Stock futures slip as oil prices jump, traders gear up for more earnings: Live updates

U.S. stock futures dipped ahead of Wednesday’s opening bell, cooling off after a strong Tuesday session. 

Earnings take center stage again on Wednesday, with reports due from ServiceNow, International Business Machines, Tesla, Texas Instruments, Alphabet and AT&T. 

Central Command carried out its 11th consecutive night of strikes on Iran since President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire “over,”  

Oil extended its recent rally as escalating tensions in the Middle East raised concerns about potential supply disruptions. 

— Joseph Wilkins

Pegasus Systems and Super Micro Computer are the biggest movers in premarket trading on Wednesday after reporting quarterly profits.

Here are the moves:

• Server maker Super Micro Computer soared 17% before the U.S. market opened after saying it received over $60 billion in new orders in its fourth quarter, with plans to build an AI data center with SpaceX.
• Israeli spyware firm Pegasus Systems fell 16% in premarket after reporting a second-quarter profit miss.

— Sawdah Bhaimiya

U.S. Treasury yields inched higher on Wednesday as investors mapped escalating tensions across the Middle East and mulled prospects for Federal Reserve monetary policy in the months ahead.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note — the key benchmark for U.S. government borrowing — was broadly flat at 4.626%.

The 2-year Treasury note yield, which more closely tracks short-term Federal Reserve interest rate policy, fell one basis point to 4.251%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield was flat at 5.132%.

— Joseph Wilkins

Precious metals traded higher on Wednesday, with gold prices surging to a two-week high as the Middle East conflict continues to weigh on markets.

Gold futures were last seen 1.17% higher, at $4,125.00, while spot gold prices were trading at $4,120.32, a 1.08% rise.

Investors flocked to bullion — long regarded a safe-haven asset during bouts of volatility — as the U.S. launched strikes against Iran for the 11^th consecutive day.

Silver also advanced, with futures rising 1.26% to $59.86, as spot silver reached $59.52, an increase of 1.25%.

Other precious also edged up, with platinum gaining 1.36% to $1,659.80 and palladium trading 1.27% higher at $1303.00.

—Hugh Leask

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was last seen trading 0.6% higher, erasing losses seen earlier in the trading session.

Mining, utilities and oil and gas stocks led gains, while tech stocks slumped, as investors pivoted to assets seen as safe during bouts of volatility.

Investors are assessing a slew of corporate earnings and developments in the Middle East, with fading hopes of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire pushing oil prices higher this morning.

— Chloe Taylor

Shares of Airbus rose as much as 7% in morning trading after the aircraft manufacturer provided a business update on Tuesday after markets closed.

“Airbus disclosed a mid-term guidance that aligned well with current market expectations,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Christophe Menard. “The positive surprise, however, came from the €5 billion three-year share buy-back.”

Airbus now targets adjusted earnings before interest and tax of between 12 billion euros and 13 billion euros ($13.6 billion to $14.8 billion) in 2029, indicating commercial growth will not flatten out with wide-body aircraft and service growth in the cards.

Full-year 2026 guidance remains unchanged.

— Elsa Ohlen

Oil prices were 4% higher on Wednesday morning following the 11th consecutive round of U.S. strikes against Iran overnight, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz remains a sticking point between the two sides.

Shortly after 4 a.m. ET, global benchmark Brent crude futures for July delivery were almost 4% higher at $94.23. Front-month U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 3.8% to trade at $87.46.

— Chloe Taylor

Taiwan’s Taiex climbed 1.34% to close at 44,825.78, led by technology stocks. AI server maker Wiwynn and memory chip producer Nanya Technology both surged 10%. TSMC however declined 0.41%

Mainland China’s CSI 300 slipped 0.46% to 4,717.24.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1% as of 3.17 a.m. ET.

—Lee Ying Shan

Equinor Chief Financial Officer Torgrim Reitan warned Wednesday that Europe is unlikely to reach its gas storage target ahead of winter, saying the region finds itself in a “very fragile” situation.

