Three Major Index Futures Mixed Pre-Market Ahead of Non-Farm Payrolls; Nvidia, Tesla, Oracle, Lululemon in Focus

TradingKey - In US pre-market trading on September 4, futures on the three major stock indices diverged. As of press time, Dow Jones futures fell 0.09%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.09%, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.53%.

[Source: CME Group]

In oil markets, WTI crude futures weakened slightly, trading at around $91 per barrel intraday. The 10-year US Treasury yield pulled back from the previous trading day, hovering at around 4.76% intraday. With US Treasury yields remaining at elevated levels recently, the market continues to focus on inflation and the direction of Federal Reserve policy.

On the employment front, the market is awaiting the upcoming US non-farm payrolls report for August. According to a Reuters survey, August non-farm payrolls are expected to increase by about 56,000, following a decline of 23,000 in July, while the unemployment rate is projected to hold steady at 4.1%. Market forecasts for the data vary widely, with predictions from some institutions significantly below the consensus. The previously released August ADP private payrolls added just 38,000 jobs, falling short of the expected 48,000.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Thursday that he leans toward keeping interest rates unchanged this month if inflation continues to cool. His remarks eased market concerns about a September rate hike, with market pricing showing the probability of a rate hike in September dropping from around 63% previously to near 50%.

Among individual stocks, pre-market share prices diverged, with highly watched stocks as follows:

Tesla Pulls Back Pre-Market as Cybercab Officially Launches Ride Service

[Source: TradingView]

Tesla (TSLA) fell over 2% in pre-market trading. On September 3 local time, Tesla began offering Cybercab ride services in a limited area of Austin, Texas. This two-seater autonomous vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals and is a key product in Tesla's push into the robotaxi business.

Currently, 45 Cybercabs have been added to the Texas operating fleet. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated on September 4 that it is evaluating the deployment of the Cybercab because the vehicle lacks a steering wheel and pedals, whereas current U.S. safety regulations typically require vehicles to be equipped with manual controls.

On Thursday, Tesla shares surged 5.42% to $376.37, before pulling back in pre-market trading on September 4. As of the close on September 3, the stock was still down about 18% year-to-date.

Nvidia Gains Pre-Market After $12.93 Billion Hugging Face Acquisition

[Source: TradingView]

Nvidia (NVDA) gained in pre-market trading, rising 1.26%. On September 3, Nvidia announced the acquisition of AI developer platform Hugging Face for $12.9303 billion, making it one of Nvidia's largest acquisitions.

Nvidia stated that Hugging Face currently has over 18 million developers, researchers, and creators, with over 3 million models, 500,000 datasets, and 1 million applications on its platform, which is used by more than 200,000 companies.

Nvidia also pledged that Hugging Face will remain an open platform following the acquisition, allowing developers to continue freely choosing models, frameworks, cloud services, and computing platforms. During Thursday's regular trading session, Nvidia shares rose 1.8%.

Oracle: AI Infrastructure Partnerships Expand, Focus on Sept. 10 Earnings Report

[Source: TradingView]

Oracle (ORCL) strengthened in pre-market trading, rising 2.69%. During Thursday's regular trading session, Oracle shares rose about 5.7%.

One of the catalysts for this gain was Oracle expanding its AI infrastructure partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). HPE announced that Oracle plans to deploy HPE Juniper Networking switches and routing equipment across its global AI data centers to support AI infrastructure expansion.

The market currently expects Oracle to report its first-quarter fiscal 2027 results on September 10, with revenue expected to be approximately $19.13 billion.

Lululemon Tumbles Over 20% Pre-Market as Q2 Results Face Pressure

[Source: TradingView]

Lululemon (LULU) fell over 20% in pre-market trading. The company's Q2 FY2026 financial results, released after the bell on September 3, showed revenue of approximately $2.42 billion, down 4% year-over-year and 5% on a constant-currency basis; comparable sales fell 9%, or 10% on a constant-currency basis.

Revenue in the Americas region fell 8%, while international revenue grew 4%; operating profit fell 13% to $454 million, with diluted earnings per share of $2.92.

More notably, the company lowered its full-year guidance again, expecting fiscal 2026 revenue of $10.35 billion to $10.5 billion, a year-over-year decrease of 5% to 7%; full-year diluted earnings per share are projected to be $9.48 to $9.73.

As of writing, its pre-market stock price fell to around $99, widening its year-to-date loss to about 41.8%. Piper Sandler cut its price target to $80. Incoming Global CEO Heidi O'Neill will officially take office on September 8.

Summary

In US premarket trading on September 4, market focus was centered on the US August nonfarm payrolls report and event-driven catalysts across several individual stocks. Futures on the three major stock indexes diverged, with Dow futures edging lower, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose as sentiment toward tech stocks was relatively upbeat.

Among individual stocks, Tesla pulled back in premarket trading after officially offering ride-hailing services in limited areas with its Cybercab, though regulators have begun evaluating its deployment. Nvidia drew attention following its $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face. Oracle was boosted by news of expanded AI infrastructure partnerships ahead of its upcoming quarterly earnings report, while Lululemon tumbled due to declining performance and another cut to its full-year guidance.

The nonfarm payrolls data to be released tonight will serve as an important reference for the market to assess the state of the US labor market and the Federal Reserve's policy path in September. US stock markets will be closed next Monday (September 7) for the Labor Day holiday.