S&P 500 ticks higher as chip stocks bounce from sell-off, oil slides: Live updates

The S&P 500 rose slightly on Wednesday morning.

The broad market index advanced 0.1% shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET, along with the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 15 points, or 0.1%.

— Sean Conlon

Alphabet will replace Verizon in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P Global said Tuesday, further expanding mega-cap technology’s presence in the blue-chip average.

S&P Global said the Google parent’s A shares — which trade under the ticker GOOGL — would take the spot in the 30-stock index ahead of the start of Monday’s trading. Read more.

— Alex Harring and Jennifer Elias

Stifel analysts say there is “no superior alternative” to BlackBerry’s software platform that supplies for artificial intelligence-linked applications. The company was first known for its signature mobile phones in the early 2000s. 

“The market still misdefines BlackBerry,” analyst Suthan Sukumar said Tuesday in a note to clients. “This is … a mission-critical software layer in the physical AI stack and a dominant partner to silicon leaders like NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and AMD powering the build-out from cloud to edge, across cars, robots, factories, and medical devices.” 

The company’s shares increased around 2% in premarket trading following the upgrade and have jumped nearly 133% year to date. LSEG data shows six out of the seven analysts covering BlackBerry have a buy or strong buy on the stock.

— Ananya Chetia

Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software rose more than 2% in premarket trading after the video game company announced pre-orders for its highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI will begin Thursday.

The latest installment of the popular game, from Take-Two’s Rockstar Games, will launch on Nov. 19 for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox series X and S entertainment systems.

The release was originally set to occur in fall 2025 but has been plagued by multiple delays. The last one occurred in November, when the company promised to use the additional months to “to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve.”

— Michelle Fox

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran had informed him there would be no tolls, insurance costs, or charges of any kind for ships looking to pass through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

“Additionally, no money has been given to Iran, or released from their money to them, by the U.S. We will be releasing some of their money, that is totally controlled by us, to our Farmers and Ranchers, for the purchase of Corn, Wheat, Soybeans, and more,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“Food is desperately needed in Iran, and we will be purchasing it for them exclusively from the United States,” he added. Read more.

— Sam Meredith

Check out the companies making the biggest moves premarket:

• Arm Holdings — The semiconductor company rose 3% after it received price target hikes from analysts at both UBS and TD Cowen. Both said that the company’s CPU business’ outlook has improved amid the shift toward the chip as agentic AI becomes more and more popular. 
• Worthington Enterprises — The industrial manufacturer tumbled 10% after reporting fiscal fourth-quarter results that missed expectations. In its last quarter, Worthington earned an adjusted 97 cents per share on revenue of $371.5 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting earnings of $1.06 per share and $386.5 million in revenue.
• Wendy’s — Shares were surging as the stock became one of the most discussed on the Reddit investing community r/Wallstreetbets, according to data from Swaggy Stocks. Wendy’s has a short interest of around 23% of its float, according to S3 Partners, potentially setting up a short squeeze.

Read the full list here.

— Davis Giangiulio

Revenue doubled for Cerebras Systems over the last year, but that wasn’t the focus for investors after the company delivered its first earnings report since its IPO. 

Shares of the chipmaker were off more than 10% after it forecasted a smaller gross margin in the second quarter. It still expects strong revenue growth, though.

However, TD Cowen analyst Joshua Buchalter in a Tuesday note wrote that the gross margin worries are a distraction, as they were previously forecasted and came in actually above previous estimates. 

“GM% guidance was better than expected on improved pricing, better utilization of its current cloud footprint, and a small amount of rentals,” Buchalter wrote. “In particular, stronger pricing power (we think even with existing contracts) is a positive sign of Cerebras’ value in fast inference and a positive at large for AI compute providers as demand continues to exceed supply.”

— Davis Giangiulio

Micron shares were up nearly 3% in the premarket, with the memory chipmaker looking to claw back some of its steep losses from the previous session. The stock dropped 13% on Tuesday, marking its worst day since June 5.

Traders are now awaiting the company’s fiscal third-quarter results, due after the bell Wednesday.

— Fred Imbert

A former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and ally of the U.K.’s likely next prime minister questioned reports that the country’s finance minister, Rachel Reeves, is set to lose her job.

The BBC and the Financial Times reported overnight that Andy Burnham, who is currently the sole contender to replace Keir Starmer, would demote Reeves from Chancellor of the Exchequer to a more junior role should he become prime minister.

Jim O’Neill told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday: “I’m not sure whether that talk this morning is actually entirely accurate.”

O’Neill, a member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, said that he has not been offered an official advisory position by Burnham, but is sharing “noisy opinions” with him.

“Everybody on the greasy pole of political party stuff wants to be in on the act, so there’s loads of people who are probably pushing to be chancellor,” he said.

