Memorial Day 2026 Pre-Market Briefing: Futures, Crypto, Metals

Markets are dark today. The NYSE, Nasdaq, and U.S. bond market are all closed for Memorial Day, with regular trading resuming Tuesday, May 26. Before we get into the tape, take a beat to remember what the day is actually for: honoring the U.S. service members who died serving the country. The rest of this briefing covers futures action, equities setup, crypto, metals, the war, and the data drops on deck this week.

Holiday Trading Schedule

The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are closed Monday, May 25, 2026, and reopen Tuesday, May 26 at the regular 9:30 AM ET cash open. The U.S. bond market is also closed today. CME futures markets remain open on a modified schedule — the regular Sunday open ran at 5:00 PM CT on May 24, and futures will halt at 12:00 PM CT Monday before reopening at 5:00 PM CT for the Tuesday trade date. Banks are closed, so no deposits or withdrawals will move on or off broker platforms until Tuesday. For more on how holiday sessions affect order execution and settlement, see our day trading coverage at Trailing Stop Loss.

Futures Snapshot — Holiday Drift

Friday's cash close put Wall Street in a notably strong position heading into the long weekend. The S&P 500 gained 0.4% on Friday, extending its winning streak to eight consecutive weeks — the longest such run since December 2023. The Dow Jones added 294 points to close at a record 50,580, marking its third positive week in four. The Nasdaq tacked on 0.2% for its seventh weekly advance in eight weeks. Gains were led by Merck, Salesforce, and Cisco Systems on Friday, while Nvidia, Walmart, and Amazon were the notable laggards. Tape-watchers can dig into the broader trend in our pre-market briefing archive. Source: Trading Economics.

With cash closed, futures are doing what they always do during a holiday session — drifting on thin volume and reacting to headlines rather than flows. Going into the holiday, sentiment was tilted slightly positive on continued Iran peace optimism, although the read on whether that optimism is justified depends entirely on which Trump Truth Social post you read last. More on the war in a minute. Source: CNN.

Equities — What Tuesday's Tape Has To Digest

When the bell rings Tuesday at 9:30 AM ET, traders walk back into a market that has effectively front-loaded a lot of good news. Eight straight up weeks. Record Dow close. Iran ceasefire optimism baked in. The set-up has the unmistakable feel of a market priced for things to go right — which historically is exactly when things stop going right, but I'll spare you the lecture. Sectors most exposed to Tuesday's reopening gap include AI infrastructure, enterprise software, and consumer discretionary, all of which have earnings hitting later this week. For ongoing single-name coverage, check our day trading and AI categories. Source: Foreign Policy Journal.

Crypto — Bitcoin Holds Above $77K On Light Holiday Volume

Crypto doesn't take holidays off, which is either a feature or a bug depending on whether you slept through the weekend. Bitcoin opened Monday at $76,969 and traded up to roughly $77,293 by 8:00 AM ET, a modest bounce after a rough stretch that saw BTC breach $75,000 to a weekend low of $74,344 — its first move below that level in over a month. The flagship is still down about 2.7% on the week. Ether opened at $2,097 and edged up to $2,113, hovering at levels that have crypto bulls nervous and crypto bears insufferable. Source: Yahoo Finance.

The recent slide triggered roughly $917 million in crypto futures liquidations over a 24-hour stretch, and spot Bitcoin ETFs have now booked six straight sessions of outflows totaling over $1.25 billion. That's not a one-day algorithmic blip — that's positioning. For more on what's moving the digital asset complex, see our crypto coverage. Source: Investing News Network.

Metals — Gold and Silver Catching A Safe-Haven Bid

Precious metals are doing precious-metal things on a Monday morning shadowed by Middle East headlines. Gold is bid at $4,556.90/oz, up 1.07% on the day, while silver is at $77.63/oz, up nearly 3%. Platinum and palladium are also catching bids, both up over 2%. This follows a tug-of-war stretch in the metals complex over the past two weeks where prices got hammered mid-May on sticky inflation and dollar strength, recovered briefly on Middle East de-escalation hopes, and now are repricing again as the realization sets in that this war isn't ending on anyone's preferred timeline. Source: Kitco.

JP Morgan is still eyeing $90 silver by Q4 2026 with a full-year average of $81, while HSBC raised its 2026 silver forecast to an average $75/oz. The institutional outlook on gold for year-end remains anchored near $5,000, with TD Securities projecting a 2026 annual average of $4,831 and possible highs near $5,400. Translation: the people paid to be right about this are still leaning bullish, even after a 16% pullback from the January all-time high of $5,589. For more on the metals trade, browse our futures category. Source: GoldSilver.

The War — Iran Peace Deal Still A "Work In Progress"

The single biggest variable hanging over every asset class right now is the U.S.–Iran war that began in March and the on-again, off-again ceasefire framework that's been bouncing between Pakistan-mediated talks since April 8. As of Monday morning, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said from New Delhi that the agreement being discussed is "a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the strait," referring to the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has confirmed a "degree of understanding" but stopped short of saying a deal is imminent. President Trump posted Sunday that a deal will "either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal" — which, depending on your reading, is either negotiating leverage or a Truth Social mood swing. Source: CNN.

Key sticking points in the proposed memorandum of understanding include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the status of Iran's nuclear program, and frozen Iranian assets. Iran is also demanding the U.S. end its naval blockade of Iranian ports and vessels — a non-starter for now. Israel has continued strikes in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah positions over the weekend, which complicates the diplomatic timeline and reminds everyone that "ceasefire" and "peace" are not synonyms. Source: CBS News.

This Week's High-Impact Data and Earnings

Coming off the long weekend, Wall Street walks into one of the densest data weeks left on the calendar. Two macro releases stand out: the second estimate of Q1 GDP on Thursday at 8:30 AM ET, and core PCE inflation — the Fed's preferred gauge — also Thursday at 8:30 AM ET. March core PCE printed 3.2% year-over-year, with economists now expecting Q2 PCE to come in around 4.5% headline and 3.4% core, sharply higher than the prior 2.7% estimate. That would be the last major inflation read before the June 16–17 FOMC meeting, where new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh — who took the oath on Friday, May 22 — gets his first real test. Markets are pricing in a roughly 60% probability of a 25 basis point rate hike at the December meeting. Source: Gotrade.

On the corporate side, Salesforce reports Wednesday after the close with consensus around $2.30 EPS, up 18.6% year-over-year, and revenue guidance in the $11.03–$11.08 billion range. Marvell Technology reports the same day at 4:05 PM ET and is the most market-moving name of the week given its AI custom-silicon exposure — the stock has surged 176% from its 2026 low. Dell and HP both report Wednesday after Lenovo's strong China numbers already lit a fire under the PC and AI server names on Friday. For ongoing earnings season coverage, check our pre-market section. Source: Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Bottom Line For Tuesday's Open

Markets reopen Tuesday into a setup that is bullishly positioned on momentum but vulnerable to two specific things: a hot PCE print Thursday that forces the Fed back into hawkish posture, and any deterioration in the Iran talks. Eight straight up weeks is a real trend — but real trends are also where the biggest reversals start. Keep risk small into PCE, watch oil for the cleanest Iran read, and don't overweight any single name into Marvell or Salesforce earnings on Wednesday.

Wishing everyone reading this a meaningful Memorial Day. Markets will be here Tuesday — the men and women being remembered today won't be. Trade well, and trade safely.

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