His comments come as energy market participants closely monitor a resumption in Middle East hostilities and a steep fall in traffic through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

“Even if, sort of, things normalize around Hormuz and we get back to normal trade flows, we do not believe that Europe will get to the target level of 80% storage fills before the winter,” Reitan told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Wednesday.

The Norwegian oil and gas major reported adjusted earnings before tax for the second quarter of $11.48 billion, in line with expectations and up sharply from $6.53 billion from a year ago.

The results were boosted by a surge in fossil fuel prices as the U.S.-Iran conflict continues to disrupt global energy supplies.

— Sam Meredith

European shares opened in negative territory on Wednesday morning, as corporate earnings and the U.S.-Iran war remained in focus.

Shortly after the opening bell, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was almost 0.4% lower, with most sectors and all major bourses in the red.

Oil and gas stocks bucked the trend, rising as oil prices rallied amid a further escalation of fighting in the Middle East.

— Chloe Taylor

In a surprise move late on Monday, John Healey was announced as newly minted Prime Minister Andy Burnham‘s finance minister.

Just weeks earlier, Healey resigned from his role as defense minister, citing government unwillingness to spend sufficiently on security “at this time of rising threats.”

As investors took Healey’s new role as a sign that the government will commit to higher defense spending, analysts and market watchers told CNBC which stocks they were watching.

Read more here.

— Chloe Taylor

U.K. inflation cooled to 2.6% in the 12 months to June, slightly lower than expected.

Economists polled by Reuters had been expecting the annual inflation rate to reach 2.7% in June.

The U.K.’s inflation rate dropped to 2.8% in April and held at that level in May, with the government-regulated price cap on energy bills softening the full impact of the Iran war on the energy market.

The price cap is due to rise by 13% later this summer, when energy costs will hit a 2-year high.

June’s U.K. inflation print came in lower than the euro zone’s 2.8% reading for June, and well below the U.S. inflation rate of 3.5% for June.

— Chloe Taylor

Shares of Samsung Electronics rose over 4% on Wednesday amid a broader rise in tech stocks in the region.

The company is also reportedly in talks to invest hundreds of millions of euros in artificial intelligence startup Mistral. The move is part of a funding round that could value the French company at about 20 billion euros ($22.8 billion), the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shares of domestic rival SK Hynix were up over 5%.

Japanese chip stocks were also higher, with Advantest climbing 2.8% and Tokyo Electron adding 1.8%. Renesas Electronics and Softbank Group added over 6% and 1.1% respectively.

—Lee Ying Shan

Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday as concerns over supply disruptions persisted after U.S. forces launched a fresh round of strikes on Iranian military targets.

Brent crude futures for September delivery gained 1.2% to $92.1 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures added 1.09% to $85.26.

The renewed military exchanges come as mediators are reportedly seeking to revive diplomacy, having presented Washington and Tehran with a proposal for a 10-day ceasefire.

—Lee Ying Shan

Hong Kong-listed shares of Topsports fell more than 20% Wednesday, after the Chinese sportswear retail operator received a notice from Nike to terminate its online sales of Nike products in mainland China from 2027.

“The short term negative impact of the termination on the Group’s business would be significant,” Topsports said in a filing, noting that online sales of Nike’s products made up around 22% of its total revenue for the fiscal year ended Feb. 2026.

However, the company will continue to work closely with Nike in “offline retail operations, local consumer service, and deep market development across city tiers,” according to Topsports CEO Yu Wu. “Topsports has worked with Nike for 27 years based on the principle of mutual benefit and shared growth,” Wu added.

Nike is planning to cut thousands of online distributors in China and reorganize its online presence to create consumer experiences of better consistency.

Topsports, which is Nike’s largest distributor in mainland China, has long-term partnerships with more than 20 leading sports brands, according to the company’s website.

—Justina Lee

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.66%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.15% Wednesday.

