Pre-market briefing August 6, 2026

Pre-Market Briefing — August 6, 2026

Today at a Glance

Briefs · earnings · signals, first Telegram · KakaoTalk channels

Previous Session Recap

Yesterday's U.S. market ended with mixed index performance. The Dow rose 0.49% to close at a record high, while the Nasdaq fell 0.83% and the S&P 500 lost 0.17%. Healthcare and materials gained more than 1%, but energy was the weakest sector, dropping 2.07% on lower oil prices, and the volatility index fell to 15.83, suggesting market anxiety was muted.

Current Market Sentiment

Futures are moving in opposite directions ahead of the open. Dow futures are up around 0.2% while Nasdaq futures are down about 0.4%. A Hormuz Strait shipping agreement between Iran and Oman pushed oil down to roughly $79 a barrel, which supports risk appetite, but Applovin plunged more than 19% in after-hours trading after weak revenue, casting a chill over high-growth tech names. Today's biggest variables are the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims due at 9:30 p.m. Korea time and Datadog's earnings before the bell.

Pre-Market News Highlights

Today's Events

Starting with pre-market releases.

After the close:

Macro Calendar

Consensus is around 200,000 claims, with the prior reading near 190,000. This counts the number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time and is the fastest weekly read on labor market temperature. Because it serves as a preview of Friday's July jobs report, the market could react sharply to today's number. A much larger-than-expected print would stoke slowdown fears, while a much smaller one would dampen rate-cut expectations.

This gauge reflects the state of the U.S. services economy. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while below 50 signals contraction. Since consensus and prior figures have not been finalized, the headline number needs to be taken at face value, and it is generally better to look at the sub-components, the Employment Index and the Prices Paid Index, together. A high Prices Paid reading could revive inflation concerns and push rate-cut expectations further out.

Ex-Dividend

Stocks in Focus

Microsoft's Relative Strength Index (a measure of price momentum on a scale of 0 to 100) climbed to 76, well above the 70 level typically considered overbought. The stock closed down 1.09% yesterday at $487.46, leaving overbought signals overlapping with a pullback, so it is better to wait for cooling rather than chase entry here.

Arista Networks closed up 3.57% yesterday at $197.31, breaking above the upper Bollinger Band (an indicator that plots price around its moving average as an envelope). Its RSI sits at 65.7, not yet in overbought territory, so the focus is on whether momentum continues after the breakout.

Palantir saw both an RSI of 68.7 and an upper Bollinger Band breakout, then fell 2.61% yesterday to close at $158.42. With the decline coming right on the heels of overbought signals, chasing the name higher should be avoided, and the first step is to confirm support.

Today's Action Guide

Stay calm out there, and have a good day.