Dow, Nasdaq Futures Going Their Separate Ways Today

Trading volumes are light as Wall Street looks for the next market-moving catalyst

Stock futures are struggling for direction this morning, as trading volume thins out to wind down earnings season. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are down triple digits, while the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) futures sport modest gains. AI infrastructure stocks are getting a boost after a Bloomberg report indicated Anthropic’s revenue jumped year-over-year. Elsewhere, S&P 500 (SPX) futures, gold prices, and front-month crude are all flat at last look, while Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) sits at 2026 lows.

Continue reading for more on today’s market, including:

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Option Exchange saw roughly 3.2 million call contracts and 1.6 million put contracts traded on Friday, the most in over a month. The single-session equity put/call ratio slid to 0.52, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.59. 
2. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) stock is up 1.5% before the bell, after a Reuters report indicated the company was poised to sell its game developer business, for upwards of $1.5 billion. Alibaba stock is down 15% in 2026 but above its year-over-year breakeven level.
3. Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) stock is 0.8% higher ahead of the open, boosted by an SEC filing that revealed CEO Lip-Bu Tan purchased 105,000 shares last week at $95/share. Intel stock is up 178% year to date, but is 28% off its June 30 record high of $142.35.
4. The shares of Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) are 4.5% lower in electronic trading, after a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the social media’s company to dismiss lawsuits alleging the app was addictive and harmful to minors. Over 3,000 product liability cases now advance. SNAP is down 33% heading into today.
5. There are still some Dow names ready to report earnings this week.

Overseas Stocks on the Uptrend Today

Asian markets were higher due to a regional tech rebound, fading rate hike concerns, and positive local economic indicators. China’s new home prices remained unchanged for July, while new home prices fell 0.1%. Meanwhile last month’s crude showed its first month-on-month increase since the start of the U.S.-Iran war. Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.7%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.3%, and the Shanghai Composite gained 1.4%. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi led regional gains, adding 2.4% to the mix.

European shares are slightly higher as declining government bond yields, a weaker U.S. dollar, and rising gold prices boost sentiment. Mining and tech are also driving upbeat momentum. At last glance, London’s FTSE is up 0.08%, France’s CAC is down 0.2%, and Germany’s DAX is up 0.05%.