{"id":62362,"date":"2026-05-26T08:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-gains-and-mixed-economic-data-drive-us-pre-market-as-middle-east-tensions-escalate\/62362\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T08:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:38:14","slug":"tech-gains-and-mixed-economic-data-drive-us-pre-market-as-middle-east-tensions-escalate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-gains-and-mixed-economic-data-drive-us-pre-market-as-middle-east-tensions-escalate\/62362\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Gains and Mixed Economic Data Drive US Pre-Market as Middle East Tensions Escalate"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Micron Technology (<a href=\"\/stock\/MU\">MU<\/a>) shares surged nearly 7%<\/strong> after UBS aggressively raised its price target from <strong>$535 to $1,625<\/strong>, signaling massive conviction in the semiconductor sector.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mixed US regional economic data<\/strong> showed the <strong>Chicago Fed National Activity Index<\/strong> beating expectations at <strong>0.14<\/strong>, while the <strong>Philadelphia Fed Non-Manufacturing Activity<\/strong> plunged to <strong>-23.6<\/strong>, well below estimates.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Geopolitical risks intensified<\/strong> following reports of a tanker explosion near <strong>Oman<\/strong> and <strong>Israel&#39;s<\/strong> demand for &quot;freedom of operation&quot; in Lebanon as a condition for a peace deal with Iran.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Bank of Canada (BoC)<\/strong> warned of structural labor market shifts, noting that <strong>long-term unemployment<\/strong> has reached its highest level since the early 2000s (excluding pandemic factors).<\/li>\n<li><strong>US White House advisor Kevin Hassett<\/strong> projected a significant drop in energy prices once the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> reopens, while attributing current stock market strength to high productivity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>US Markets and Corporate Movers<\/h2>\n<p>US equity futures trended higher Tuesday morning, led by a <strong>1.1% gain in the Nasdaq 100<\/strong>. Investor sentiment was bolstered by a massive price target hike for Micron Technology (<a href=\"\/stock\/MU\">MU<\/a>), which saw its shares extend gains by <strong>6.8%<\/strong> after <strong>UBS<\/strong> raised its valuation to <strong>$1,625<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In other <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/movers\/premarket\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Premarket Movers\">pre-market<\/a> moves, Elbit Systems (<a href=\"\/stock\/ESLT\">ESLT<\/a>) jumped <strong>11.3%<\/strong> following an earnings beat and the announcement of a <strong>$1.4 billion EU defense contract<\/strong>. Oklo Inc. (<a href=\"\/stock\/OKLO\">OKLO<\/a>) rose <strong>10.3%<\/strong> after being selected by the Department of Energy for advanced negotiations regarding plutonium utilization. Conversely, Ferrari (<a href=\"\/stock\/RACE\">RACE<\/a>) shares slipped <strong>2.7%<\/strong> following the unveiling of &quot;Luce,&quot; the brand&#39;s first five-seat model.<\/p>\n<h2>Mixed Economic Signals and Central Bank Reports<\/h2>\n<p>Domestic economic data provided a bifurcated view of the US economy. The <strong>Chicago Fed National Activity Index<\/strong> improved to <strong>0.14 in April<\/strong>, outperforming the estimated <strong>-0.03<\/strong>. However, service sector sentiment in the Northeast cratered, with the <strong>Philadelphia Fed Non-Manufacturing Index<\/strong> falling to <strong>-23.6 in May<\/strong>, significantly missing the <strong>-13.0<\/strong> consensus.<\/p>\n<p>In Canada, <strong>manufacturing sales<\/strong> showed resilience with a flash estimate suggesting a <strong>4.6% increase<\/strong> for April. Despite this, a new report from the <strong>Bank of Canada<\/strong> highlighted growing concerns over an <strong>aging workforce<\/strong> and a &quot;disconnect&quot; between jobseeker skills and employer needs. The BoC noted that immigration alone cannot offset demographic shifts and expressed concern over <strong>high youth unemployment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Geopolitical Tensions and Energy Outlook<\/h2>\n<p>The Middle East remains a focal point for market volatility. The <strong>UKMTO<\/strong> reported an incident involving a tanker <strong>60 nautical miles off Muscat, Oman<\/strong>, which suffered an external explosion near the waterline. This comes as <strong>Israel<\/strong> reportedly pushes the US to include &quot;freedom of operation&quot; in Lebanon within any peace deal involving Iran, a move the <strong>Wall Street Journal<\/strong> suggests could be a major sticking point in negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the energy impact of these tensions, White House advisor <strong>Kevin Hassett<\/strong> stated that gasoline and oil prices should see immediate relief once the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> is fully operational. Hassett also noted that the government is closely monitoring <strong>new AI models<\/strong> and working with the private sector to address productivity and employment concerns. In Europe, <strong>Hungary\u2019s Central Bank<\/strong> maintained its base rate at <strong>6.25%<\/strong>, meeting market expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Micron Technology (MU) shares surged nearly 7% after UBS aggressively raised its price target from $535 to $1,625, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[311,1237,3856,3969,4824,6026],"class_list":["post-62362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-mu","tag-eslt","tag-race","tag-oklo","tag-geopolitics","tag-macroeconomics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}