Pre-Market Brief | Monday, May 4, 2026
Where Futures Sit
Risk-off open shaping up. S&P 500 futures are off 0.14 percent at 7,247.50. Dow futures are down 207 points, or 0.42 percent. Nasdaq 100 futures are off 0.08 percent. Russell 2000 futures are lower by 0.37 percent. The VIX is up 6.77 percent to 18.14, the biggest pop in nearly two weeks. Friday capped the best month for stocks since 2020, with the S&P 500 closing at a record 7,230.12 and the Nasdaq topping 25,000 for the first time at 25,114.44.
Macro Pulse
Oil is the headline. WTI is up 3.70 percent at $105.71. Brent is bid above $110. OPEC+ met Sunday in its first session without the United Arab Emirates, which officially exited the cartel on May 1. The remaining seven members agreed to raise June output by 188,000 barrels per day, slightly less than May's 206,000 bpd hike. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. Berkshire Hathaway held its first annual shareholder meeting Saturday without Warren Buffett at the helm. Greg Abel took over as CEO on January 1. The April nonfarm payrolls report drops Friday, May 8. Fed funds futures show roughly 5 percent odds of a June cut and a 6 percent chance of a hike for the rest of 2026.
Tickers To Watch
PLTR: Reports after the close. The stock has run hard into the print. Watch for AI revenue commentary and government contract guidance.
VRTX: Vertex reports tonight. Cystic fibrosis franchise plus pipeline updates on pain and Type 1 diabetes will move the tape.
TSN: Tyson Foods reports tonight. Read on protein demand and consumer health.
BRK.B: First trading session after the post-Buffett shareholder meeting. Watch for Abel commentary follow-through and any hint on the Occidental position.
OXY, XOM, CVX: Energy bid hard with crude up nearly 4 percent. The cleanest beneficiaries of constrained Middle East supply.
AMD, ARM: Both report later this week. Semiconductors closed last week with the SOX up roughly 50 percent year to date. Positioning is stretched.
ON: ON Semiconductor reports today. Auto and industrial chip read.
Bottom Line
The first Monday of May is showing what comes after the best month in five years. Oil up nearly 4 percent. VIX up nearly 7 percent. Futures softer. The OPEC+ June hike is too small to ease supply concerns and too symbolic to change the curve. The "Sell in May and go away" reminder lands this week with three live catalysts: Palantir tonight, AMD Wednesday, and the April jobs report Friday.
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