Agenus rises premarket; Micron, Western Digital slide

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were mixed on Monday as investors monitored a sharp selloff across the global memory-chip sector and assessed developments in the biotechnology space.

Semiconductor stocks came under broad pressure after a steep decline in South Korean memory-chip makers spilled over into U.S.-listed peers, while biotech names gained on fresh financing announcements.

S&P 500 Futures fell 0.25% by 05:45 ET. Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 0.9%, while Dow Jones Futures inched 0.12%.

Here are some of the biggest premarket U.S. stock movers today:

Agenus surged 13% after the biotechnology company announced an $85 million private placement led by Commodore Capital, with participation from several life sciences investors. The financing could increase to as much as $340 million if all purchase warrants are exercised, with the proceeds earmarked to fund the company’s Phase 3 ROBBIN trial and extend its cash runway through the end of 2031.

Micron Technology fell 5.1% after shares of South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix plunged more than 15% in Asia, triggering a broader selloff across the memory sector.

Investor sentiment was also dented after a South Korean brokerage forecast second-quarter earnings for SK Hynix below market expectations, citing slower-than-anticipated shipments of next-generation high-bandwidth memory chips.

Western Digital dropped 5.4% as the weakness in memory and storage stocks spread across the sector. The decline followed the sharp selloff in SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, which weighed on sentiment toward companies exposed to memory-chip demand and pricing.

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