U.S. stock futures are slightly lower in premarket trading as markets kick off a new month and quarter after posting strong first-half gains

In the first six months of 2026, the Dow rose 8.9%, marking its best first-half performance since 2021. In the same time period, the benchmark S&P 500 rose 9.6% and the Nasdaq-100 jumped 19.9%. The small-cap Russell 2000 surged 21.9% to clinch its best first-half performance since 1991.

While geopolitical tensions remain in the Middle East, oil prices are down near $69 per barrel. The focus today will be on the ADP jobs report, manufacturing data, and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at the European Central Bank economic forum in Portugal.

Snapshot (as of 8 AM ET)

• Oil (/CL) – Oil futures prices are down 0.5% to $69.16 per barrel
• Gold (/GC) – Gold is up 0.17% to 4,046.40
• Bitcoin (/BTC) – The cryptocurrency is down 0.42% to 58,635
• VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index is up 1.82% to 16.75
• U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) – The dollar is up 0.21% to 101.401

Biggest Premarket Movers (as of 8 AM ET)

Advancers:

• ServiceNow (NOW) +4.96%
• General Mills (GIS) +4.20%
• Salesforce (CRM) +3.52%
• Fox (FOXA) +2.57%
• Palantir Technologies (PLTR) +2.19%

Decliners:

• Sandisk (SNDK) -3.68%
• Corning (GLW) -3.03%
• Micron Technology (MU) -2.84%
• Kroger (KR) -2.79%
• Western Digital (WDC) -2.46%

Economic Data (ET)

• 5:30 AM: Challenger Job Cuts
• 7:00 AM: MBA Mortgage Applications
• 8:15 AM: ADP Employment Report
• 9:00 AM: Fed Chair Warsh Speaks
• 9:45 AM: PMI Manufacturing - Final
• 10:00 AM: ISM Manufacturing Index
• 10:00 AM: Construction Spending
• 10:30 AM: Oil Inventories

Notable Earnings

• Premarket: FDS, GIS, MSM, UNF
• Postmarket: GBX
• Premarket Tomorrow: n/a
• Postmarket Tomorrow: n/a

Upgrades/Downgrades

• Citi upgrades Lockheed Martin (LMT) to Buy from Neutral
• Guggenheim upgrades ServiceNow (NOW), Salesforce (CRM), and Check Point (CHKP) to Buy from Neutral
• Wolfe Research upgrades Fox (FOXA) to Outperform from Peer Perform
• RBC Capital downgrades Dow (DOW) to Sector Perform from Outperform
• Wolfe Research downgrades Simon Property (SPG) to Peer Perform from Outperform

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.