【US Pre-Market】Middle East Energy Risks Escalate, Brent Nears $100, Oil and Gas Stocks Rally, Novartis Plummets 13%

Novartis (NVS) tumbled 13% pre-market. The company announced that the Phase 3 HARBOR study evaluating del-desiran for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1 did not meet its primary endpoint. Compared with placebo, patients showed no statistically significant improvement in video hand opening time.

Novartis stated that the study observed signs of clinical activity in some secondary endpoints and exploratory analyses, and its safety profile was generally consistent with previous data. The company will further analyze the complete data and decide on subsequent development plans after communicating with regulatory authorities.

Amgen (AMGN) fell over 6% pre-market. Pelacarsen, a lipid-lowering drug co-developed by Novartis and Ionis, previously failed to meet the primary endpoint of its Phase 3 trial, dampening market confidence in the development pathway for Lp(a)-lowering drugs. Amgen is developing a similar drug, Olpasiran, whose subsequent complete trial data will serve as a key basis for evaluating the prospects of this target.

Bloom Energy, Everpure, and Illumina were added to the S&P 500 Index. Bloom Energy (BE) rose 6.4% pre-market, Everpure (P) gained about 2.6%, and Illumina (ILMN) advanced over 1%. The adjustments will take effect before the market opens on September 21. Index inclusion means the three companies are expected to receive capital allocations from passive index funds.

Oil and gas stocks rose across the board in pre-market trading. Equinor (EQNR) and BP (BP) gained over 3%, Shell (SHEL), Petrobras (PBR), and TotalEnergies (TTE) rose over 2%, while Eni (E), Suncor Energy (SU), and ExxonMobil (XOM) added over 1%.

Waterdrop (WDH) rose nearly 9% pre-market. The company will announce its second-quarter financial results before the US market opens on September 8. In the first quarter, Waterdrop's net revenue increased 64.8% year-over-year to 1.242 billion yuan, achieving profitability for 17 consecutive quarters. The market will focus on the growth rate of technical service revenue, the profit conversion of traffic investment, and whether the full-year revenue growth target of 40% can be maintained.

Memory chip stocks strengthened in pre-market trading. Seagate Technology (STX) rose over 3%, SK Hynix (SKHY) gained nearly 2%, while Micron Technology (MU) and Western Digital (WDC) followed suit.

Iran plans to expand its Persian Gulf maritime exclusion zone, raising Middle East energy risks. Iran stated that it will respond to what it calls U.S. "economic warfare" by establishing a maritime exclusion zone in the Persian Gulf, with the new zone potentially extending from the U.S. Naval blockade line to crude oil loading ports. Iran also said its strategic posture targeting U.S. warships and military bases has undergone a "fundamental adjustment."

Meanwhile, Iran-backed Houthi militants attacked multiple energy and utility facilities in Saudi Arabia, causing fires and operational disruptions at several locations. The Persian Gulf is one of the world's most critical energy transit regions, and if shipping or production remains persistently disrupted, oil prices could rise further, complicating efforts by central banks to control inflation.

Amazon plans inaugural sterling bond issuance. Amazon (AMZN) has mandated banks to prepare for its inaugural sterling bond offering, with the deal potentially launching as early as Wednesday. The issuance is expected to be split into four tranches with maturities ranging from 3 to 19 years, led by JPMorgan, Barclays, HSBC, and NatWest.

Amazon has issued more than $92 billion equivalent in bonds this year, making it the largest hyperscale tech issuer of debt in 2026. The company plans to spend approximately $220 billion in capital expenditures this year, with most dedicated to AI infrastructure. However, expanding issuance sizes, weakening market demand, and widening credit spreads are also driving up its borrowing costs.

Palantir set to secure contract with UK energy system operator. UK National Energy System Operator (NESO) plans to directly award a software services contract worth approximately £21 million to Palantir (PLTR) without a competitive tender, according to the Financial Times. The contract remains pending signature, while NESO's key Connections and Skip Rates operations are already running on the Palantir Foundry platform.

OpenAI and Anthropic seek post-IPO investment-grade credit ratings. Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS) are reportedly communicating with rating agencies including S&P, Moody's, and Fitch on behalf of OpenAI and Anthropic, aiming to secure investment-grade ratings for both companies following their IPOs. If successful, the two companies would gain easier access to the roughly $11.7 trillion global corporate bond market and lower their long-term financing costs.

Mistral AI completes €3 billion funding round. French artificial intelligence company Mistral AI announced the completion of a €3 billion (approximately $3.3 billion) Series D funding round, achieving a post-money valuation of over $24 billion, marking one of the largest equity financing rounds for a European tech company to date.

The round was co-led by Samsung Electronics, EQT's Scaleup Europe Fund, and PSG Equity, with Advent, BlackRock-managed funds, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg joining as new investors, while ASML, Nvidia (NVDA), a16z, and Salesforce Ventures continued their participation.

ASML teams up with chip giants to advance large AI chip manufacturing. ASML will collaborate with companies including Intel (INTC), Nvidia, TSMC (TSM), and Samsung Electronics to develop larger photomasks, advancing the use of High-NA EUV equipment in producing large AI and data center chips.

Anthropic abandons acquisition of Decart AI. Anthropic has reportedly decided to terminate talks to acquire Israeli AI compute optimization firm Decart AI for $6 billion to $7 billion. Market observers believe dropping the major acquisition helps reduce transaction and regulatory complexity, clearing some hurdles for Anthropic's IPO preparation, though the company has yet to provide explicit clarification.

OpenAI expands compute procurement to Malaysia. Australian AI infrastructure firm Firmus announced a multi-year strategic partnership with OpenAI. Firmus will provide dedicated compute capacity to OpenAI from two AI factories in Malaysia, with OpenAI acting as the anchor customer for these projects. This signals that OpenAI is further expanding its data center and compute supply network into Southeast Asia.

At 11:00 AM ET, the New York Fed released its 1-year consumer inflation expectations for August.

This content was translated using AI and reviewed for clarity. It is for informational purposes only.