North American Morning Briefing: Stock Futures Fall as AI Spending Fears Spike

OPENING CALL

Stock futures pointed to opening losses Tuesday as the AI trade and Middle East uncertainty looked set to pull markets in different directions.

Oil was giving up some of its gains from the previous session. Brent crude was down to around $93 a barrel.

Trump said Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to stop fighting, though it's unclear whether this has helped clear the path for progress in the talks with Iran.

The three major indexes all hit new closing highs on Monday, supported by software stocks. However, Alphabet issuing $80 billion in equity was giving investors another reason to fret about AI spending.

"Long gone are the days when the tech giants were capital-light free cash flow machines," Hargreaves Lansdown said. "The key question is whether that shift matters."

CGS International said the AI trade remains the most powerful force in global markets , adding that investors are looking for companies that can turn AI adoption into real revenue, productivity gains and automation data platforms.

Investors are also now turning their attention to the release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls and employment data due later this week amid growing inflation concerns, as well as remarks from Federal Reserve officials that could signal the future direction of monetary policy.

Stocks to Watch

Alphabet fell more than 2.5% premarket after the company said it plans to raise $80 billion to help finance AI infrastructure investments. Shares in Berkshire Hathaway, which agreed to buy $10 billion of stock, are little changed ahead of the bell.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is surging premarket after the server company reported rampant compute demand from customers transitioning to AI tools.

Marvell Technology soared by nearly a quarter premarket after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said it could become the next trillion-dollar company thanks to demand for AI hardware. Shares in Broadcom, which like Marvell provides equipment that helps scale up data centers, also jumped. Shares in Nvidia, which has invested in Marvell, advanced more than 1%.

STMicroelectronics' shares jumped after it raised its data-center revenue target on booming, you guessed it, AI demand.

Watch For:

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack speaks at the City Club of Cleveland

Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:

- Berkshire Is Convinced the American Dream of Homeownership Will Stay Alive

- Why 'Nvidia Inside' Can Work in the PC Market

- The NRA Is Going Through a Messy Breakup as Charitable Arm Splits and Rebrands

MARKET WRAPS

Forex:

The dollar eased after Lebanon announced a partial ceasefire between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.

ING said the dollar looked set to trade in a narrow range in the near term. It said a range of 99.0-99.50 in the DXY dollar index remained the comfort zone for now.

The euro continued to trade higher against the dollar after data showed eurozone inflation accelerated in line with expectations in May.

Bonds:

Treasury yields fell in Asian trade with prospects of a U.S.-Iran deal remaining in place despite fresh escalation between the U.S. and Iran on Monday.

Front-end Treasury yields were pricing the risk of a renewed Fed hiking cycle, analysts at Variant Perception said.

Energy:

Oil prices slipped as traders weigh mixed messages over the status of U.S.-Iran talks aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the conflict.

Metals:

Gold prices rose in early trading , as markets await clarity on the status of the U.S.-Iran negotiations.

"Gold continues to take its cues from the oil market given crude's influence on inflation expectations and, by extension, interest rates, bond yields and the dollar," Saxo Bank said.

Base metals

Copper and aluminum rose in early trade. Trump has signed a proclamation adjusting certain metals tariffs to more effectively address national security threats, the White House said.

Iron

Iron ore was higher in early trading. Shipping costs currently account for nearly 15% of iron ore prices, the highest in nearly five years, which provides strong support for iron ore prices, according to Nanhua Futures.

   TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES 

Why 'Nvidia Inside' Can Work in the PC Market

The "Intel Inside" marketing campaign made Intel a household name and a ubiquitous personal-computer chip supplier in the 1990s.

These days, "Nvidia Inside" has a lot more selling power.

Nvidia's Huang Says Marvell May Join $1 Trillion Club

Nvidia's Jensen Huang says Marvell Technology could be the next chip firm to join the trillion-dollar club, predicting a surge in demand for artificial-intelligence hardware fueled by the emergence of autonomous models.

Speaking at a trade show in Taipei alongside Marvell Chief Executive Officer Matt Murphy, Huang mapped out the future of AI infrastructure, highlighting a strategic transition from copper cables to optical communications.

