June 3 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures stalled near record highs on Wednesday as rising crude oil prices weighed on sentiment, with a flare-up in the Middle East conflict signaling little progress in efforts to end the months-long war.
Brent crude futures rose 1.6% to $97.56 a barrel after an Iranian missile attack damaged Kuwait’s airport and the U.S. military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, raising the risk of further supply disruption that could stoke broader inflation. [O/R]
“It is not in the interest of either the U.S. or Iran to go back towards fighting and bombing. Our base case scenario remains that we would be moving towards a deal; even if it’s a fudge to get the Strait of Hormuz opened,” Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar wrote in a note.
Hopes for an end to the war, alongside a run of upbeat corporate updates, have underpinned Wall Street’s rally to record highs.
Shares have also been boosted by recent developments that have reinforced expectations of sustained AI spending.
Nvidia has launched new chips for desktop and laptop systems, while Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have topped earnings forecasts and Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion to fund its AI expansion.
Marvell Technology soared 15% in premarket trading to top $290 billion in market value, extending gains a day after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called the chipmaker the next “trillion-dollar company.”
Broadcom shares rose 3% ahead of its quarterly report due after market close. The results would be the next key test of AI-driven momentum, with the firm’s shares rising 14% in the past four sessions.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to fix its IPO price at $135 per share ahead of its roadshow to raise a record-setting $75 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The listing leads a wave of high-profile private companies preparing to test public markets including Anthropic and OpenAI after years of muted large-cap IPO activity.
At 4:23 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 145 points, or 0.28%, and S&P 500 E-minis were down 7.25 points, or 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 3 points, or 0.01%.
All three major stock indexes closed at record highs on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 finishing above 7,600 for the first time.
Investors are also focused on upcoming economic data, including S&P Global’s manufacturing and services surveys and the ISM services index, ahead of Friday’s closely watched labor market report, which could shape expectations for monetary policy.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh pledged to follow “the best of the Fed’s traditions” in a note to staff at the start of his four-year term.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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