US equity futures were mixed on Tuesday, with the heavyweight tech sector once again outpacing more traditional parts of the economy. Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures edged up to fresh record highs, while Dow futures traded about 100 points lower. Crude oil and fuel prices held steady at elevated levels, reinforcing the broadly accepted view that Middle Eastern supply is unlikely to normalize in the near term, thereby sustaining an inflationary backdrop.
Nevertheless, robust earnings prospects for AI-related software and hardware producers have continued to support stock indices since the Q1 reporting season. Hyperscalers traded higher in the premarket after SoftBank reported substantial gains on its private stake in OpenAI. Nvidia rose 2.5% after CEO Jensen Huang unexpectedly joined other tech leaders and the US delegation at a summit with Chinese officials, a move that could potentially clear the way for exports of more advanced chips to China.
