By Dow Jones Newswires Staff


U.S. stock futures rose in early European trade as a rally in AI-related stocks continued in Asia, while Middle East peace hopes were helped after Israel and Iran pulled back from Sunday's escalation.

Brent crude oil slipped at the European open after Iran and Israel said they would only renew attacks if the other did first after exchanging strikes Sunday. President Trump told reporters a peace deal that would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz remains close, and could be agreed to in days.

Nasdaq futures were in the green, building on Monday's rebound after a sharp selloff at the end of last week. South Korea's memory chip-heavy Kospi index jumped over 8% as fresh momentum built around artificial-intelligence stocks.

The dollar nudged down slightly and U.S. Treasurys were steady ahead of a quiet day of economic data. Investors will look ahead to Wednesday's U.S. CPI print for May.


--Oil prices erased most of the previous session's gains. In early European trading, Brent crude was down 1.2% to $93.08 a barrel, while WTI futures declined 1.8% to $89.68 a barrel. Meanwhile, the latest trade data from China shows crude oil imports fell further in April as refiners increasingly draw down inventories rather than sourcing additional barrels from abroad. "The 29% year-on-year drop together with a surge in U.S. exports, releases from SPR, and a degree of demand destruction, helps explain why oil prices failed to rally more aggressively during last month's supply disruptions," analysts at Saxo Bank said.


--U.S. stocks pointed largely higher premarket. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat premarket.


--Asian equities rose Tuesday, buoyed by easing Middle East tensions that spurred investor appetite for risk assets. Semiconductor stocks led a rebound South Korean and Taiwan markets. The Kospi ended 8.2% higher and Taiwan's Taiex advanced 2.8%. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.3%.


--European stocks were mostly higher in early trade. Rebounding technology stocks countered losses for healthcare and software, as the Europe-wide Stoxx 600 traded flat. London's FTSE 100 slipped 0.3% as healthcare fell, with GSK down 2.5% after agreeing to buy drugmaker Nuvalent. Software groups Relx and Sage fell around 2%. Modest gains for banks and luxury groups helped the French CAC 40 rise 0.3%. Germany's DAX edged 0.1% higher, helped by a 2.7% gain for semiconductor group Infineon Technologies. The semiconductor-heavy AEX gained 0.3% in Amsterdam. Italian banks extended gains, pushing the FTSE MIB up 0.7% in Milan. Banks also rose in Spain as the index climbed 0.4%, though defense technology group Indra Sistemas fell 4%.


--The dollar fell as oil prices eased and demand for safe-haven assets moderated. "It felt as though for the time being at least, the weekend flare-up in hostilities had been stopped, and there was still a path for peace talks to continue," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note. The DXY dollar index falls 0.2% to 99.838


--U.S. Treasury yields were little changed in Asian trade. Stable yields follow a V-shaped price action in global yields on Monday. The two-year Treasury yield last traded 0.2 basis points lower at 4.155%, while the 10-year yield was up 0.2 bps at 4.551%.


--Eurozone government bond yields edged lower in opening trade, with the market's focus on a widely anticipated quarter-point rate hike by the European Central Bank on Thursday. On Tuesday, significant bond issuance from the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Finland and Italy might move yields. The 10-year German Bund yield fell 0.5 basis points to 3.054%.


--Bitcoin edged lower as it struggled to recover meaningfully after suffering heavy losses last week. The cryptocurrency reached a 20-month low on Friday. Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $63,366 after reaching as low as $59,125 Friday, LSEG data show. "With nothing important on today's economic calendar, bitcoin traders are likely to focus on geopolitical headlines, ETF flow direction, the dollar, Treasury yields and whether the $63,000 recovery attracts follow-through buying," Zaye Capital Markets analyst Naeem Aslam said in a note.


--Gold prices slipped in early trading. New York futures were down 0.3% to $4,351.80 a troy ounce. "Higher-for-longer rate expectations remain a headwind for non-yielding assets such as gold, particularly after strong U.S. economic data reinforced expectations of tighter monetary policy," said Soojin Kim from MUFG. "Gold remains around 18% below its pre-conflict level, reflecting the combined impact of rising bond yields, a stronger dollar, and shifting interest rate expectations."


Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-09-26 0423ET