Herald van der Linde, HSBC’s head of equity strategy for Asia-Pacific, said investor inflows have returned to China-related equities in Hong Kong, driven by improving sentiment toward China’s nascent property recovery and selected sectors of the economy. The Hang Seng Index has climbed more than 9% month to date, according to LSEG data.

However, he cautioned that the market faces a significant test later this year as roughly $150 billion of IPO lock-up expiries are due in October and November. Lockup expiries allow early investors and insiders to begin selling previously restricted shares.

“It doesn’t mean that these people have to sell. It’s just that they can sell,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia,” adding that while there is “sufficient amount of cash” in China and Hong Kong to absorb the supply, the upcoming expiries remain “some clouds hanging there that we need to deal with in October and November.”

— Lee Ying Shan

The Japanese yen on Wednesday weakened to a four-decade low of 163.15 per dollar, with Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama saying that the country was ready to take “decisive action” on forex, if needed, Reuters reported.

“Intervention risks are basically a reality every day,” said Dominic Schnider, head Commodities and APAC Forex at UBS. He told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” that Japan’s authorities are likely to remain on alert over excessive yen weakness, but argued strong action from the Bank of Japan would be needed to stabilize the currency.

Schnider added that a 25-basis-point rate increase “will not change the big scheme of things,” and highlighted that the BOJ needs to signal that “savers are going to get better real rates,” a move he said could help the yen “easily stabilize.”

—Lee Ying Shan

Japan exports in June grew at their fastest pace since November 2022, rising 19.3% from a year earlier, powered by shipments of semiconductor equipment and a weak yen.

Exports growth beat expectations of an 18.6% rise from economists polled by Reuters, and was higher than the 16.8% seen in May.

Shipments to Asia rose 22.7%, most notably seeing a 46.4% jump in exports to Taiwan compared to the same period last year. Exports to China, Japan’s largest trading partner, increased 17.6%, while shipments to the U.S. climbed 13% year on year.

Read the full story here.

—Lim Hui Jie

Asia-Pacific markets opened in the green on Wednesday. South Korea’s Kospi led gains in the region, advancing over 5% while the Kosdaq rose 2%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.34%, and the Topix was little changed.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.12%.

— Lee Ying Shan

Asia-Pacific markets were set for a mixed open on Wednesday as investors monitored the latest U.S. strikes on Iran and renewed diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire, with the Middle East conflict continuing to cloud the outlook for energy markets.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 67,145 against the index’s last close of 66,232.19.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index last traded at 24,978, lower compared to the index’s last close of 25,132.29. Futures for Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 were last at 8,763 compared to the indexes close of 8,793.3.

— Lee Ying Shan

Pegasystems shares tumbled about 12% in extended trading after the software company reported second-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street expectations.

Adjusted earnings came in at 35 cents per share, below the 43 cents analysts had projected, according to FactSet. Pegasystems said rapid and “unprecedented” changes in the artificial-intelligence market prompted some customers to delay purchasing decisions.

— Yun Li

Super Micro Computer shares surged about 17% in extended trading after the server maker reported preliminary fourth-quarter results that featured much stronger profitability than investors had expected, offsetting revenue that came in near the low end of its guidance, according to FactSet.

The company said gross margins are expected to be between 15% and 17%, well above its prior forecast of 8.2% to 8.4%, citing a more favorable mix of customers and products, according to FactSet.

Super Micro also said its backlog climbed to a record level at the end of fiscal 2026 after receiving more than $60 billion of new orders during the quarter, providing a strong indication that demand for its AI-optimized servers remains robust and is expected to support revenue growth over the coming quarters.

— Yun Li

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said investors are underestimating geopolitical and fiscal risks that could eventually rattle markets. He said he wouldn’t be a buyer of either equities or long-dated U.S. Treasurys at current prices.

“I do think those risks are probably bigger than other people think,” Dimon said, pointing to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, tensions between the U.S. and China, and rising military spending in a time of mounting government deficits.

— Hugh Son