[Stock Market Briefing] Monday, 2026-05-18, Pre-Opening

Reference time: 2026-05-18 09:57 KST

U.S. market holiday status: No. Since today is Monday, weekend news after the Korean market close on Friday, 5월 15일, is included.

1. U.S. Market Close

- Dow: 49,526.17, -537.29pt, -1.1%. Basis: 2026-05-15 market close. Source: AP https://apnews.com/article/wall-street-stocks-dow-nasdaq-4a572b9feeed6af2986be7e7a22c651a

- S&P 500: 7,408.50, -92.74pt, -1.2%. Basis: 2026-05-15 market close. Source: AP

- Nasdaq: 26,225.14, -410.08pt, -1.5%. Basis: 2026-05-15 market close. Source: AP

- Russell 2000: 2,793.30, -69.79pt, -2.4%. Basis: 2026-05-15 market close. Source: AP

- SOX: Unable to verify. A reliable latest value with closing price/change/change rate as of today’s date could not be found.

2. Premarket and Futures

- S&P500 futures: 7,391.25. Change/change rate: Unable to verify. Basis: Investing.com ‘today’ page, checked on 2026-05-18. Source: https://www.investing.com/indices/us-spx-500-futures

- Nasdaq100 futures: 29,034.25, -197.50, -0.68%. Basis: Investing.com delayed data 20:27:02, Jun 26 contract. Source: https://www.investing.com/indices/nq-100-futures

- Dow futures: 49,340.00, -277.00, -0.56%. Basis: Investing.com delayed data 20:49:32, Jun 26 contract. Source: https://www.investing.com/indices/us-30-futures

- KOSPI200 overnight futures: 1,165.40, -7.30, -0.62%. Basis: 2026-05-18 KST, marked as overnight session close. Source: https://sonmul.kro.kr/

- Euro Stoxx 50 futures: 5,816. Change/change rate: Unable to verify. Basis: Investing.com ‘today’ page, checked on 2026-05-18. Source: https://www.investing.com/indices/eu-stocks-50-futures

- FTSE A50 futures: Unable to verify.

3. Major Stocks Premarket/After-Hours

- NVDA: Regular session 225.32, -10.42, -4.42%; after-hours 224.41, -0.91, -0.40%. Basis: 2026-05-15 19:59 EDT. Source: https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/nvda/

- TSLA: Regular session 422.24, -21.06, -4.75%; after-hours 418.57, -3.67, -0.87%. Basis: 2026-05-15 19:59 EDT. Source: https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/tsla/

- AAPL: Regular session 300.23, +2.02, +0.68%; after-hours 299.85, -0.38, -0.13%. Basis: 2026-05-15 19:59 EDT. Source: https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/aapl/

- AMD: Regular session 424.10, -25.60, -5.69%; after-hours 420.28, -3.82, -0.90%. Basis: 2026-05-15 19:59 EDT. Source: https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/amd/

- Samsung Electronics ADR: Unable to verify. Latest premarket/after-hours value as of today’s date could not be verified.

- SK hynix ADR: Unable to verify. Latest ADR value could not be verified.

4. Volatility and Sentiment

- VIX: 18.43, +1.17, +6.78%. Basis: Displayed on Investing.com page checked on 2026-05-18. Source: https://www.investing.com/indices/us-30-futures

- CNN Fear & Greed: Unable to verify. The latest publicly verifiable value is 68~69 on 2026-05-07, not today’s value. Source: MacroMicro https://en.macromicro.me/series/22748/cnn-fear-and-greed

- U.S. 10-year Treasury yield: 4.617%, +0.018%p. Basis: Displayed on Investing.com page checked on 2026-05-18. Source: https://www.investing.com/indices/us-30-futures

5. Exchange Rates and Commodities

- USD/KRW: Unable to verify. Latest real-time value as of 2026-05-18 09:57 KST could not be verified. For reference, the weekly close at 2026-05-15 15:30 KST was 1,500.8원, +9.8원 versus the previous day. Source: Xinhua/China.org.cn https://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2026-05/15/content_118496308.shtml

- DXY: 99.312, +0.102, +0.10%. Basis: Displayed on Investing.com page checked on 2026-05-18. Source: https://www.investing.com/indices/us-30-futures

- WTI: 103.03달러, +2.01, +1.99%. Basis: Displayed on Investing.com page checked on 2026-05-18. Source: Investing.com

- Brent: 111.04달러, +1.78, +1.63%. Basis: Displayed on Investing.com page checked on 2026-05-18. Source: Investing.com

- Gold futures: 4,507.37달러, -54.53, -1.20%. Basis: Displayed on Investing.com page checked on 2026-05-18. Spot gold was 4,508.56달러, -31.59, -0.70%, basis 2026-05-18 00:35. Source: https://www.priceofgold.today/

- BTC: 87,724.89달러, +0.58% 24h. Basis: At the time the CoinMarketCap page was checked. Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin

6. Previous Korean Market

- KOSPI: 7,493.18, -488.23pt, -6.12%. Basis: 2026-05-15 market close. Source: Xinhua/China.org.cn

- KOSDAQ: 1,129.82, -61.27pt, -5.14%. Basis: 2026-05-15 market close. Source: Xinhua/China.org.cn

- Net buying by investor type: The directional picture of selling led by foreigners and institutions, with individuals providing support through bargain buying, was verified. Net buying amounts could not be verified. Source: Xinhua/China.org.cn

- Trading value: Unable to verify.

