Opening Comment — Tuesday, September 22, 2026
DJIA: 52,048.83, up 366.19
S&P 500: 7,764.70, up 114.20
NASDAQ: 27,122.09, up 599.55
Stocks flat before Fed speakers
Stock futures are mostly unchanged Tuesday morning following further declines in oil prices and ahead of today’s commentary from various Federal Reserve (Fed) officials, along with economic data from the Philadelphia and Richmond regional Fed banks. As of 7:21 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is flat. The Nasdaq 100 is also little changed relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Monday as investors looked ahead to Wednesday’s preliminary September purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs) from S&P Global and Thursday’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Dow was up 0.7%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.3% and hit a new record closing level of 27,122.09. The S&P 500 increased 1.5% with seven of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Communication Services sector was the top performer, rising 3.9%, while the Energy sector was the bottom performer, falling 2.6%.
On the data front, the Philadelphia Fed will release their September Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey, with the diffusion index of current general activity forecasted to improve to -8.7 from the prior month’s -10.6. The Richmond Fed’s September Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity will be released today, with the headline composite manufacturing index expected to fall to 2 from the prior month’s 4. The Richmond Fed’s September Fifth District Survey of Non-Manufacturing Activity will also be released today, with the headline composite services index expected to remain unchanged at -12.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly higher in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s public sector net borrowing rose £18.3 ($24.5) billion in August, exceeding expectations of £15.5 ($20.7) billion. Meanwhile, France’s July retail sales excluding autos increased 0.8% month-over-month, accelerating from the prior month’s 0.4% gain.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as attention is turning to preliminary September PMI readings for Australia and Japan, due for release this week.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly lower ahead of this week’s global PMI releases.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 2.6% lower at $93.28/barrel following optimism regarding both a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the potential resumption of flows through Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.4% lower at $4,325.30/ounce despite a weakening U.S. dollar.