US Open: Wall Street loses momentum as AI costs and Middle East tensions cool sentiment

The start of today's Wall Street session brings a cooling of sentiment, with major indices opening in the red. Not long ago, American benchmarks were testing historical highs, but over the past few days, investors have been forced to swiftly revise their positions. The market has found itself caught in a vise between a costly technological battle in the artificial intelligence sector and growing information noise coming from the Middle East.

The technology sector, which has been the backbone of the rally for months, remains the main source of pressure. Today, however, it is starting to weigh on the indices due to the rising costs of maintaining a leading position in the AI race. Particular attention is being drawn to Alphabet's (GOOGL.US) plans, as the company intends to raise up to $80 billion in additional capital to finance its infrastructure. The sheer scale of these expenditures sends a clear signal to the market that the technological revolution is consuming vast amounts of capital, which naturally raises questions about the pace of monetization and future return on investment. Although demand for AI solutions remains very strong, investors are increasingly beginning to question the relationship between rising expenditures and future profitability.

Geopolitics remains the second crucial factor. Uncertainty surrounding US–Iran talks and the influx of conflicting information are keeping volatility elevated. On one hand, there are suggestions of a potential breakthrough in negotiations in the coming days; on the other hand, the lack of concrete agreements and reports of an impasse maintain caution among market participants. In the background, the risk of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz—a vital region for global oil supplies—remains present, fueling concerns over a potential inflationary impulse and limiting room for a more dovish Fed policy.

As a result, today's market weakness fits into a broader picture of growing selectivity. After a period of almost unconditional enthusiasm for AI and Big Tech, the market is visibly transitioning into a phase where the key factors are no longer just growth narratives, but also cost discipline and the real ability to generate returns on massive investments.

Source: xStation5

S&P 500 futures (US500) are under slight selling pressure today, though their quotes are hovering close to the baseline. It is difficult to talk about a strong bearish impulse in the market right now. Instead, a state of clear anticipation and investor uncertainty dominates, with market participants holding back on larger commitments ahead of the influx of subsequent macroeconomic and geopolitical signals. The market is moving within a narrow trading range, reflecting a temporary balance of power between the desire to take profits at high levels and the lack of unequivocal reasons for a deeper selloff.

Source: xStation5

Corporate News

Broadcom (AVGO.US) shares are up about 6% following the presentation of its new "Edge AI" solutions portfolio for smart homes and businesses, including devices featuring Wi-Fi 8 technology developed in collaboration with Samsung (SMSN.UK). The new chipsets, equipped with neural processing units (NPUs), are designed to process AI tasks locally at the edge of the network, which will reduce latency and offload cloud infrastructure.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE.US) shares surged 25% after announcing stellar financial results and raising its future outlook. This comes as companies are buying their servers in bulk (both traditional and AI-focused) and are willing to pay significantly higher prices to protect themselves against hardware shortages in the market.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI.US) introduced its new AMD Helios platform, a ready-to-deploy, energy-efficient server system that, thanks to a partnership with ARM, allows for more computing power packed into a single server rack while consuming less electricity. This platform is designed for data centers and artificial intelligence systems, enabling rapid deployment and easy scaling of capacity without the need to build infrastructure from scratch. As a result, companies can expand their AI data centers faster and more affordably, while keeping energy consumption down.

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, declared that Marvell Technology (MRVL.US) could become the next $1 trillion chipmaker. This represents a continuation of Nvidia's strategy to invest in technology partners that support AI infrastructure. In this case, Marvell provides custom networking chips and data connectivity solutions for AI data centers.