Stocks Rally as Micron Buoys AI Trade Ahead of PCE: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rallied across the world after Micron Technology Inc.’s blowout forecast reaffirmed the bull case for the artificial-intelligence trade. Sentiment drew further support from oil prices returning to prewar levels.
Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 2.2%, while those for the S&P 500 rose 0.7%. Micron jumped 17% in premarket trading. Brent crude dropped 1.3% to below $73 a barrel following a ramp-up in flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Treasuries and the dollar fell ahead of the latest personal consumption expenditures data.
Micron’s earnings offered a strong shot in the arm for a tech-fueled rally that has spluttered in recent days, signaling that the AI investment cycle remained firmly intact. Qualcomm Inc.’s sales outlook echoed that message as it seeks to win business from the biggest investors in data-center infrastructure.
“In a tech sector with strong growth and high expectations, we think investors will continue to look for signals that the AI adoption theme is playing out as expected,” said Richard Flax, chief investment officer at Moneyfarm. “Micron’s strong results are another data point that supports that positive thesis.”
The optimism was palpable in other regions too. A benchmark for Asian stocks advanced 1.5%, with Micron peers SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. rallying in South Korea. The technology sector far outperformed a 0.6% gain in Europe’s Stoxx 600.
Attention will turn Thursday to the release of May’s PCE index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. Forecasters expect the data to show acceleration on both a monthly and year-over-year basis.
Such a reading is unlikely to challenge a growing consensus at the Fed around the need for interest-rate hikes this year. While investors have dialed back bets on the scale of rate increases over the coming year as oil prices shed their war-driven premium, markets continue to see a hike as soon as September.
“If that comes in near expectations or higher, then we see the dollar drive further north,” said Nick Twidale, chief market analyst at AT Global Markets. “We could also see a dent in the positive risk sentiment.”
Markets will also follow remarks from New York Fed President John Williams, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Austan Goolsbee of the Chicago Fed later today. Given Chair Kevin Warsh’s refusal last week to offer any clues about his own outlook for rates, traders will likely put a premium on commentary from colleagues.
Meanwhile, China kicked off marketing up to €5 billion ($5.7 billion) of sovereign bonds in what could be its largest-ever such deal in euros. Separately, the nation’s central bank is introducing an overnight tenor into its open-market operations, a key step toward reshaping how it steers short-term borrowing costs.
Corporate Highlights:
EasyJet Plc signaled it’s willing to entertain a higher offer from Castlelake LP by granting the US investment firm more time and access to improve on its latest bid that values the UK discount carrier at about £4.93 billion ($6.5 billion). Amazon.com Inc. added $13 billion to its planned India investments, accelerating its buildout of artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure in the world’s most populous country. Lockheed Martin Corp. has been awarded a contract worth as much as $35 billion from the US Defense Department to quadruple production of missile-defense interceptors as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to bolster munitions output. The biggest US banks boosted their dividends after passing this year’s Federal Reserve stress tests, a hurdle that softened in recent years as regulators hash out new requirements. Anthropic PBC accused Chinese technology giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. of waging a large-scale effort to “illicitly” access its Claude artificial intelligence model using thousands of fraudulent accounts that undermine the US AI developer’s decision to keep its products out of China.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.6% as of 10:38 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures rose 0.7% Nasdaq 100 futures rose 2.2% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.5% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 1.5% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1370 The Japanese yen was little changed at 161.81 per dollar The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 6.8026 per dollar The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3191 Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 1.3% to $61,678.54 Ether rose 2.2% to $1,647.67 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.41% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.86% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.69% Commodities
Brent crude fell 1.4% to $72.68 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.2% to $3,992.29 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Shikhar Balwani.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