He said the U.K. bond market had “learned to really respect” the so-called fiscal rules set out by Reeves, which aim to ensure day-to-day spending is funded by tax receipts, rather than borrowing, and to lower the U.K.’s national debt.

“Andy’s got to take that into consideration,” O’Neill added. “I think Rachel gets a bad rap quite often.”

O’Neill said he had advised Burnham that there “shouldn’t be so much focus on who the person is” when it comes to selecting a finance minister.

— Chloe Taylor

FedEx dropped 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday, a day after the courier reported strong earnings, and as its freight business was spun off earlier this month.

The company reported $25 billion in revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter, compared with the expected $24 billion, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG. It also saw earnings per share of $6.31 compared with $5.96 expected.

This was the last earnings report that included the company’s freight business, which became an independent publicly traded company called FedEx Freight on June 1.

FedEx shares also declined 6% in after-hours, which Citi analysts said was “largely unjustified” due to the better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

“High expectations into earnings, FDX’s strong advance over the past year (+75%), and lack of comprehensive stand-alone financials probably explain the after-hours decline, but we see FDX executing well with operational momentum & upside as it gets past near-term uncertainty,” the analysts said in a note on Wednesday.

Citi maintained its buy rating for FedEx and said the company is “executing well,” but noted that shares could trade flat for a period “given post-spin uncertainties.”

— Sawdah Bhaimiya, Laya Neelakandan

Brent crude futures have fallen to their lowest level since before the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28. The international oil price benchmark was last seen at $75.59, a slide of 1.93%.

European defense stocks plummeted on Wednesday morning, following reports that Germany is set to abandon plans to build warships.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that lawmakers in Berlin had decided to shelve a multibillion-euro project to build six F126 frigates.

German munition maker Rheinmetall, a big beneficiary of German government contracts, fell as much as 13% in morning trading. Other German-listed stocks Hensoldt and Renk fell 5% and 3.8%, respectively. Sweden’s Saab traded 3.1% lower, Italy’s Leonardo was down 3.7%, and the British giant BAE Systems fell 1.6%.

Read more here.

— Chloe Taylor, Elsa Ohlen

Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed as investors assessed whether a rebound in technology shares could stabilize sentiment after Wall Street’s sell-off.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.88% to 69,174.97, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped more than 3% in volatile trading to 8,471.02, recovering from a 10% decline the day before. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended the session 0.24% higher at 8,808.4.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.36% to 23,420.4, while the mainland CSI 300 was up 0.48%, ending the trading day at 4,943.02.

— Lee Ying Shan

European stocks were in mixed territory in early dealmaking Wednesday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 hovering around the flatline shortly after the market open.

Regional sectors were mixed, with household goods adding more than 1%, and food and beverages and chemicals each advancing almost 0.7%. Utilities led losses, sliding 0.64%, with financial services stocks about 0.57% lower.

Meanwhile, a majority of major bourses were in the red. In Paris, the CAC 40 was 0.13% higher, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was 0.13% lower shortly after 8:10 a.m. in London (3:10 a.m. E.T.). In Milan, the Italian FTSE MIB shed 0.16%, as Germany’s DAX shed 0.46% in Frankfurt.

— Hugh Leask

Precious metals slipped further in early dealmaking Wednesday after selling off in the previous session.

Gold futures were trading 1.42% lower at $4,089.50 shortly after 6:50 a.m. in London (1:50 a.m. E.T.). Spot prices of bullion were last seen down 0.88%, at $4,072.31.

Meanwhile, silver futures were trading at $61.64, a 0.69% slide, while spot silver was 0.75% lower at $61.56.

On Tuesday, gold and silver slumped 1.3% and 5%, respectively, as investors gauged the prospect of Federal Reserve rate hikes under new chair Kevin Warsh.

Higher interest rates traditionally weigh on non-yielding safe-haven assets like precious metals.

— Hugh Leask

Oil extended losses during Asian trading hours on Wednesday as concerns over potential supply disruptions eased, while investors monitored developments in the Strait of Hormuz.

International benchmark Brent crude futures for August fell 0.91% to $76.38 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for August dropped 0.94% to $72.52 per barrel.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized oil companies for not lowering gasoline prices in line with the recent decline in crude prices.

“In other words, customers are being “gouged.” I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

— Justina lee

Global markets operator Cboe has launched its first prediction markets product, the latest financial-markets company working to capitalize on consumer demand in the fast-growing sector.

The offering includes binary option contracts based on the Mini-S&P 500 Index, the company said in a press release on Tuesday.

Cboe’s contracts are available on Interactive Brokers and will roll out at Charles Schwab over the coming months, the company said. Additional retail brokerage platforms will offer access over time, it added.