Berkshire Is Convinced the American Dream of Homeownership Will Stay Alive

Berkshire Hathaway's $6.8 billion deal to acquire a major home builder reflects its conviction that the housing market will shake off its yearslong slump and recover as it always has.

With an all-cash agreement Sunday for Taylor Morrison Home Corp., the Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate is poised to become a top-five U.S. home builder, adding to its growing portfolio of housing-related companies.

Google Seeks $80 Billion for AI Buildout; Berkshire Will Buy $10 Billion Stake

Google parent Alphabet on Monday announced a plan to issue $80 billion in equity to finance enormous capital expenditures tied to the artificial-intelligence race.

The company said it had reached an agreement to sell $10 billion of stock to Berkshire Hathaway, deepening one of the Omaha, Neb.-based holding company's few big-tech investments. Alphabet plans to issue another $70 billion by various means this year.

Oil Pares Gains After Trump Efforts to Broker Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire

Oil pulled back from overnight gains as President Trump moved to assuage fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East though U.S. futures were shy of fresh record highs.

Treasury yields and the dollar fell back from overnight highs after the Lebanese embassy in the U.S. said it received confirmation of Hezbollah's acceptance of a U.S.-proposed partial ceasefire. A halt to Israel's expanded offensive into Lebanon is increasingly central to U.S. efforts to agree on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Eurozone Inflation Climbs Further as ECB Weighs Rate Hike

Higher energy prices drove inflation in the eurozone further beyond the European Central Bank's target in May, cementing expectations that policymakers will raise the key interest rate next week.

Ahead of the first U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February, inflation in the 21-nation currency area had been close to the ECB's 2% target for around a year, falling below the threshold to 1.7% in January. The central bank's President Christine Lagarde had repeatedly said monetary policy was in a "good place."

South Korea Inflation Accelerated to 26-Month High in May

South Korea's headline inflation accelerated to a 26-month high in May, strengthening the case for the central bank to tighten policy in the coming months.

The increase reflected the growing effects of higher oil prices amid Middle East tensions and the won's weakness against the U.S. dollar, both of which continued to raise import costs.

U.S. Presses Neutral Oman to Pick a Side and Cut Ties With Iran

At the start of the U.S.-Iran war, officials in Oman raced to establish a back channel with Tehran that, according to Arab officials, helped Gulf states reopen flight corridors-a diplomatic coup made possible by Muscat's staunch impartiality in the conflict.

Three months later, that neutral stance is beginning to backfire. Washington increasingly interprets Oman's approach toward Tehran as hostile to America and, according to U.S. and Arab officials, has pressed Oman to pick a side and cut diplomatic ties with Iran.

How a Far-Right Outsider Became the Front-Runner in Colombia's Presidential Race

BOGOTÁ, Colombia-On the campaign stage, Abelardo de la Espriella prowls inside a bulletproof cubicle against a backdrop of AI-generated images of tigers, the animal that has become the symbol of his audacious bid for Colombia's presidency.

De la Espriella rattles off campaign solutions for everything from high interest rates to the country's countless potholes, but he catapulted into the second round of the presidential election with a promise to smash drug-trafficking thugs with armed force. Not only that, but he would go hard after criminals of all stripes and embark on a prison-building spree to house them in the Amazon jungle.

Trump Administration Signals Retreat on 'Anti-Weaponization' Fund After Blowback

WASHINGTON-The Trump administration signaled a retreat Monday on its nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, which met powerful pushback from Republicans and threatened to derail the president's efforts to pass immigration-enforcement funding.

In a statement Monday, the Justice Department said it would abide by a judge's order Friday directing the government to temporarily halt work on the fund. A White House official said the statement was the first step toward dropping the fund. But the official cautioned that President Trump could change his mind. GOP lawmakers said late Monday that they wanted a clear statement from the president before they would be satisfied.

Russia Resupplies Its Syria Air Base, Hanging On to a Strategic Foothold

Russia sent a cargo ship to resupply its air base in Syria, a signal the Kremlin intends to maintain the strategically important military foothold under the country's new rulers, according to U.S. officials and satellite images reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

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June 02, 2026 06:14 ET (10:14 GMT)