Global stock markets advanced broadly on Tuesday, buoyed by positive sentiment in the artificial intelligence sector. The optimism was ignited by AI company Anthropic initiating its process for a U.S. listing, fueling bullish industry sentiment. Concurrently, rising expectations for a potential U.S.-Iran peace agreement led to declines in international crude oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields.
U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that negotiations with Iran are still progressing. Brent crude futures fell over 1% to approximately $94 per barrel, erasing significant gains from the previous trading session.
Earlier reports suggested Iran had paused indirect ceasefire talks with the United States, introducing new uncertainty into the three-month-old conflict de-escalation process. The fragile prospects for a truce have kept investors cautious.
During the European morning session, the STOXX Europe 600 Index rose nearly 0.8%, with strength in the European technology sector driven by STMicroelectronics raising its performance forecast.
The AI Investment Frenzy
AI firm Anthropic officially announced on Monday that it has confidentially submitted an IPO application to the U.S. SEC, taking a lead in the highly watched race among AI giants to go public ahead of competitors like OpenAI. Meanwhile, Alphabet, Google's parent company, plans to raise $80 billion in equity funding to bolster its investments in AI infrastructure.
"This clearly illustrates the massive capital requirements of the AI arms race," commented Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell. "Technology companies are shifting from sitting on substantial free cash flow to turning to capital markets to raise funds for expansion, marking a significant transformation in the industry landscape."
On the macroeconomic data front, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported on Monday that the U.S. Manufacturing PMI for May rose to 54.0, a significant increase from April's 52.7, surpassing market expectations and hitting a four-year high. Market analysis suggests that disruptions to supply chains and inflation expectations stemming from the Iran conflict have prompted companies to stockpile inventory and front-load procurement orders, thereby boosting manufacturing activity.
In pre-market U.S. trading, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 index futures edged down about 0.1%, indicating a weaker opening for U.S. stocks. Both major indices had achieved an eight-session winning streak the previous day, once again setting new record closing highs.
"The S&P has notched an eight-day winning streak for the first time in a year," said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank. "If it closes higher this week, it would mark the first ten-week consecutive rise since 1985."
Speaking at an event in Taipei, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang stated that the company's current chip production capacity is sufficient to support the rapid expansion of its CPU and GPU businesses, but supply chain bottlenecks remain a potential concern.
South Korean stock market volatility intensified, with the KOSPI Index rallying before paring gains. Sharp swings in the share prices of semiconductor giants like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix weighed on the broader market.
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