Nasdaq futures rise before earnings season as MU, IREN and ASTS draw focus

what happened

U.S. equity futures moved higher early Monday as investors prepared for the formal start of the third-quarter reporting season. Major American banks will release results this week, alongside technology companies ASML and TSMC. At 4:00 a.m. ET, futures tied to the Nasdaq, S&P 500, Dow and Russell 2000 were each up 0.2%. The advance followed a strong week on Wall Street, when the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached record levels. Stocktwits said retail sentiment toward instruments tracking the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 had eased to “bullish” from “extremely bullish” a week earlier. Treasury trading is shut on Monday for Columbus Day, while U.S. stock exchanges remain open.

Oil prices slipped after President Donald Trump announced an immediate “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine. Crude nevertheless stayed above $100 a barrel as Middle East tensions intensified after a Houthi attack on Riyadh’s airport over the weekend. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are due to report Tuesday, followed on Wednesday by Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and other large financial firms. September consumer-price data are scheduled for Wednesday, with producer prices and retail sales due Thursday. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is also expected to speak Thursday at the 2026 annual gatherings of the governing bodies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack is scheduled to speak Monday at 12:10 p.m. ET.

Micron Technology and TSMC shares fell about 1% in premarket trading after reports that China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies had advanced its work on next-generation DRAM. TSMC reports later this week, and investors will be looking for comments on AI-related demand. Elon Musk’s Terafab plans, linked to Tesla and SpaceX, have renewed attention on semiconductor supply chains. Reports said TSMC was considering participation in the Texas project, while Intel was also deepening its involvement. Musk introduced the Terafab plans over the weekend, targeting rapid iteration of 10 in-house chip designs each year. IREN gained 5% after reports that Anthropic had signed a multiyear data-center cloud agreement with the company. Amazon edged higher following reports that it was negotiating to buy AI startup Decart for about $7 billion to expand its use of proprietary Trainium chips. Palantir traded near record levels as retail bulls embraced recent Wall Street upgrades, despite its CTO’s comments about software use in foreign strikes. Apple remained on the watchlist ahead of developments involving its smart-home strategy.

AST SpaceMobile advanced after reports that its BlueBird 14–16 satellites had reached Cape Canaveral for launch and that the FCC had authorized 900-MHz testing. NASA’s chief reportedly said the lunar competition with China was “very close,” while analysts pointed to growing commercial opportunities for Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket. NIO, BYD and XPEV were being monitored ahead of European Union regulatory updates; reports suggested a 350,000-vehicle annual limit on Chinese hybrid imports could begin December 1. XPEV also drew retail attention after executives said its advanced driver-assistance software could adapt to European roads with minimal additional AI training data. SLS rose after retail traders speculated that a large booth reserved for the upcoming ASH conference could signal M&A or partnership discussions. In his latest Substack note, Michael Burry said he had exchanged common shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for preferred stock to manage dilution risk. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut its SoFi target to $15 from $16 while retaining an Underperform rating. WF Holding pulled back after a speculative rally of more than 450% on Friday. Other Stocktwits names drawing attention included Boost Run, Rivian, Starbucks and Chipotle.

why it matters

Markets face a concentrated mix of bank earnings, inflation releases, Federal Reserve speeches and technology-sector developments, giving both macroeconomic and corporate news a role in early-week trading.

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