Opening Comment — Friday, October 09, 2026
DJIA: 51,231.64, up 51.77
S&P 500: 7,765.36, down 36.41
NASDAQ: 27,193.34, down 345.35
Stocks higher to end out the week
Stock futures are higher Friday morning as the market digested President Donald Trump's decision to delay any further escalation with Iran until after the midterm elections. Investors are looking forward to the preliminary reading of October’s consumer sentiment data from the University of Michigan. Next week, the highlight will be on key economic releases including the September Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), retail sales, and industrial production. As of 7:17 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.4%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.8% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Thursday despite hawkish commentary from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials. Initial jobless claims fell, while continuing claims for the prior week picked up. The Dow was up 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.3%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.5% with five of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 2.9%, while the Information Technology sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.8%.
Technical Analysis
None at this time
On the data front, the University of Michigan’s preliminary October reading of consumer sentiment is forecasted to come in at 47.6, lower than the prior month’s 48.1. The survey’s preliminary reading on one- and 5-10-year inflation expectations for October are expected to come in at 4.8% and 3.5%, respectively, compared to the prior month’s 4.6% and 3.4%, respectively.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading ahead of next week’s finalized September CPI readings, along with the eurozone’s August industrial production and trade balance data.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as Japan’s household spending declined by a less-than-expected 3.6% year-over-year (YOY). Meanwhile, the country’s preliminary reading of machine tool orders decreased 60.4% YOY in September.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is little changed ahead of today’s data on U.S. consumer sentiment.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.0% lower at $90.61/barrel and Brent crude oil is down 1.3% at $102.92/barrel, respectively, following lessened concerns of near-term escalation in the Middle East.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.2% higher at $4,182.79/ounce.