FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

Equities Rise Pre-Bell as Chip Stocks Extend Gains

By
Equities Rise Pre-Bell as Chip Stocks Extend Gains

US equity futures were tracking in the green on Tuesday amid continued momentum in artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq added 0.8% in premarket activity. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finished Monday trading higher, while the Dow closed in the red for a second consecutive session.

OpenAI said on Monday it has confidentially filed for a potential initial public offering in the US, after similar moves last week by AI firm Anthropic and rocket and satellite company SpaceX.

OpenAI hasn't decided on the timing of the IPO yet, according to a blog post. "It may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company," the tech firm added.

Shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) increased 2.8% pre-bell, while Intel (INTC) inclined 2.2% after an 11% jump at the close of Monday. Micron Technology (MU) added 4.1% following a 9.9% increase in the previous session, while Nvidia (NVDA) was up 0.7%. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained 2.5% before the bell after closing the previous session up 5.1%, while Broadcom (AVGO) increased 1.1%.

"In our view, volatility in technology stocks is likely to continue, although the (artificial intelligence) investment boom appears robust," D.A. Davidson said in a report on Monday. "We continue to expect a broadening of gains supporting sector diversification in portfolios."

West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 2.1% to $89.37 a barrel before the opening bell, while Brent moved down 1.6% to $92.73.

Iran and Israel reportedly suspended strikes against each other, although Tehran vowed to resume attacks if Israel continues to target Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. In a social media post, President Donald Trump said both Israel and Iran were "looking to do an immediate ceasefire."

"Overall, the situation remains fragile, and for the oil market, the status quo holds: global inventories continue to draw, with analysts increasingly convinced that inventories will reach dangerously low levels by the end of June (if not sooner)," Tudor Pickering Holt Analyst Matt Portillo said in a note.

Treasury yields were mixed in premarket action, with the two-year rate retreating 1.1 basis points to 4.15% while the 10-year rate rose 0.6 basis points to 4.56%.

Tuesday's economic calendar has the international trade in goods and services report for April at 8:30 am ET, followed by the existing home sales report for May at 10 am. The National Federation of Independent Business small business optimism index posted a 0.6-point decrease for May to 95.3.

J.M. Smucker (SJM), SailPoint (SAIL), United Natural Foods (UNFI) and Academy Sports and Outdoors (ASO) report their latest financial results before the bell, among others. Casey's General Stores (CASY) posts earnings after the markets close.

Gold slipped 0.1% to $4,359 per troy ounce, while bitcoin fell 1.1% to $62,725.

Related Articles

Australian Consumer Sentiment 'Deeply Pessimistic' as Cost-of-Living Pressures Mount
US Markets

Australian Consumer Sentiment 'Deeply Pessimistic' as Cost-of-Living Pressures Mount

Australian consumers continued to show deep pessimism in June, beaten by cost-of-living pressures, while the recent fuel excise tax cut gave little relief to struggling consumers.The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 2.9% to 80.6, among the weakest figures in the 50-year history of the survey, with pessimists beating optimists by 20% in numbers."Australian consumers are clearly bracing for more bad news on the financial front," said Matthew Hassan, Westpac's head of Australian macro-forecasting.Recent data seems to be in line with the comment, as Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in April, up from 4.3% in March, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed recently.Also, the gross domestic product rise of 0.3% in the March quarter shows that growth over the course of the year will be at a soft pace, ANZ said last week, adding that it expects a further weakening in real income growth over the year.The Reserve Bank of Australia also expects gross domestic product growth to slow this year under the weight of higher interest rates and the Middle East conflict, with unemployment forecast to rise over the coming year but remain below pre-pandemic levels.Hassan said the central bank is likely to hold interest rates at its meeting next week after three consecutive rate hikes, though further increases are still expected in future meetings.

$^AXJO
South Korea's First-Quarter GDP Rises 3.8% Year Over Year on Chip Surge
US Markets

