Wall Street stock futures climbed on Wednesday as investors weighed signs that the US and Iran may be closing in on a peace deal and a solid earnings season for tech companies continued.
Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) jumped 1.1%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) rose 0.7%. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), which includes fewer tech stocks, put on 0.8%, following fresh record closes for Wall Street stocks.
Investors were assessing an Axios report that the US believes it’s close to an agreement with Iran on a one-page memo to end their war. Optimism for a Middle East peace deal had already got a boost from President Trump’s abrupt pause on the US plan to help ships transit the Strait of Hormuz.
Upbeat tech earnings were also buoying markets, as chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)stock surged 18% after upbeat earnings and current quarter forecast. Meanwhile, Super Micro Computer (SMCI) rallied 17% following stronger-than-anticipated quarterly guidance.
Upbeat investor sentiment has been supported by a steady stream of earnings beats. Roughly 85% of reporting S&P 500 companies have exceeded profit expectations, while about 77% have delivered upside revenue surprises.
Jobs data has been in focus this week. Tuesday saw the release of the JOLTS report, and Wednesday’s private employment report from ADP will follow. April’s layoff announcement data from the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas will land Thursday.
Looking ahead, earnings continue to roll through with Novo Nordisk (NVO), The Walt Disney Company (DIS) and Uber (UBER) all reporting before the market opens Wednesday.
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Memory maker Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) has joined TSMC (2330.TW, TSM) in an elite club of Asian companies with a market cap over $1 trillion.
Bloomberg reports:
Samsung Electronics Co.’s market valuation topped $1 trillion after shares in the world’s largest memory maker more than quadrupled over the past year on booming demand for the chips used in artificial intelligence.
The milestone came as the South Korean company’s shares rallied 14% on Wednesday, making it only the second Asian firm after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to hit the mark. Samsung’s gain also boosted the Kospi benchmark by more than 6%, driving it above the 7,000 level for the first time.
Samsung, alongside memory peer SK Hynix Inc. and TSMC, sits at the heart of a transformation that has made Asia a cornerstone of the global AI ecosystem, pairing chipmaking dominance with expanding data infrastructure. That shift has fueled a powerful rally in regional tech stocks — SK Hynix and TSMC have also reached record highs — as investors bet on sustained demand for advanced chips and computing capacity.
“The trillion dollar threshold carries material weight beyond the symbolism,” said Dave Mazza, chief executive officer at Roundhill Investments in New York. “More broadly, it reflects a market judgment that memory’s role in the AI infrastructure stack is structural, not cyclical.”
Read more here.
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Bloomberg reports:
Oil fell a second day as US President Donald Trump said “Great Progress” has been made on a final agreement to end the war with Iran.
Brent (BZ=F) dropped toward $108 a barrel after sliding 4% on Tuesday, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) was near $100. US efforts to move ships through the Strait of Hormuz will be paused, but a naval blockade will remain in place, Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The global benchmark has climbed by about 50% since the conflict started at the end of February, cutting off hundreds of millions of barrels of Persian Gulf oil from global markets. Flows through the chokepoint are now constrained by a double blockade, with Tehran obstructing shipping while the US is stopping vessels from accessing Iranian ports.
Read more here.