Futures are higher again, just a few basis points away from a new all time high, led by Tech as the week starts with Semis / Memory / AI themes bid globally, as small-caps are fractionally in the red. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures are 0.1% higher, while Nasdaq futures climb 0.5% after strong revenue growth at Anthropic helped boost optimism around artificial intelligence and bolstered the view that massive spending on artificial intelligence will be sustained. Semis, Memory, and Mag7 are all higher with Software down. Cyclicals are mixed with Indu / Mats leading Fins / Discretionary, but the cohort is lead Defensives, which are dragged by HC and Staples. It is a light macro week so the positive Tech inertia may continue into NVDA earnings next week. Bond yields are flat to down 2bp as the yield curve bull steepens; higher yields remain a risk with Fed Minutes this week and Jackson Hole next week. USD continues to its decline touching a three-month low as rate hike odds faded, while commodities are bid up with strength across the 3 complexes. Crude prices appear to be holding in a range on increased cover flows in the MidEast and weaker Chinese demand. In metals, copper, silver, and palladium are the standouts. US economic data calendar includes August Empire manufacturing (8:30am), NAHB housing market index (10am) and June TIC flows (4pm). No Fed speakers scheduled for the session.
In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are mostly higher (Amazon +1.2%, Alphabet +0.5%, Nvidia +0.6%, Apple +0.3%, Tesla +0.1%, Meta Platforms -0.2%, Microsoft -0.7%)
- AI-linked stocks are rising after Anthropic PBC told prospective investors that its preliminary second quarter revenue was $11.5 billion, an at least 14-fold increase versus the same period a year ago
