Updated 2 min read
US stocks steadied on Wednesday after a searing rally as investors weighed SpaceX (SPCX) and AMD (AMD) earnings and President Trump said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could happen as early as Wednesday.
Futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 (NQ=F) were little changed in premarket trading. Futures for the S&P 500 (ES=F) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) climbed 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, after the indexes closed at record highs.
A rise in Asian markets overnight pointed toward a positive open as global markets assessed earnings and cheered diplomatic efforts for another peace deal between the US and Iran — no matter how fragile. South Korea’s KOSPI (^KS11) index led gains, rising almost 4%.
SpaceX didn’t receive the Wall Street welcome it was looking for in its first report as a public company. Shares of the Elon Musk-led company dropped 11% in premarket trading after its AI spending overshadowed a second quarter earnings beat. SpaceX stock faces additional pressure this week when 20% of shares will be unlocked for trading.
Shares of major chipmaker AMD also declined despite reporting an earnings beat and a strong outlook, as analysts wanted “exceptional results” and not merely “excellent ones.”
Oil prices, meanwhile, reversed a two-day decline after Trump hinted that the US was nearing a deal with Iran. “It could happen. Tomorrow or the next day,” Trump said, per Bloomberg. Global benchmark Brent crude (BZ=F) rose 1% to $80 per barrel, while WTI crude oil futures (CL=F), the US benchmark, edged up to $76 per barrel.
On Tuesday, Qatar said a proposal had been drafted between the US and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for a fifth of the world’s oil. Iran is also reportedly considering allowing European countries to remove mines from the strait, adding to confidence that shipping traffic in the region could normalize.
Investors were also on the lookout for quarterly reports from Eli Lilly (LLY), Novo Nordisk (NVO), Western Digital (WDC), Sandisk (SNDK), Walt Disney (DIS), Shopify (SHOP), and Uber Technologies (UBER) on Wednesday.
