Thu 24 Sep 2026

The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow all closed lower on Wednesday, and the Russell 2000 fell hardest at 1.8 percent. Premarket, the S&P 500 is down 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq 100 is down 0.9 percent. Dow and Russell premarket prices are not in yet. The structure score for the S&P 500 is 68, leaning bullish. The trend is still up and the index sits in the upper half of its recent range, so the bigger picture remains constructive despite the pullback and the soft open.

The main driver is geopolitics. An adviser to Iran's supreme leader warned Iran could expand the war to the Indian Ocean if the US attacks again, and futures dropped as Treasury Secretary Bessent said Iranian aviation restrictions are working. New York Fed President Williams said the economy shows resilience but inflation remains a challenge, and another rate hike by year end is reasonable. Among companies, Meta's Muse AI is drawing Wall Street attention after its Connect event, with several partnerships announced, while Booking Holdings slid on concerns agentic commerce could hurt travel platforms.

On the calendar, there are no economic releases today. Earnings include Darden Restaurants, TD SYNNEX and BlackBerry before the open, and Costco after the close.