U.S. equity futures moved higher in early trading on Monday after President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran were set to begin this week, easing geopolitical worries that had pressured markets in recent sessions. Investors also weighed mixed signals from artificial intelligence-linked stocks as the sector digested a volatile earnings period.
By 07:11 ET (11:11 GMT), S&P 500 futures were up 40 points, or 0.5%. Nasdaq 100 futures had added 74 points, or 0.3%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 482 points, or 0.9%.
Premarket movers
Several individual-company developments shaped early premarket trading.
- Supernus Pharmaceuticals surged 20.7% after the company agreed to an all-stock merger of equals with Indivior Pharmaceuticals. Under the arrangement, Supernus shareholders will receive 1.5401 Indivior shares for each Supernus share they hold. Indivior shareholders are set to receive a $1 billion special cash dividend prior to closing. The combined company will adopt the Supernus name and continue trading under the SUPN ticker.
- Ferguson climbed 7.1% as market participants positioned ahead of the building products distributor’s planned inclusion in the S&P 500, which is scheduled to take effect before trading opens on Aug. 5. Market watchers expect that passive funds and ETFs that track the benchmark will purchase shares to mirror the index change.
- Circle Internet Group fell 5.5% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stablecoin issuer to Underweight from Equalweight and cut its price target to $38 from $106. The brokerage cautioned that slower growth in USDC supply could expose Circle’s dependence on reserve income, prompting downward revisions to earnings forecasts through 2028.
- GameStop slipped 6% following announcements that the videogame retailer reached agreements with existing noteholders to exchange roughly $1.4 billion of convertible debt for newly issued Class A common stock. The debt-for-equity swap will not produce cash proceeds for the company but will substantially reduce its outstanding convertible obligations.
- Micron Technology eased 2% after Citi removed the memory chipmaker from its catalyst watch list, citing mixed quarterly results from memory semiconductor peers that clouded the near-term sector outlook.
- XPeng declined 3.5% after reporting July deliveries of 38,027 vehicles. While that figure represented a 4% year-over-year increase, investors reacted negatively to the monthly tally for failing to sustain the stronger momentum the company posted in the second quarter.
- Ceribell rose 3% after the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved a New Technology Add-on Payment for the company’s Delirium Monitor System. The reimbursement can be worth up to $2,171 per eligible Medicare patient case, will take effect on Oct. 1, and follows the device’s FDA clearance late last year.
Market context
The prospect of renewed diplomacy appeared to improve investor risk appetite, even as market participants continued to assess the outlook for AI-linked names after a turbulent earnings stretch. Company-specific events - mergers, index inclusions, analyst downgrades, delivery numbers, and regulatory reimbursement decisions - dominated premarket headlines and drove wide-ranging moves across sectors including pharmaceuticals, building products distribution, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and medical devices.
Note: All price moves and corporate actions referenced are based on premarket trading and company announcements disclosed this morning.