US Futures Flat After Massive Tech Rally; Nikkei Gains on BOJ Rate Hike

Today's AI insights from 7horns.ai: Following a massive relief rally where the S&P 500 gained 1.14% to close at 7,638, our latest stock market analysis provides a vital market outlook as US futures stabilize. Delivering crucial financial news, we highlight Alphabet surging over 2% in pre-market trading after Tigress Financial raised its price target to $485 amidst strong cloud earnings potential and a $22 billion chip loan with Blackstone. For investors seeking trading insights, this Nikkei rise of 1.4% to 65,019 highlights the value of AI-powered analysis and data-driven investing to navigate shifting global markets. AI insights powered by 7horns.ai. Visit 7horns.ai for your free daily AI market analysis.

You are listening to Seven Horns A I — your A I-powered market update. Happy Friday, September eighteenth, twenty twenty-six. We are about three and a half hours away from the opening bell in New York, and we have a lot to cover this morning as we set the stage for the final trading session of the week. Overnight, Asian markets finished on a strong note, providing a positive initial handoff. In Japan, the Nikkei closed up one point four percent to sixty-five thousand and nineteen, following the Bank of Japan's rate hike, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained zero point six percent to twenty-four thousand seven hundred and fifty-one. However, we are seeing some cooling off in after-hours trading, with Nikkei futures slipping below the cash close and the major Japan-focused exchange traded fund sliding one point two nine percent in the pre-market. Meanwhile, the China large-cap fund has managed a gain of zero point three eight percent. Looking to Europe, markets there are trading with a slightly softer tone this morning, with the developed international exchange traded fund down zero point six percent. That brings us to the United States, where major futures are pointing to a quiet, essentially flat open. S&P five hundred futures are ticked up just zero point one five percent, while Nasdaq-one hundred futures are up zero point three four percent, and Dow futures are nearly unchanged, up a mere zero point zero six percent. This quiet pre-market follows a massive relief rally on Thursday, which gave the market its best day in six weeks. The S&P five hundred gained one point one four percent to close at seventy-six hundred and thirty-eight. The Nasdaq Composite jumped one point six nine percent to twenty-six thousand four hundred and eighteen, led by a resurgence in chip and artificial intelligence names. The Dow Jones industrial average rose zero point six one percent to fifty-one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight. This sharp rebound fully reversed the post-Fed sell-off from Wednesday, when the central bank raised rates by twenty-five basis points to a range of three point seven five to four percent. Investors found comfort as ten-year Treasury yields fell back below five percent, closing at four point nine four eight percent, and oil prices slipped, with West Texas Intermediate crude falling to one hundred one dollars. In individual company news, Alphabet is the standout this morning, rising just over two percent in pre-market trading. The move comes as Tigress Financial raised its price target on the company to four hundred eighty-five dollars from four hundred fifteen dollars, citing search resilience. Additionally, a federal judge ordered behavioral remedies rather than an outright breakup of its ad-tech business, and reports suggest its cloud venture with Blackstone is securing a twenty-two billion dollar chip loan. Elsewhere, safe-haven demand continues to support gold, which has gained zero point seven three percent in pre-market trading to trade at four hundred one dollars. Heading into the open, we continue to digest the global market impacts of the Bank of Japan's rate hike earlier today. We will also be watching homebuilder KB Home for a preview of its third-quarter earnings. That is your pre-market briefing from Seven Horns A I. Good luck out there today. Visit seven horns dot a i for more.