Stock market futures opened Monday’s trading session with gains as June began, driven by artificial intelligence breakthroughs that helped investors look past continuing Middle East conflict worries.
Shares of Nvidia jumped 1.6% before regular trading hours after the world’s most valuable corporation announced a new processor designed to bring artificial intelligence features to personal computers and laptops, scheduled for launch this autumn.
The processor stems from a three-year collaboration with Microsoft to “reinvent the PC” for the AI era, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said. Microsoft stock climbed 2.8%.
Competing PC processor manufacturers saw declines. AMD and Intel dropped 3.4% and 2.9%, respectively.
Market sentiment turned more cautious and petroleum prices increased following recent military exchanges between the U.S. and Iran that heightened worries about diplomatic efforts to resolve the three-month-old conflict.
Major stock indexes finished May at all-time peaks, buoyed by optimism about a potential conclusion to Middle East hostilities and exceptional first-quarter corporate profits.
Market participants now await Friday’s employment data before Kevin Warsh’s first policy meeting as the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve this month, amid growing inflation concerns tied to the Iran conflict.
Market participants estimate nearly a 70% probability of a quarter-point interest rate increase by year-end.
As of 05:18 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis advanced 143 points, or 0.28%, while S&P 500 E-minis gained 17.5 points, or 0.23%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis increased 86.75 points, or 0.29%.
Following AI server manufacturer Dell’s positive earnings forecast last week, attention will move to Broadcom’s financial results Wednesday. Broadcom ranks as the nation’s second-largest semiconductor company by market capitalization behind Nvidia.
Statements from multiple Fed officials and a beige book publication will draw attention this week before the central bank begins its pre-meeting silence period Saturday.
In additional corporate developments, Cadence Design Systems climbed 8.2% after introducing an autonomous engineer for semiconductor design, utilizing Nvidia technology.
Micron jumped 5.3% to $1,022, surpassing the $1,000 threshold for the first time. The stock has risen almost 90% during May.
