Premarket: Wall Street futures rise as oil slides, AI buzz lifts tech

Premarket: Wall Street futures rise as oil slides, AI buzz lifts tech PUBLISHED 59 MINUTES AGO COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER European equities rose on Wednesday as oil prices fell for a sixth straight session, while a fresh wave of AI optimism lifted tech stocks globally. Sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline and may have already resumed exports from the Red ⁠Sea port ​of Yanbu. U.S. President Donald Trump also said talks with Iran in New York had made progress, but then threatened to “annihilate” the country if a deal was not reached. “We’re probably nearing a point where it’s in both sides’ best interests to de-escalate the conflict and find a way to move forward,” said Brock Weimer, analyst, investment strategy, at Edward Jones. Iranian President Masoud ​Pezeshkian addresses the UN General Assembly later on Wednesday and markets are alert ‌to reports he might hold talks with Trump. A sustained resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz would be crucial to keeping inflation in check, which in turn will impact the global interest rate outlook. However, caution persists as similar optimism has unravelled quickly in the past. “We’ve been through a series of starts and stops like this,” said Cole Smead, CEO and portfolio manager at Smead Capital Management. The pan-European STOXX ‌600 index rose ​0.17 per cent to 643.86 points, while Brent crude ‌futures fell 0.40 per cent to US$98.83 per barrel. On Wall Street, futures tracking the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 were up ​0.10 per cent and 0.03 per cent, respectively. An MSCI index of global stocks was steady after four ⁠consecutive days of gains. In Asia, stocks rose as consumer hunger for AI apps continued ⁠to buoy tech stocks. Renewed buzz over AI helped South Korean stocks gain 0.9 per cent, with Samsung up nearly 1 per cent, while Taiwan’s benchmark firmed 0.8 per cent to near all-time ​peaks. The data hardware sector has been buoyed by strong consumer take-up of Meta’s Muse agent, which has topped US app download charts in the past two weeks. Analysts are now keen to see how a similar product from Alphabet’s Google Labs, known as CC, will fare with consumers. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington later in the day amid speculation that a trade truce between the two countries will be extended, and there ⁠could be cooperation over AI. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday, but Nikkei futures…