The firm is looking to build on the fast growth of its zero-day-to-expiry, or 0DTE, options, according to JJ Kinahan, head of retail expansion and alternative investment products at Cboe, in the statement

Prediction markets, which allow users to speculate on real-world events such as sports and even political outcomes, have been gaining popularity among investors.

— Justina Lee

Asia’s technology stocks rebounded on Wednesday after a bruising session that sent global equities lower.

South Korea’s semiconductor heavyweights led Wednesday’s bounce during early Asia hours. Shares of Samsung Electronics rose over 9%, while SK Hynix gained more than 4%, recovering part of the more than 12% decline posted by both on Tuesday. 

Both chip giants are major constituents of the benchmark Kospi Index, which is up more than 3% after falling 10% in the previous session.

Samsung SDI climbed 2.99%, while Seoul Semiconductor advanced 5.2%.

The rebound extended to Japan’s technology sector, where chip-equipment maker Advantest rose 0.6%, SoftBank Group added 1.5% and laser equipment manufacturer Lasertec gained 0.3%. 

Chinese technology stocks also advanced, with heavyweight names including Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi and Kuaishou trading higher in Hong Kong. Baidu climbed more than 2%, while Xiaomi, Tencent and Kuaishou rose between 0.9% and 1.3%.

Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives said recent channel checks across Asia and enterprise AI demand trends showed “no cracks in the armor,” arguing that the selloff in South Korean technology stocks was more likely a pause after a near 100% rally in the Kospi this year, rather than a sign of weakening fundamentals. 

—Lee Ying Shan

Oil prices edged lower Wednesday as investors watched developments around tanker traffic and maritime operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

International benchmark Brent crude futures for August fell 0.45% to $76.73 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for August dropped 0.48% to $72.86 per barrel.

Over 11,000 seafarers stuck in the Persian Gulf will begin to exit through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organization.

“We have secured the necessary safety guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.

Dominguez added that it will be carried out “in close cooperation with Iran, Oman, all other coastal States in the region, the United States and the maritime industry.”

The Strait of Hormuz is a key route for global energy supplies, with about 20% of oil shipments passing through the waterway before the Iran conflict.

— Justina Lee

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Wednesday as investors assessed whether a rebound in technology shares could stabilize sentiment after a sharp Wall Street sell-off triggered steep losses across the region a day earlier.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped over 3% after posting a 10% fall the day before. Index heavyweights SK Hynix rose 2.7%, while Samsung Electronics was up over 8%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.28%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded around the flatline.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 23,498, higher than the index’s last close of 23,336.28.

— Lee Ying Shan

Index provider MSCI kept South Korea classified as an “emerging market” in its most recent review on Tuesday, while extending its assessment of Indonesia’s status until November.

The decision dashed hopes that Seoul could be included in MSCI’s Developed Markets watchlist, a crucial step before a market can be upgraded to developed-market status. For Indonesia, the extended review comes after MSCI raised concerns about market accessibility earlier this year and froze the country’s stocks from its indexes in January, citing investability concerns.

MSCI said that it would continue evaluating reforms introduced by Indonesian authorities, but should these measures prove insufficient, the index provider would “consider a range of options for the appropriate treatment for the Indonesia market,” including a potential downgrade to frontier-market status.

Read the full story here.

— Lim Hui Jie

Asia-Pacific markets were set to fall on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street losses as a tech sell-off that began during the prior session picked up steam overnight.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was poised to fall, with the Chicago futures contract at 69,425 and its Osaka counterpart last trading at 69,290, compared with the index’s previous close of 69,788.38.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 23,498, higher than the index’s last close of 23,336.28.

In Australia, futures traded around the same levels as the S&P/ASX 200‘s previous close of 8,787.

— Lee Ying Shan

On Tuesday, six of the 11 GICS sectors ended the session higher.

Gains were led by the consumer staples sector, up 1.77%. Healthcare and real estate stocks were the day’s second- and third-best performers, respectively rising 1.37% and 1.35%.

On the other hand, a rout in technology stocks made the sector the day’s worst performers, down 3.66%. The industrials and materials sectors followed, notching losses of 2.03% and 1.60%, respectively.

— Lisa Kailai Han

These are the stocks moving the most in extended-hours trading:

• FedEx — Shares shed about 6% after revenue in the fourth quarter narrowly beat Wall Street’s expectations.
• Cerebras — The semiconductor company dropped 11% after posting its first earnings report since going public in May. Cerebras forecast a decline in core gross margin.
• KB Home — The homebuilder added 3% after posting a fiscal second-quarter revenue of $1.11 billion, beating the $1.10 billion analysts had penciled in, per LSEG.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han