Tech stocks were higher Tuesday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) adding 0.7% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) rising 4.8%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 4.7%.
In corporate news, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) shares jumped past 16% after the company reported fiscal Q2 earnings ahead of analysts' forecasts.
Natural gas prices weakened for a second day on Tuesday even as forecasts see hot weather on the way for most states, boosting cooling demand.Gas for July delivery was last seen down US$0.06 to US$3.12 per million British thermal units, continuing to ease off the four-month highs touched last week.The drop comes even as long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service expect nearly all states to be warmer than seasonal over its six to 14 day outlook, raising demand for gas-fired power for air conditioning.Still, the price of the fuel looks to be now trading within technical ranges following last week's rally."There is fundamental support for Jul/Aug gas at about $3.15 so look for the market to remain in the $3.10 to $3.20 range with some upside risk should we see more heat develop for the second half of June," Gary Cunningham, Director of Market Research at Tradition Energy, wrote.
Energy stocks were declining premarket Tuesday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) down 0.3%.The United States Oil Fund (USO) was down 1.1% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 1.9% lower.Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 0.9% lower at $91.30 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil lost 0.7% to $94.28 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 1.8% at $3.12 per 1 million British Thermal Units.BP (BP) has asked senior independent director Amanda Blanc to lead the search for the company's next chair despite concerns from some investors and city figures following the departure of former chairperson Albert Manifold, the Financial Times reported. Shares of BP were down more than 1% pre-bell.BW LPG (BWLP) shares were up 0.7% after the company reported higher Q1 earnings.Bloom Energy (BE) doesn't currently see a need to raise capital through share sales despite surging demand for its fuel-cell technology from AI data centers, Bloomberg News reported, citing Chief Executive K. R. Sridhar. Bloom Energy stock was up more than 3% premarket.
Gold rose early Tuesday as the dollar weakened following reports Iran is reviewing a fresh U.S. offer to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.Gold for July delivery was last seen up $55.90 to US$4,562.20 per ounce.The rise comes as Reuters on Tuesday, in citing Iranian media, reported Iran is considering a fresh U.S. proposal to end the war and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz, while U.S. President Trump said on Monday talks were continuing. This is a day after the two sides traded strikes and Iran was said it would not continue talks as long as Israel continued to attack its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.Hope for an end to the war is lowering oil prices and easing fears over the rise in inflation that has followed the closure of the Strait since the war began on Feb. 28, blocking the exports from Persian Gulf nations that supplied a fifth of daily oil demand. Traders have turned away from gold as a store of value amid the inflation worries, preferring the dollar as a hedge should central banks raise interest rates to slow rising prices."Gold continues to take its cues from the oil market given crude's influence on inflation expectations and, by extension, interest rates, bond yields and the dollar," Saxo Bank noted.The dollar fell early, with the ICE dollar index last seen down 0.13 points to 99.07. Treasury yields were steady, with the U.S. two-year note last seen paying 4.037%, up 0.4 basis points, while the yield on the 10-year note was down 0.9 points to 4.444%.