Pre-Market Preview — Thursday, August 13, 2026
Overnight Pulse: Risk-on tilt with crude cracking lower and a benign inflation echo softening the dollar ahead of PPI.
Asia & Europe
Tokyo led the tape, with the Nikkei 225 ripping +1.16% to 68,308 as the yen weakened and Jensen Huang's Japan industrial coalition headline pulled semi-adjacent names higher. Hang Seng bucked the tone at -1.00% (25,396), with China chip-designer IPO chatter — Kiwimoore reportedly eyeing a $2B Hong Kong listing — not enough to offset broader property and tech drag. Europe opened firm: EURO STOXX 50 +0.56%, DAX +0.30%, with Maersk raising guidance a second time this year offering a constructive shipping/global-trade tell. FTSE 100 lagged at -0.36%, weighed by miners as gold retreats. The read: global cyclicals bid, defensives soft, dollar stalling on cooler US CPI aftershock.
US Futures Setup
Futures grind higher into the PPI print. ES=F 7,783.75 (+0.17%), NQ=F 29,874.50 (+0.07%), YM=F 53,973 (+0.19%), RTY=F 3,058.50 (+0.19%) — small-caps and Dow leading on the margin, a modest broadening signal. Commodities are the story: WTI -2.1% to $81.52, Brent -1.93% to $87.26, dragging energy futures and easing inflation optics. Gold -0.51% to $4,444.60 and silver -0.97% as the risk-on breath pulls capital out of hedges. Bias into the cash open: constructive but capped until 8:30 clears.
Today's Catalysts
The main event is 8:30 AM ET PPI: Final Demand YoY (previous 5.97%) and Core PPI YoY both print, with neither expected value verified — treat as a two-way event. After Wednesday's benign CPI read cooled hike bets and pressured the dollar, a hot PPI would jolt the rates complex; an in-line or soft print extends the melt-up thesis. No verified Fed speakers on deck in the payload.
Names to Watch
- ▸$NVDA ($224.33, +0.11% pre): Wall Street upgrade chatter plus the seven-Japanese-industrial-giants "Physical AI" coalition headline — watch the tape reaction on light pre-open volume.
- ▸$GOOGL ($345.25, +0.50%): Disclosure around Alphabet's SpaceX stake is circulating; incremental, not fundamental, but a sentiment lift.
- ▸$AMZN ($268.25, +0.36%): $4T-club narrative recycling; momentum name into any PPI-driven duration bid.
- ▸$TSLA ($327.30, -0.06%): Musk/SpaceX short-seller commentary keeping the name in the flow; flat pre-market suggests skepticism.
- ▸$COIN ($149.50, +0.31%): Crypto tape firming, Cathie Wood dip-buying narrative, XRP breakout headlines — high-beta proxy if risk holds post-PPI.
(Percent moves above are on thin pre-open volume and can fade at the bell.)
The Setup
$SPY 773.90 pre, prior close 772.49. Key levels: 775 as the near-term resistance shelf (round number + Wednesday's post-CPI extension high zone), 772 pivot, 769 as the gap-fill/first support. Thesis: fade the initial spike if PPI prints hot into 775 with rejection; otherwise, buy the first pullback to 772 for a continuation push toward 776+ on a benign print. Energy short ($USO -1.16%) remains the cleanest thematic if crude stays offered.
Data as of 6:30 AM ET. Standard market-hours disclaimers apply.