdrop's first-quarter net revenue grew 64.8% year-over-year to 1.242 billion yuan, achieving profitability for 17 consecutive quarters. The market will focus on the growth rate of technology service revenue, the conversion of traffic investment into profit, and whether the full-year revenue growth target of 40% can be maintained.

Memory chip stocks gained in premarket trading. Seagate Technology (STX) rose over 3%, SK Hynix (SKHY) rose nearly 2%, while Micron Technology (MU) and Western Digital (WDC) followed suit.

Market News

Iran plans to expand its Persian Gulf maritime exclusion zone, raising Middle East energy risks. Iran stated that it will respond to what it calls U.S. "economic warfare" by establishing a maritime exclusion zone in the Persian Gulf, with the new zone potentially extending from the U.S. Navy blockade line to crude oil loading ports. Iran also stated that its strategic posture toward U.S. warships and military bases has undergone a "fundamental shift."

Meanwhile, Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked multiple energy and utility facilities in Saudi Arabia, causing fires and operational disruptions at several sites. The Persian Gulf is one of the world's most critical energy transit regions; if shipping or production faces sustained disruptions, oil prices could rise further, complicating efforts by central banks to control inflation.

Amazon plans inaugural sterling bond issuance. Amazon (AMZN) has mandated banks to prepare for its inaugural sterling bond issuance, with the deal potentially launching as early as Wednesday. The offering is expected to be split into four tranches, with maturities ranging from 3 to 19 years, led by JPMorgan, Barclays, HSBC, and NatWest.

Amazon has issued over $92 billion equivalent in bonds this year, making it the largest hyperscale tech issuer of bonds in 2026. The company plans to spend approximately $220 billion in capital expenditures this year, with the majority dedicated to AI infrastructure. However, expanding issuance sizes, weakening market demand, and widening credit spreads are also driving up its borrowing costs.

Palantir poised to secure UK energy system operator contract. According to the Financial Times, the UK's National Energy System Operator (NESO) plans to directly award a software service contract worth approximately £21 million to Palantir (PLTR) without a competitive bidding process. The contract remains to be signed, while two of NESO's key operations, Connections and Skip Rates, are already running on the Palantir Foundry platform.

OpenAI and Anthropic seek post-IPO investment-grade credit ratings. Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS) are reportedly communicating with rating agencies such as S&P, Moody's, and Fitch on behalf of OpenAI and Anthropic, aiming to secure investment-grade ratings for both companies after their IPOs. If achieved, this will give the two companies easier access to the roughly $11.7 trillion global corporate bond market and reduce their long-term financing costs.

Mistral AI completes €3 billion funding round. French artificial intelligence company Mistral AI announced the completion of a €3 billion (approximately $3.3 billion) Series D funding round, bringing its post-money valuation to over $24 billion, making it one of the largest equity raises by a European tech company to date.

The funding round was co-led by Samsung Electronics, EQT's Scaleup Europe Fund, and PSG Equity, with Advent, funds managed by BlackRock, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg joining as new investors, while ASML, Nvidia (NVDA), a16z, and Salesforce Ventures continued their participation.

ASML partners with chip giants to advance large-scale AI chip manufacturing. ASML will collaborate with companies including Intel (INTC), Nvidia, TSMC (TSM), and Samsung Electronics to develop larger photomasks, driving the adoption of High-NA EUV equipment for producing large AI and data center chips.

Anthropic abandons acquisition of Decart AI. Anthropic has reportedly decided to terminate negotiations to acquire Israeli AI compute optimization startup Decart AI for $6 billion to $7 billion. Market analysts believe abandoning large-scale M&A helps reduce transaction and regulatory complexity, clearing some hurdles for Anthropic's IPO preparation, though the company has not issued a formal clarification on the matter.

OpenAI expands compute procurement to Malaysia. Australian AI infrastructure company Firmus announced a multi-year strategic partnership with OpenAI. Firmus will provide OpenAI with dedicated compute power from two AI factories in Malaysia, with OpenAI acting as the anchor customer for these projects. This indicates that OpenAI is further expanding its data center and compute supply network into Southeast Asia.

Key Data/Events Preview

At 8:15 a.m. ET, the U.S. released the weekly change in ADP employment.