【US Pre-Market】Market Focuses on Warsh Speech; Optical Communication and Storage Stocks Broadly Fall, PayPal Plunges Over 16%, Marvell Technology Drops Over 8%

TradingKey - On Friday (August 28) Eastern Time, US stock index futures were mixed in pre-market trading. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will deliver a key speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. Against the backdrop of US Treasury yields remaining high, investors are awaiting new monetary policy signals, and market sentiment has turned cautious.

As of press time, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.25%, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.02%, and Dow Jones 30 futures rose 0.03%.

Performance of the three major US stock index futures, Source: Investing

In commodities, gold (XAUUSD) reclaimed $4,600/oz. Safe-haven demand picked up ahead of Warsh's speech, but elevated US Treasury yields limited further upside for gold prices.

International oil prices fluctuated mildly, with WTI (USOIL) crude trading near $83, and Brent crude (UKOIL) rising to around $88. The market continues to focus on US-Iran talks and the prospects of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran stated that the US must first take concrete steps to meet its conditions before Iran opens the Strait of Hormuz.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTCUSD) pulled back from highs, having briefly topped $81,000 intraday.

Market Movers

PayPal (PYPL) fell more than 16% in pre-market trading. According to reports, a consortium formed by private equity firm Advent International and payment company Stripe has abandoned plans to acquire PayPal for over $50 billion and is no longer pursuing the transaction, sending the stock sharply lower as buyout expectations collapsed.

Marvell Technology (MRVL) fell over 8% in pre-market trading. The company's second-quarter results beat market expectations and it raised its outlook for fiscal years 2027 and 2028, but it still fell short of the even higher expectations previously set by investors, as market demands for its AI-related growth rate and order fulfillment pace have risen significantly.

IREN (IREN) fell over 7% in pre-market trading. The AI cloud infrastructure provider's fourth-fiscal-quarter loss unexpectedly widened and revenue fell below market expectations, sparking investor concerns over computing power expansion costs and profitability.

Optical communication stocks fell across the board in pre-market trading. Apart from Marvell Technology, AXT (AXTI), Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI), and Lumentum (LITE) fell over 3%, Coherent (COHR) dropped over 2%, while Corning (GLW) and Ciena (CIEN) declined over 1%.

Memory chip stocks generally moved lower in pre-market trading. SanDisk (SNDK), Micron Technology (MU), Western Digital (WDC), and SK Hynix (SKHY) fell over 2%, while Seagate Technology (STX) dropped nearly 2%. Marvell's financial results failed to meet the market's high expectations, also weighing on short-term sentiment across AI hardware-related sectors.

Market News

Kevin Warsh to appear at Jackson Hole Symposium. Fed Chair Warsh will deliver his first major Jackson Hole speech since taking over as Fed Chair in May. As the speech comes close to the September policy meeting, the market will focus on his remarks regarding inflation, employment, long-term interest rates, and rate-cut prospects.

Anthropic could go public as early as late September. According to reports, Anthropic plans to publicly file its IPO prospectus after U.S. Labor Day on September 7 and could go public in late September or early October, though the exact timing remains subject to adjustment.

OpenAI launches ChatGPT ads in India. OpenAI announced that it will display ads to logged-in adult Free and Go plan users in the Indian market to accelerate the expansion of ad revenue. The monthly fee for the ChatGPT Go plan in India is 399 rupees.

SpaceX expects annual revenue to reach $3.5 trillion around 2033. In response to a research report from Morgan Stanley (MS), Elon Musk stated that this is his most optimistic assessment of SpaceX's (SPCX) revenue outlook, putting the timeline seven years ahead of Morgan Stanley's 2040 forecast.

U.S. firm AAFS expands investment in Bosnia and Herzegovina. AAFS Infrastructure and Energy plans to further expand its investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with cumulative committed investment currently exceeding 2.03 billion euros, or approximately $2.363 billion.

Important Data/Events Preview

At 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time, the U.S. will release the August Chicago PMI.

At 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the U.S. will release the August University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, Consumer Expectations Index, as well as the 1-year and 5-to-10-year inflation expectations.