Stock Market Today: Dow Jones Futures Rise, Nasdaq 100 Falls as Iran Threatens to Target Undersea Cables — SPCX, NFLX, STLD in Focus
U.S. stock futures were swinging between gains and losses on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones index rose, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 indices fell, following Monday’s mixed close.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused French President Emmanuel Macron of trying to deflect responsibility for France’s unrest after previously expressing support for U.S. military action against Iran.
Reuters reported French authorities imposed curfews in parts of Paris, Lille and Nice on Monday after a weekend of riots and looting linked to nationwide anti-government protests.
Separately, Iran’s IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebi threatened to target undersea communication cables in the Strait of Hormuz, saying that “all of the world’s internet and commercial data depend on them," reported Al Jazeera.
Tuesday features highly anticipated third-quarter earnings reports from Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM), GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE), 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM), and RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX).
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 5.11%, and the 2-year Treasury bond yielded 4.76%, at the last check. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing in an 82.8% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged after its October meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 0.19% |
| S&P 500 | -0.05% |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.43% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.03% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were lower in premarket trading on Tuesday. The SPY was down 0.02% at $766.34, while the QQQ declined 0.39% to $715.54.
Stocks In Focus
Steel Dynamics
- Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) was 6.43% lower in premarket trading on Tuesday as it missed third-quarter 2026 earnings estimates. It reported EPS of $5.29 on revenue of $6.51 billion after the closing bell on Monday.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that STLD maintains a positive price trend in the short and long terms but a negative trend in the medium term, with a strong quality score.
WR Berkley
- WR Berkley Corp. (NYSE:WRB) was 2.13% lower despite beating earnings estimates as it reported third-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $1.17 on revenue of $3.74 billion after the closing bell on Monday, compared with estimates of $1.14 and $3.82 billion.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that WRB maintains a positive price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a good value score.
Netflix
- Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) was 0.36% higher as it is set to report third-quarter 2026 results after the closing bell, with analysts expecting earnings of $0.82 per share on revenue of $12.88 billion.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NFLX maintains a negative price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a good growth score.
Crown
- Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CCK) declined by 4.04% in premarket trading on Tuesday despite beating third-quarter 2026 estimates. It reported earnings per share of $2.39 on revenue of $3.71 billion after the closing bell on Monday, compared with estimates of $2.26 and $3.44 billion.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CCK maintains a positive price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a good momentum score.
SpaceX
- Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) was 0.56% lower in premarket trading on Tuesday after a report said CEO Elon Musk defended his plan to distribute shares in his companies to the public and hinted SpaceX’s market opportunity could be significantly larger than the $28.5 trillion estimate outlined in its pre-IPO prospectus. The company is also set to report third-quarter 2026 results after the closing bell, with analysts expecting earnings of $0.14 per share on revenue of $12.74 billion.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that SPCX maintains a positive price trend in the short, medium, and long terms.
Cues From Last Session
Consumer discretionary, information technology and materials led S&P 500 sectors on Monday, while utilities, real estate and financials lagged.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | -0.07% | 51,966.03 |
| S&P 500 | 0.41% | 7,690.73 |
| Nasdaq Composite | 1.11% | 26,430.89 |
| Russell 2000 | 0.25% | 2,728.30 |
Insights From Analysts
Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi warned the U.S. is moving toward a “fiscal reckoning” after the Treasury Department reported a $1.992 trillion budget deficit for fiscal year 2026, driven by $7.396 trillion in outlays versus $5.403 trillion in receipts. He highlighted that the government spent $1.052 trillion on net interest, exceeding the $965 billion spent on national defense, and called the primary budget deficit, excluding interest, nearly 3% of GDP “eye-popping.”
Zandi also said global investors “appear to be demanding a higher rate to compensate for the mounting risk” and cautioned that a “vicious cycle threatens to take hold” as higher rates add to the debt load and interest payments, which subsequently pushes rates higher.
Ed Yardeni and Elias Griepentrog framed market moves as a tug-of-war between FOMO, the P/E component, and FEMO, the earnings component, writing that investors have been on a rollercoaster ride as FOMO fluctuated mostly to the downside while FEMO kept climbing.
They said concerns about AI investment returns and rising US Treasury yields have tightened credit conditions and weighed on P/Es, and that since early October, multiple compression has outpaced continued earnings gains.
They noted semiconductors were at the center of the rout, with the semiconductor stock price index plunging 15.7% over eight consecutive sessions, before a rebound in which “FOMO staged a comeback today” as the Nasdaq rose 1.1% and semiconductors gained 1.6%.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Tuesday.
- September’s housing starts data will be released by 8:30 a.m., and September’s pending home sales index data will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.
Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude Oil WTI futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 2.27% to hover around $100.78 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.66% to hover around $4,113.19 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.20% lower at the 101.7684 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 1.6% lower over the last 24 hours at $81,497 per coin.
Asian markets were lower on Tuesday, as Australia’s ASX 200, South Korea’s Kospi, China’s CSI 300, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices fell. European markets were lower in early trading.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock