US stock futures pointed higher Wednesday morning. Wall Street looked past a bruising two-day tech selloff and toward Micron Technology’s earnings, due after the closing bell. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 both rose, hinting at a tentative rebound in chip stocks after the Nasdaq Composite slid 2.2% on Tuesday.

Micron (MU) sat at the center of the move. The memory-chip maker tumbled about 13% during the selloff, then climbed roughly 4% in premarket trading Wednesday. The report after the close will be the session’s main event, and a strong read could steady a semiconductor group that has driven most of the market’s volatility this month.

Micron earnings take center stage

Analysts expect a blockbuster quarter. Consensus estimates compiled by LSEG and FactSet point to fiscal third-quarter revenue of roughly $35 billion and adjusted earnings near $20 a share — both records for the company. Wall Street is also watching gross margin, which analysts see approaching 82%, the highest in Micron’s history.

The driver is high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, the specialized chips that feed AI accelerators. Micron has said its HBM output for 2026 is already sold out, a sign of how tightly the AI buildout has gripped the memory market. Demand tied to the AI infrastructure boom has lifted the entire group, and Micron’s results often set the tone for peers and for Nvidia’s latest chips, which pair HBM with their GPUs. Guidance for the next quarter will matter as much as the headline numbers.

Oil slides as US-Iran tensions ease

Commodities pulled back. Brent crude slipped below $77 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate traded near $72, both down more than 1%. Prices have eased as the US and Iran pursue a diplomatic track, with Washington issuing a 60-day license allowing Tehran to sell oil on international markets. The prospect of more supply — and a smaller geopolitical risk premium — has cooled a rally that gripped energy markets earlier this year. Investors positioning around the move have leaned on funds that track crude to trade both directions.

Gold fell alongside oil. The metal dropped below $4,100 an ounce, sliding toward a seven-month low as expectations of tighter Fed policy outweighed safe-haven demand.

The Fed’s hawkish shadow

The macro backdrop turned less friendly for rate-sensitive trades. At its June 17 meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee held its benchmark rate at 3.50% to 3.75% in a unanimous 12–0 vote, but its updated projections marked a clear hawkish shift. [Federal Reserve, FOMC statement, June 17, 2026]

The Fed’s “dot plot” now shows a median rate of 3.8% for the end of 2026, up from 3.4% in March, with nine policymakers projecting at least one rate hike this year and six penciling in more than one. Officials also lifted their 2026 inflation outlook to 3.6% on a headline basis. New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh declined to submit his own projection on the dot plot but encouraged colleagues to do so. The Federal Reserve’s hawkish pivot has kept upward pressure on yields: the 10-year Treasury yield held near 4.5% on Wednesday, close to its highest levels of the quarter.

What to Watch for the Open

  • Micron (MU) after the close: revenue near $35 billion and EPS near $20 are the bar; HBM commentary and next-quarter guidance will move chip stocks Thursday.
  • Semiconductor sentiment: watch whether the premarket bounce in Micron and its peers holds through the open after Tuesday’s 2.2% Nasdaq drop.
  • Oil and gold: any headline on US-Iran talks can swing crude and the broader risk tone quickly.
  • Rates: with the Fed leaning hawkish, a 10-year yield pushing above 4.5% would pressure high-multiple tech names just as Micron reports.

The setup leaves traders balancing a possible chip rebound against a Fed that has, for now, taken rate cuts off the table.