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Pre-Market Update — Friday, July 31, 2026

By · Independent market intelligence from Sunday Night Futures LLC

Pre-Market Pulse: Risk-on tape into the open, with mega-cap tech leading and crude ripping while gold cracks.

Overnight Action

Asia ran hot — the Nikkei closed +4.03% at 64,362, a blowout session, while the Hang Seng added 0.3%. Europe followed through: DAX +0.83%, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.61%, FTSE +0.08%. US futures firm across the board with tech in the driver's seat — $NQ +0.76%, $YM +0.34%, $ES +0.15%, $RTY +0.26%. Commodities are the split-screen: WTI +1.95% to $85.22 and Brent +1.61%, while gold dumps -1.45% to $4,100 and silver slides -1.86%. Crypto soft — BTC $63,590 (-1.1%), ETH -1.8%.

Movers Before the Bell

  • ▸$AMZN +10.5% at $260.21 — AWS reaccelerated, with Reuters framing it as "AWS growth soothes fears over rising AI spending." The single most important print of this earnings season for cloud bulls; watch whether the gap holds into 10 AM.
  • ▸$AAPL -7.76% at $308 — a heavy tape on a name this size. Watch for a bounce attempt once real liquidity arrives; a 7%+ gap on a $3T mega-cap will move index weightings materially.
  • ▸$AMD +3.42% at $503 — riding the AI/semis bid alongside $NVDA (+0.97%).
  • ▸$COIN -6.35% at $153.69 — crypto weakness bleeding through; keep in mind moves this size on thin pre-open volume can compress at the cash open.
  • ▸$GLD -1.61% / $USO +1.87% — the reflation pair-trade of the morning, with energy names likely bid at the bell.

Still Ahead Today

The Core PCE print landed at 3.29% YoY — sticky but not a shock, and the tape is treating it as a green light for risk. Next week's calendar loads up quickly: McDonald's Aug. 4, Palantir Aug. 4, Disney, MercadoLibre, Dutch Bros, and Realty Income all reporting Aug. 5. Positioning today will start pricing that gauntlet.

Game Plan

$SPY last $744.02, $QQQ last $690.17.

  • ▸$SPY resistance: $745 (round-number magnet); support: $741.70 (prior close), then $739.
  • ▸$QQQ resistance: $692; support: $688, then $683.55.

Trade idea: Fade first 15-minute euphoria in $AMZN if it opens above $262 without volume confirmation; on the index side, long $QQQ on a hold of $688 targets $694. Respect $AAPL's drag on $SPY — the Nasdaq is the cleaner long today.

Levels are guides, not gospel. Manage risk.

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