Cash gaps down hard as yields spike and macro jitters hit Nasdaq most

All three major ETFs are opening in the red Thursday morning, with QQQ taking the sharpest hit — gapping down -0.91% vs yesterday's close as Treasury yield anxiety and a Trump-Xi summit headline keep risk appetite suppressed. SPY is gapping down -0.48% to 764.09, sitting below both its put wall and max pain level heading into the open, while VIX edges up to 15.97 — a quiet but firm warning sign.

The good news: overnight futures have been rallying off their lows in the final stretch before the bell, with /ES adding +8 points from 08:30 to 08:55 ET and /NQ recovering +48.50 over the same window. That suggests some stabilization, but the cash gap is real and the options structure is skewed negative — dealers are short gamma across SPY and SPX, meaning moves in either direction can extend quickly once the market gets moving.