{"id":71033,"date":"2026-08-28T06:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T10:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-and-semis-drag-on-markets-ahead-of-labor-day-weekend-pce-data-in-focus\/71033\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T06:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T10:07:10","slug":"tech-and-semis-drag-on-markets-ahead-of-labor-day-weekend-pce-data-in-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-and-semis-drag-on-markets-ahead-of-labor-day-weekend-pce-data-in-focus\/71033\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech and Semis Drag on Markets Ahead of Labor Day Weekend; PCE Data in Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. stock futures and premarket<\/a> activity indicate a cautious start to the final trading session of August, Friday, August 28th, 2026. Investors are navigating a complex landscape of cooling inflation data and a significant rotation out of high-flying technology and semiconductor names. As the market heads into the long Labor Day holiday weekend, the focus remains squarely on the Federal Reserve\u2019s preferred inflation gauge and the health of the consumer.<\/p>\n

Major Indexes and Premarket Performance<\/h2>\n

The major market indexes are showing divergent paths in early trading. The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ<\/a>) is leading the decline, down 0.28%, as the momentum in the "Magnificent Seven" continues to stall. The State Street SPDR S&P 500<\/a> ETF Trust (SPY<\/a>) is trading nearly flat with a slight downward bias of -0.01%.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the "old economy" stocks are providing a cushion for the broader market. The State Street SPDR Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA<\/a>) is up 0.14%, reflecting a shift toward value and defensive sectors. Small-cap stocks are also showing resilience, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM<\/a>) gaining 0.06%.<\/p>\n

Volatility is creeping higher as the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX<\/a>) rose 0.8%, suggesting that traders are hedging their positions before the three-day break.<\/p>\n

Economic Data and Upcoming Events<\/h2>\n

The primary driver for today's sentiment is the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index. The data showed that inflation remains on a slow but steady path toward the Federal Reserve's 2% target, reinforcing expectations for a potential interest rate cut in the coming months. However, the bond market is reacting with a slight sell-off; the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT<\/a>) fell 0.17%, while the 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF<\/a>) dropped 0.09%.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the market is preparing for a heavy slate of earnings next week. Key reports are expected from Medtronic plc (MDT<\/a>), Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW<\/a>), and Broadcom Inc. (AVGO<\/a>). Retail health will also be in the spotlight with results from Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR<\/a>) and lululemon athletica inc. (LULU<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Major Stock News and Corporate Developments<\/h2>\n

The semiconductor sector is under notable pressure today. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH<\/a>) is down 1.12%, weighed down by heavyweights. Nvidia<\/a> Corp (NVDA<\/a>) is seeing active selling, down 0.8% in the premarket<\/a>. More significant losses are hitting Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL<\/a>), which plummeted 8.0%, and Micron<\/a> Technology, Inc. (MU<\/a>), which shed 2.3%. Sandisk<\/a> Corporation (SNDK<\/a>) also fell 2.6%.<\/p>\n

In the earnings arena, Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA<\/a>) reported its Q1 2027 results before the bell. While the tech sector struggles, some niche players are seeing massive speculative moves. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc (WHLR<\/a>) skyrocketed 112.5% on massive volume, while Quoin Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (QNRX<\/a>) jumped 59.0%.<\/p>\n

On the downside, PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL<\/a>) shares are struggling, falling 13.4% in early action. In the crypto-adjacent space, sentiment is souring as the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT<\/a>) fell 0.95% and the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA<\/a>) dropped 0.57%, tracking a dip in underlying digital asset prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. stock futures and premarket activity indicate a cautious start to the final trading session of August, Friday, August 28th, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50312,"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":[94,6824],"tags":[3702,3710,3749,4223,4380,5027,7349,11437],"class_list":["post-71033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-update","category-featured","tag-nvidia","tag-federal-reserve","tag-pce","tag-inflation","tag-stock-market","tag-semiconductors","tag-premarket-trading","tag-pce-index"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71033","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=71033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}