Investing.com – Futures tied to the main U.S. stock indices point higher, with investors gauging both developments in the Iran conflict and a recovery in artificial intelligence chipmaking stocks. President Donald Trump suggests that the U.S. could declare “total victory” over Iran “over the next two weeks,” as tensions appear to cool in the Middle East. becomes the latest company to confidentially file for a possibly massive initial public offering, while shares soar premarket following a lease deal with a U.S.-based hyperscaler.
1. Futures higher
U.S. stock market futures were broadly higher on Tuesday, while oil prices dipped, as analysts kept tabs on easing Middle East tensions and stabilizing sentiment around artificial intelligence.
By 03:28 ET (07:28 GMT), the was mostly unchanged, S&P 500 futures had gained 17 points, or 0.2%, and had increased by 159 points, or 0.5%.
The main averages on Wall Street were mixed in the prior session, which analysts at Deutsche Bank described as “cautious.” The blue-chip slipped by 0.2%, the benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.3%, and the tech-heavy rose by 0.9%.
Chipmaking stocks were among the standout performers on Monday, rebounding from a steep sell-off late last week brought on in part by underwhelming results from semiconductor player Broadcom. The , in particular, jumped by 5.61%, recuperating roughly half of its losses from Friday.
On the economic calendar today, traders will be pouring through U.S. trade data for April as well as existing homes sales for May. But the main event this week is still to come: the all-important consumer price index for May is due out on Wednesday.
Crucially, the CPI report will likely provide some insight into how Federal Reserve policymakers will adjust monetary policy in the coming months. Markets are now betting that the Fed will raise interest rates at least once this year, given worries over inflation and signs of a robust labor market.
2. Mideast tensions ease
As the Deutsche Bank analysts put it in a note on Tuesday, the Iran war appears to have entered into something of a pattern over the past few weeks.
“[I]t seems the cycle of ’near a deal, not near a deal, escalation, de escalation, maybe back near a deal’ continues,” they wrote, adding that they are for now “back in the ’a deal is still possible’ camp.”
Driving this commentary was an announcement from Iran and Israel that they had halted attacks on one another, shortly after exchanging a fresh barrage of strikes earlier this week. Yet the detente appeared to be unsteady, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to carry on strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
President Donald Trump, who has been attempting to reach a lasting peace deal to end the more than three-month old joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, told reporters that he had had a “very good conversation” with Netanyahu. He added that Israel and Iran would leave each other alone for at least a week — and that a “total victory” over Iran will come within two weeks.
Against this backdrop, sank, sitting below recent peaks but still well above pre-war levels. The uptick in oil prices, sparked by the longstanding closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has fueled worries over an inflation surge and slowing global growth.
3. OpenAI confidentially files for IPO
OpenAI has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, joining rival in a potential clutch of upcoming mega-debuts that are anticipated to test soaring enthusiasm for AI.
In a written statement, the startup said that “it may be a while” before it goes public, citing the desire to do “things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company.” There are a “complicated set of tradeoffs” linked to the flotation that the business must consider, it added.
Known for its ChatGPT chatbot, OpenAI has become one of the most recognizable faces of an AI boom which has underpinned a rally in stock markets to fresh record highs.
Monday’s announcement comes after Claude-maker Anthropic filed for its own IPO last week, targeting a debut in the fall. According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI executives have expressed concern that Anthropic, whose valuation has reportedly surpassed OpenAI’s in the private market, could beat the company to an IPO.
Meanwhile, rocket and satellite giant is projected to notch the biggest IPO in history as soon as this week, in a deal that that could turn CEO Elon Musk into the world’s first trillionaire.
4. Samsung, rebound
South Korean memory chip giants and SK Hynix rose sharply on Tuesday, rebounding from steep losses in the prior session as bargain buyers stepped in to acquire battered artificial intelligence stocks.
SK Hynix surged more than 15% after a 8% drop in the prior session, also benefiting from a major tie-up with Nvidia. The company secured a multi-year partnership to supply advanced memory to the AI major. Samsung advanced nearly 9%, after tumbling 10.2% on Monday.
Samsung and SK Hynix were battered by a broader rout in tech and AI stocks, as concerns over higher U.S. interest rates and the conflict in the Middle East sparked a wave of profit-taking in the high-flying sector.
Questions over the long-term growth of AI also emerged after underwhelming guidance from American server maker Broadcom last week, given that the company is regarded as a bellwether for data center demand.
Samsung and SK Hynix surged to trillion-dollar valuations in May on optimism over AI-fueled chip demand, given that the two, along with Micron, are the only major producers of advanced memory chips for AI applications.
5. Applied Digital spikes
Elsewhere, shares of Applied Digital climbed by more than 11% in premarket U.S. trading, after the group signed a 15-year lease with a U.S.-based hyperscaler that is projected to raise around $5.2 billion in revenue.
The company said that roughly 70% of its contracted revenue is now tied to U.S. hyperscalers, the moniker for big-name tech firms that have laid out plans to spend huge amounts on building the infrastructure needed to power their AI ambitions.
The deal will cover 210 megawatts of computing capacity at Applied Digital’s new Delta Forge 2 AI campus.
Applied Digital did not provide any further details about the client, but said that, if renewed, the contract could generate $12.7 billion over a 30-year period.