Opening Comment — Thursday, September 10, 2026
DJIA: 52,380.66, down 405.41
S&P 500: 7,636.36, down 37.16
NASDAQ: 26,253.34, down 168.07
Stocks mixed ahead of PPI data
Stock futures are mixed Thursday morning as investors await today’s economic releases, including August’s Producer Price Index (PPI) and existing home sales, along with fresh unemployment claims data. As of 7:20 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is flat. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.4% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Wednesday as markets digested further escalations in the Iran war, with the U.S. destroying several more Iranian oil tankers. Markets also reacted to the U.S. Treasury’s plans to further expand long-dated bond buybacks, lifting the maximum operation size to $6 billion from $4 billion. The Dow was down 0.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.5% with 10 of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 1.1%, while the Industrials sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.5%.
On the data front, initial jobless claims for the week ending September 5 are expected to come in at 205,000, slightly lower than the prior week’s 206,000, while continuing claims are expected to remain stable at 1.78 million for the week ending August 29. The headline PPI for August is expected to show price increases of 0.4% month-over-month (MOM) and 5.3% year-over-year (YOY). The core PPI is expected to show price increases of 0.3% MOM and 4.6% YOY versus the prior month’s increases of 0.2% and 4.2%, respectively. Existing home sales are forecasted to have been at an annualized 3.98 million pace in August versus the prior month’s 4.06 million pace. Meanwhile, the finalized July reading of wholesale inventories is expected to show an increase of 1.3% MOM, similar to the preliminary reading. The Department of Energy’s measure of crude oil inventories is expected to have decreased by 1.35 million barrels for the week ending September 4 versus the prior week’s decrease of 4.45 million barrels.
Across the pond, European stocks are mixed in mid-day trading as the finalized reading of Germany’s headline August Consumer Price Index increased 0.2% MOM and 2.9% YOY, matching expectations and the preliminary reading. Investors are also looking forward to the European Central Bank’s policy decision today, with markets broadly expecting a 25-basis point (0.25%) rate hike.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as Australia’s consumer inflation expectations for September remained steady at 4.9%.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of today’s U.S. PPI data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.0% higher at $97.02/barrel, ahead of an expected decrease in U.S. oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.5% lower at $4,378.57/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.