- Features: KOSPI plunged after breaking above the 8,000 level intraday for the first time. A sell-sidecar was triggered by a sharp decline in KOSPI200 futures. Samsung Electronics -8.61%, SK hynix -7.66%, LG Energy Solution -5.66%, Hanwha Aerospace -6.89%, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries -4.62%, Doosan Enerbility -5.38%. Basis: 2026-05-15 market close. Source: Xinhua/China.org.cn, AJU Press https://www.ajupress.com/view/20260515233270767

7. Key Events Today

- 2026-05-18: No major U.S. economic indicators are scheduled. Source: Schaeffer’s Research https://www.schaeffersresearch.com/content/news/2026/05/14/the-week-ahead-fed-minutes-nvidia-earnings-in-focus

- 2026-05-18: Baidu earnings scheduled. Source: Kiplinger https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/stocks/17494/next-week-earnings-calendar-stocks

- 2026-05-19: Earnings scheduled for Home Depot, Bilibili, Toll Brothers, and others. Source: Kiplinger

- Reference schedule for this week: Nvidia earnings are scheduled after the market close on 2026-05-20, and Walmart is scheduled for 2026-05-21. As these are outside the today-to-tomorrow range, they are mentioned only as reference items. Source: Kiplinger, MarketScreener

- Korea IPO reference: MakinaRocks’ KOSDAQ listing is scheduled for 2026-05-20, outside the today-to-tomorrow range. Source: IPO Korea https://ipokorea.kr/ipo-calendar, EToday https://www.etoday.co.kr/news/view/2584849

8. Overnight Global Issues

- U.S. stocks fell on Friday under pressure from rising oil prices and a sharp increase in bond yields. Brent closed at 109.26달러 on 2026-05-15, and the 10-year yield rose to 4.59% from 4.47% the previous day. Source: AP https://apnews.com/article/stock-market-china-trump-iran-war-7a29502a1b592d3fbe0ede548421ba58

- Uncertainty related to the Strait of Hormuz continues. Reuters/MarketScreener reported that oil prices rose more than 3% on 2026-05-15, and that the number of confirmed transiting vessels was around 30 versus a pre-war daily average of 140. Source: https://www.marketscreener.com/news/oil-rises-more-than-1-after-trump-flags-china-s-interest-in-us-supplies-ce7f5bd2db8ef024

- Samsung Electronics union strike risk remained in focus over the weekend. Reuters/Investing.com reported in a 2026-05-17 update that more than 45,000 people were threatening a large-scale strike from 5월 21일, and that JPMorgan estimated an operating profit impact of 21조~31조원 and revenue losses of about 4.5조원. Source: https://m.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/at-samsung-the-global-ai-boom-spurred-a-looming-strike-and-deep-divisions-4694572

- U.S. futures were weaker on Sunday evening. Investing.com reported that U.S. stock index futures were slightly weaker under the headline ‘Iran conflict drags on; Nvidia results awaited’. Source: Investing.com futures page

Points to Watch

- The impact of the simultaneous rise in oil prices and U.S. long-term yields on valuations of Korean growth stocks and semiconductors.

- Whether KOSPI’s plunge after breaking above the 8,000 level and weakness in overnight futures lead to early-session supply-demand volatility today.

- How Samsung Electronics strike risk and concerns about memory supply disruptions are reflected in Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and semiconductor equipment/materials stocks.

- The impact of wait-and-see sentiment ahead of Nvidia earnings this week on trading value in the domestic AI·HBM value chain.

Sources/Search Keywords

- Search keywords: US stock market close today 2026-05-18, S&P 500 futures pre-market today 2026-05-18, NVDA TSLA AAPL AMD premarket today 2026-05-18, VIX index today 2026-05-18, USD KRW exchange rate today 2026-05-18, 코스피 코스닥 종가 외국인 기관 2026년 05월 18일 Monday, economic calendar today 2026-05-18, overnight market news today 2026-05-18.

- Major sources: AP, Investing.com, StockAnalysis, Xinhua/China.org.cn, AJU Press, Kiplinger, Schaeffer’s Research, IPO Korea, CoinMarketCap, PriceofGold.today.

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