South Korea's First-Quarter GDP Rises 3.8% Year Over Year on Chip Surge

South Korea's economy expanded 3.8% in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to data released Tuesday by the Bank of Korea.The latest print accelerated from 1.6% growth in the fourth quarter of 2025, beating the consensus forecast of 3.6% tracked by Investing.com.On a quarter-over-quarter basis, the Bank of Korea revised its advance estimate upward by 0.1 percentage point to 1.8%, rebounding from a 0.1% contraction in the previous quarter. The quarterly figure also topped the consensus forecast of 1.7%.The latest data confirmed a semiconductor-led surge that the Bank of Korea reported in its advance estimate in April. Major players in the semiconductor field include Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) and SK Hynix (KRX:000660).Exports of goods and services rose 11.8% year over year in the first quarter, significantly faster than the 4.6% jump in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the latest data.Imports of goods and services likewise jumped 8.5% from a year earlier in Q1, also accelerating from the 3.9% increase in Q4 2025.Elsewhere, manufacturing output climbed 7.2% year over year, versus the 2.4% increase in Q4 2025. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector rose 3.5% in Q1 from a year earlier, reversing the 0.5% dip in Q4 2025.Output from the electricity, gas and water supply sector contracted for the fourth straight quarter in Q1, dropping 5% after the 4.4% slide in Q4 2025.On the expenditure side, private consumption rose 2.7% year over year in Q1 after growing 2.4% in Q4 2025, while government spending jumped 3.1%, slowing from the 3.6% expansion previously.ING Think Senior Economist for South Korea, Min Joo Kang, wrote in an April 23 note that growth is expected to slow in the second quarter."We expect strong chip momentum to continue, but also a slowdown in 2Q26 growth as energy disruptions affect activity across petrochemicals and other manufacturing sectors.""The Korean government implemented a temporary export ban on Naphtha, and Korean companies increased oil and gas imports from outside the Middle East. Despite these measures, manufacturing activity still cannot be sustained at full capacity," Min added.Meanwhile, Stephen Lee, an economist at Meritz Securities in Seoul, expects stronger export momentum in the third quarter and export growth of around 50% for the full year."It is truly an unprecedented pace, raising market expectations again and again and ​exceeding them again and again," Lee was quoted by Reuters as saying last week.The Bank of Korea recently raised its economic growth forecast for the country to 2.6% this year from its previous 2% growth outlook, citing the semiconductor boom.BOK Governor Shin Hyun-song expects strong exports to contribute 0.7 percentage points to the country's GDP growth in 2026, Yonhap reported May 28, citing a press conference.

$^KOSDAQ$^KS11$KRX:000660$KRX:005930
Tech-Heavy Nasdaq Snaps 3-Day Losing Streak
US Markets

Tech-Heavy Nasdaq Snaps 3-Day Losing Streak

The Nasdaq Composite rose Monday following a three-day slump, buoyed by the technology sector's rebound.The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% to 25,929.7, while the S&P 500 added 0.3% to 7,405.5. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% to 50,786.01, closing lower for a second consecutive session. Most sectors were in the red, led by utilities, while tech paced the gainers with a 1.5% rise.Chipmaker Intel (INTC) climbed 11%, the top performer on the S&P 500, followed by Micron Technology (MU), which jumped 9.9%. Cisco Systems (CSCO) rose 2.1%, the best performer on the Dow. Nvidia gained 1.7%.The tech sector shed 5.8% on Friday."In our view, volatility in technology stocks is likely to continue, although the (artificial intelligence) investment boom appears robust," D.A. Davidson said in a report on Monday. "We continue to expect a broadening of gains supporting sector diversification in portfolios."Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google and Nvidia (NVDA) have turned to Intel as a backup manufacturer for their most advanced processors as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) struggles to meet overwhelming demand, The Information reported, citing unnamed sources.Taiwan Semiconductor shares were up 2.8%.West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.8% at $91.22 a barrel in Monday late-afternoon trade, while Brent rose 1.2% to $94.22, but both benchmarks were off session highs.Iran and Israel suspended strikes against each other. However, Tehran vowed to resume attacks if Israel continues to target Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to a CNBC report.Israel and Iran were looking for an "immediate" ceasefire, US President Donald Trump said Monday."Overall, the situation remains fragile, and for the oil market, the status quo holds: global inventories continue to draw, with analysts increasingly convinced that inventories will reach dangerously low levels by the end of June (if not sooner)," Tudor Pickering Holt Analyst Matt Portillo said in a note.US Treasury yields were higher, with the 10-year rate last up four basis points at 4.56%, and the two-year rate rising 1.9 basis points to 4.17%.In economic news, US consumers' short-term inflation expectations decreased in May, while the labor market outlook "deteriorated somewhat," a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed Monday.Gold was down 0.2% at $4,358.50 per troy ounce, while silver dropped 0.9% to $68.50 per ounce.

$^DJI$^IXIC$^SPX$CSCO$GOOG$GOOGL$INTC$MU$NVDA$TSM