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US stock futures rose early on Wednesday as investors watched for updates on negotiations between the US and Iran amid the ongoing AI boom.
Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) traded at the flat line, while those on the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F) traded up 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) climbed 0.6%.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) both rose to record highs. Optimism that the US and Iran could reach a lasting peace agreement somewhat soon, as well as confidence in the chip trade, lifted markets.
A conclusive end to the US-Iran war, however, remains murky, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioning that any deal would likely take a few days to formalize. In the meantime, the Strait of Hormuz remains mostly shut to commercial traffic.
Nevertheless, crude oil prices continued to drift lower, with Brent (BZ=F) falling to $94 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) trading at $90 per barrel.
Earnings season continues to wrap up this week, with Marvell Technology (MRVL), Salesforce (CRM), Snowflake (SNOW), and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) set to report their results on Wednesday.
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SK Hynix joins Micron in $1 trillion club as AI memory chip rally accelerates
SK Hynix (000660.KS) shares jumped more than 12% on Wednesday, pushing the memory chip maker to a $1 trillion valuation in Asia just hours after peer Micron Technology (MU) crossed the same milestone on Tuesday.
Wall Street had anticipated SK Hynix would join the club as the last of the industry’s “big three” to reach the valuation after Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) first crossed the mark earlier this month .
May has become a month of trillion-dollar milestones for the memory chip giants, as soaring demand has tightened supply and created a key bottleneck in the AI trade.
SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung have become major beneficiaries of the AI boom as demand for High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips has surged alongside AI training and inference workloads. Their production is allocated through 2026.
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Oil falls as Iran peace talks continue despite strikes
Bloomberg reports:
Oil dropped on optimism that the US and Iran will reach a peace deal despite fresh hostilities and uncertainty over the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Brent (BZ=F) fell to near $98 a barrel after rising almost 4% on Tuesday, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) was around $92. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has cautioned that any peace pact would likely take a few days to finalize. Meanwhile, US forces hit targets near the strait, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired at multiple US aircraft after they entered Iranian airspace.
The strait, the key waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flowed during peacetime, remains essentially shut, subject to blockades by the US and Iran. However, at least two non-Iranian supertankers exited the chokepoint on Tuesday, the first time in a week that 4 million barrels of unsanctioned crude have been seen crossing.
In the US, President Donald Trump will convene his Cabinet at the White House Wednesday, moving from the originally planned location at the presidential retreat Camp David due to weather. This comes as key sticking points remain in the talks with Iran — including Tehran’s $24 billion in frozen assets and its reluctance to allow free passage through the strait.
