Pre-market roundup: Iran denies U.S. talks, SpaceX hits a record low before the open

BlockBeats reported on Aug. 3 that the following items were among the key developments in the U.S. pre-market session.

Key pre-market items

1. Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Baghaei said Iran is not currently in talks with the United States and is instead in talks with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz.
2. Federal Reserve official Williams said he remains optimistic that inflation pressures will ease gradually. He added that if that does not happen, the Fed will not hesitate to raise interest rates to bring price pressures back to target.
3. SpaceX briefly fell below $106 in pre-market trading, setting a record low.
4. Samsung Electronics’ foundry business is expected to reach 100% capacity utilization in the second half of this year. Its current utilization rate is estimated at 70% to 80%.
5. Eli Lilly (LLY.N) said its pancreatic cancer therapy received Breakthrough Therapy designation.
6. Italy’s Prysmian said in a statement on Monday that it is in advanced talks to acquire U.S. electrical manufacturer Atkore.
7. Apple (AAPL.O) is limiting the number of security vulnerabilities outside researchers can submit at one time after a surge in AI-generated reports put its review process under strain.
8. Alibaba (BABA.N) rose nearly 4% in U.S. pre-market trading after Alibaba Qwen released Qwen3.8-Max.
9. Mark Gurman said iPhone prices are expected to rise by $100 to $200. For a foldable iPhone, he said the starting price would be at least $2,000, and possibly higher.
10. Claudia Sahm, who proposed the Sahm Rule, said the Federal Reserve could misread economic conditions if it ignores signals from the grassroots economy for too long and relies on distorted macro data. She said pressure on households has been rising, while some companies have started lifting wages because employees’ living costs are climbing, a shift she said could push inflation risk higher again. Sahm also said the Fed, as a data-driven institution, should not rely only on macro statistics and needs to pay attention to how ordinary households actually feel about prices and employment, or it could miss important changes in the economy.