Markets Edge Higher with Eyes on NVIDIA, Oil

PUBLISHED 18 May 2026 | 2 min read

Rick Ducat

Chartered Market Technician

Stock futures are pointing higher to kick off the week, with S&P futures up about 0.25%.

Oil prices reversed course, moving lower. The White House announced that the U.S. and China have struck deals for China to buy American soybeans and address rare earth mineral shortages in the U.S.

The king of the market – Nvidia (NVDA) – will report its quarterly results on Wednesday. Today is light on earnings, with China’s Baidu (BIDU) among the only notable companies reporting results.

Today’s economic data includes the New York Fed Services Activity Index.

Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)

Oil (/CL) – Oil futures are down -0.32% per barrel
Gold (/GC) – Gold is up 0.05% per ounce
Bitcoin (/BTC) – The cryptocurrency’s futures are down -2.35%
VIX – CBOE Volatility Index futures are down 1.65%
U.S. Dollar (/DX) – U.S. Dollar Index futures are -0.21%

Biggest Premarket Movers (as of 8:30 AM ET)

(Winners)

DOMINION ENERGY INC (D) 15.05%
FORD MTR CO DEL (F) 6.57%
SERVICENOW INC (NOW) 5.36%
F5 INC (FFIV) 4.32%
ECHOSTAR CORP Class AC (SATS) 3.04%

(Losers)

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS (REGN) -11.24%%
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP (UNH) -3.77%
LUMENTUM HLDGS INC (LITE) -3.27%
COHERENT CORP (COHR) -2.74%
UNITED PARCEL SVC (UPS) -1.65%

Economic Data (Time (ET)

8:30 AM: Fed Venable Speech
8:30 AM: NY Fed Services Activity Index MAY
10:00 AM: NAHB Housing Market Index MAY
11:30 PM: 3-Month Bill Auction
11:30 PM: 6-Month Bill Auction
4:00 PM: Net Long-term TIC Flows MAR
4:00 PM: Foreign Bond Investment MAR
4:00 PM: Overall Net Capital Flows MAR

Notable Earnings

Premarket: BIDU
Postmarket: None
Premarket Tomorrow: HD
Postmarket Tomorrow: KEYS, TOL, CAVA, RRGB

Upgrades/Downgrades

Wells Fargo upgrades ADP to Equal Weight from Underweight
Morgan Stanley upgrades Lam Research to Overweight from Equal Weight
H.C. Wainwright upgrades Circle Internet to Buy from Neutral
Morgan Stanley downgrades Applied Materials to Equal Weight from Overweight
Leerink downgrades Regeneron to Neutral from Buy
DA Davidson downgrades CoreWeave to Neutral from Buy

This material is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered a personalized recommendation or investment advice. Investors should review investment strategies for their own particular situations before making any decisions.

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Data contained herein is obtained from what are considered reliable sources. However, its accuracy, completeness, or reliability cannot be guaranteed. All events and times listed are subject to change without notice.