Wall Street is set to open modestly lower Wednesday, following two consecutive sessions in the red. S&P 500 futures traded around 7,541, down 0.4%, while Nasdaq-100 futures slipped 0.56% and Dow futures edged down 0.05%.
Investors are digesting a fresh liquidity scare in the private equity space, positive tech catalysts from Computex, and anticipation of Lululemon's earnings after the close.
Private Equity Liquidity Jitters
The biggest story weighing on markets this morning is the redemption cap imposed by Partners Group on its $8.6 billion evergreen private equity fund. After redemption requests reached an estimated 9.8% of NAV in Q2 — nearly double the 5% quarterly gate — the Swiss firm limited net outflows to 5% per quarter, with excess requests carried forward.
The news sent Partners Group's own shares down 13%–17% and triggered contagion across U.S. alternative asset managers. KKR fell 4.15%, Blackstone (BX) dropped 4.03%, and Blue Owl Capital and Ares Management posted similar losses.
The episode serves as a reminder of the liquidity mismatch built into evergreen funds: they offer retail and wealth-management clients access to illiquid private assets, but redemption pressure can build quickly when sentiment shifts.
Intel and AMD Ride Computex Momentum
On the bright side, semiconductor stocks remain in focus. Intel (INTC) closed up 4.43% at $112.71 Tuesday after CEO Lip-Bu Tan's keynote at Computex in Taipei. Tan unveiled the Xeon 6+ processors (Clearwater Forest) — Intel's first data-center CPU built on its 18A process, featuring up to 288 E-cores and 576 MB of L3 cache. Designed for AI rack-scale deployments, the chips underline Intel's push to reclaim data-center share.
AMD (AMD) gained roughly 4% on Tuesday amid the sector tailwinds, and Broadcom (AVGO) added 2.6% in premarket action.
The broader narrative — surging AI infrastructure demand — continues to lift the semiconductor space, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan all recently raising their S&P 500 year-end targets.
Lululemon Reports After the Close
Lululemon (LULU) reports Q1 FY2026 results after the closing bell. Consensus estimates call for EPS of $1.67–$1.68 on revenue of roughly $2.43 billion, representing 1%–3% YoY growth.
The March quarter beat on both top and bottom lines, but full-year guidance was cautious due to tariffs and softer North American consumer demand. Today's print will be closely watched as a bellwether for U.S. retail spending.
Economic Data: Jobless Claims at 8:30 AM ET
The weekly initial jobless claims report is due at 8:30 AM ET, with the consensus expecting 213,000–216,000 claims for the week ending May 30 — a modest uptick from the prior reading of 215,000.
The Bottom Line
Markets are navigating crosscurrents this morning: lingering liquidity fears weighing on alternative asset managers, offset by strong tech momentum from the semiconductor space. All eyes turn to Lululemon's earnings this afternoon and the jobless claims data for confirmation of the labor market's trajectory.
