US markets today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures indicate positive open; Maplebear, Worthington, other stocks to watch

US equity market futures indices indicate a positive opening on Wednesday, September 23, as investors focused on the mixed global market cues, momentum from Asian stocks, volatile oil prices and Trump’s latest threat and comments on US officials meeting Iranian authorities for a potential peace deal.

Although Dow Jones futures were trading 0.32% lower at 52,112 points ahead of the opening bell on Wednesday, the index is expected to open nearly 250 points higher when compared to the previous market close.

The S&P 500 index futures were trading 0.11% lower at 7,822 points ahead of the opening bell on Sept. 23, indicating a nearly 60-point higher open on Wednesday’s market, as per Investing.com data.

Nasdaq 100 index futures were down 0.26% at 30,952 points ahead of the opening bell on Wednesday’s market, indicating a 220-point higher opening on Sept. 23 when compared to the previous Wall Street close amid the buying momentum for chipmaking stocks in Asia.

Key things to watch before US markets open

US stocks to watch on Sept. 23

Worthington’s CEO Joseph Hayek said that the company is looking at opportunities across its business, including rapidly growing demand for its engineered tanks used in liquid cooling systems for data centres.

Media reports suggest that the new capability allows for quantum error correction across operations without slowing down execution time.

Key data release in focus

Equity market investors are expected to focus on S&P Global’s US Flash Manufacturing PMI release, which is scheduled for publication at 9:45 am (ET) on Wednesday, September 23.

As per the economic calendar, S&P Global will also release the US Flash Services PMI data for the American economy during market hours on Wednesday.

Asian markets today

Equity market benchmark indices in Asia ended on a mixed note as investors focused on profit booking in China, elevated US Treasury yields, amid a continued pullback in global crude oil prices.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed 1.38% higher, and South Korea’s KOSPI ended 0.90% higher after the trading session on September 23.

While other Asian indices like Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 1.01% lower, China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.39% lower, and Singapore’s FTSE ended 0.24% lower after Wednesday’s market.

Oil rebounds to $100/barrel

Global crude oil prices rebounded to above $100 per barrel (bbl) during the trading session on Wednesday after hovering around the range of $97-98 per bbl in the previous commodity market session amid Trump’s threat to ‘annihilate’ Iran.

Investing.com data showed that the benchmark Brent crude oil prices surged 1.2% to hit an intraday high of $100.49 per bbl on Sept. 23, in comparison to $99.25 per bbl at the previous market close.

US President Donald Trump, at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), rejected the ‘global government’, highlighting that he faces a big decision on whether to strike Iran again or pursue a peace deal.

Latest reports show that after issuing the threat, Trump told the media that the US officials had a ‘very good’ three-hour-long meeting with Iranian leaders and another one is scheduled in the “very near future.”

How did US markets end on Tuesday?

The US equity market indices ended on a mixed note, with Dow Jones and S&P 500 ending in the red, while Nasdaq 100 continued its gains to end in the green zone amid the momentum of tech stocks, pressure on banking stocks, elevated Treasury yields and a pullback in crude oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average index ended 0.36% lower at 51,863.69 points after Tuesday’s trading session, in comparison to 52,048.83 points at the previous equity market close, according to MarketWatch data.

The S&P 500 index ended flat at 7,764.64 points after the trading session on September 23, compared to 7,764.70 points at the previous Wall Street close, as per the exchange data.

In contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index continued its surge to touch a fresh record high, ending 0.82% higher at 30,732.40 points after Tuesday’s session, in comparison to 30,482.35 points at the previous US equity market close.

The tech and chipmaking stocks listed on Wall Street witnessed positive momentum from the rally in the Asian markets, with high buying interest from equity investors.