US Open: Indices Continue Rebound, Driven by Tech Stocks and Falling Oil Prices

Tuesday's session on Wall Street kicked off with strong gains, as investors eagerly returned to the tech sector and AI-related companies following a wave of sell-offs late last week. On the other hand, after nearly an hour of trading, equities have lost a bit of steam.

Nevertheless, an additional catalyst for market bulls is a noticeable drop in WTI crude oil prices below $90 per barrel. This decline is driven by rising hopes for a swift diplomatic agreement between the US and Iran following a halt in recent attacks, which has significantly lowered US Treasury yields and boosted global risk appetite.

Market Overview and Major Indices

Wall Street's main cash indices started the trading day firmly in the green, though they have since pulled back from their daily highs:

• S&P 500 is currently up just 0.1%—despite being 0.7% higher at the open—as it attempts to secure another day of gains.

• Nasdaq 100 has turned negative, losing 0.25% after rallying 0.8% early in the session.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average records a modest increase of 0.3%.

Futures Market Performance

• US100 (Nasdaq 100 futures) are down 0.2%, reversing an earlier 0.7% gain.

• US500 (S&P 500 futures) is up about 0.1%, trading around the 7,420 point mark.

• US30 (Dow Jones futures) shows an increase of 0.4%.

• US2000 (Russell 2000 small-cap futures) is charting a very strong rebound, up 1.2%.

The primary catalyst for today's trading is capital flowing back into the "Magnificent Seven" stocks (with Meta up +1.9%, Alphabet +1.6%, and Nvidia +0.3% at the open) alongside semiconductor manufacturers. Sentiment in the chip and cloud technology space is getting a boost from reports out of China, which plans to allocate roughly $295 billion over the next five years to build out AI data center infrastructure. Concurrently, 10-year US Treasury yields dropped 2 basis points to 4.54%, temporarily easing inflationary pressures thanks to cheaper energy (WTI crude is down over 3%, trading below $90 per barrel).

Technical Analysis: US100

Looking at the US100 futures chart on the D1 interval, it is clear that contracts are rapidly recovering last Friday's losses, trimming the decline by nearly half to the 29,650–29,700 point range at the start of the session. Breaking above 29,800 during today's session would serve as a strong bullish signal.

The key task for the bulls now will be to break and hold above the resistance set by the morning highs around 29,650 points, which would clear the path for a test of the 29,800 zone. In an alternative scenario, should enthusiasm cool down ahead of tomorrow's CPI reading, the nearest significant support lies at the 29,500 point level.

Corporate Headlines

• Nuvalent (NUVL.US) – Shares of the biotech firm skyrocketed by nearly 39% at the open. British pharmaceutical giant GSK announced it will acquire the company in an all-cash deal valued at $10.6 billion ($124 per share), a move expected to significantly accelerate GSK's expansion into the advanced lung cancer therapy market.

• Applied Digital (APLD.US) – The stock rose over 4.5%. The neocloud company signed a 15-year, binding take-or-pay agreement with a major US hyperscaler to deliver 210 megawatts of critical IT load at its Delta Forge 2 campus.

• JM Smucker (SJM.US) – The jam and coffee manufacturer surged over 11% early in the session. The company's fiscal fourth-quarter financial results beat Wall Street expectations, primarily driven by successful product price hikes that offset cost pressures.

• Vail Resorts (MTN.US) – The mountain resort operator shed about 5%. The company decided to lower its full-year net income guidance, citing "historically challenging" and unpredictable weather conditions across the western United States.

• Perrigo (PRGO.US) – Shares fell 3% following news of the immediate resignation of CEO Patrick Lockwood-Taylor. The departure follows an internal investigation that revealed violations of the company's personal code of conduct and core corporate values.

• Apple (AAPL.US) – The tech giant's stock suffered another significant drop of nearly 3%. The Cupertino company officially confirmed that due to restrictive antitrust laws and digital regulations in the European Union, the rollout of its new Siri AI assistant will be temporarily blocked in those markets. The stock lost substantial value following yesterday's conference.