Tech Drags Stocks Lower as Brent Tops $110 Again: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Technology stocks led equity markets lower as concerns over whether the vast amount of investment in artificial intelligence will pay off resurfaced. Brent rose above $110 a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz stayed shut.
Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.7%, with tech on the back foot after the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI recently failed to meet its goals for new users and sales. SoftBank Group Corp., a key backer of ChatGPT’s owner, slumped 9.9% in Tokyo. US-based OpenAI partners including Oracle Corp. and CoreWeave Inc. fell in premarket trading. Nvidia Corp. was poised to drop 1.7% from a record high.
Brent advanced for a seventh straight day. The White House said President Donald Trump will address a proposal from Iran to reopen Hormuz “very soon.” The dollar rose alongside global bond yields. The yen, meanwhile, reversed gains after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda refrained from giving a decisive signal on when interest rates may rise. S&P 500 contracts fell 0.3%.
Tech stocks are taking a breather after an 18-day advance in chipmakers fueled a nearly 10% gain in the S&P 500 in April. Resurgent optimism about AI stood behind the charge as the rest of the market lagged due to rising oil prices. Wednesday’s earnings from four hyperscalers will offer the rally another test.
“The single most important line item isn’t revenue or margins; it’s capex,” said Amanda Lyons, IT-sector lead and head of research at Energy Group Capital. “Any hint of slowing spend would be taken negatively for the ecosystem, but a sharp step-up would likely raise questions around returns.”
Europe led global bond losses on worries that rising oil prices will push inflation higher and prompt central banks to tighten monetary policy. Euro-area consumers saw prices soaring 4% over the next 12 months, up from 2.5% in February, according to a European Central Bank survey.
Ahead of this week’s policy meetings by the Federal Reserve, ECB and Bank of England, traders expect officials will keep rates on hold. The outlook gets cloudier for subsequent meetings, with everything hinging on the duration of the Middle East war. Money markets see the ECB and BOE hiking as soon as June, while odds are for the Fed to keep rates on hold for the rest of the year.
“The rising oil price is starting to feature in macro data,” said Anna Macdonald at Hargreaves Lansdown. “The longer the crisis rolls on, the more severe the impacts will be, and the more we expect it will dominate investor attention.”
Earnings Warning
With the earnings season in full swing, reports across the industrial, materials and energy sectors have highlighted headwinds posed by high commodity prices and rising logistics costs. The worries have so far been concealed by the rapid advance in tech stocks, but some investors warn there’s a risk of more bitter surprises ahead.
“Rather than oil moves driving sentiment, time could be the more important factor to watch,” said Laura Cooper, head of macro credit at Nuveen. “As the conflict extends and energy prices stay elevated, it will become increasingly complex to disentangle supply shortages and demand destruction as recession risks rise.”
Corporate Highlights:
Barclays Plc traders struggled to capitalize on a volatile quarter, with returns falling short of US rivals that benefited from exposure to commodities markets. BP Plc said earnings jumped in the first quarter as the Iran war led to a surge in profits from its oil trading operation and spiraling energy prices. General Motors Co. raised its profit outlook for the year by $500 million, saying its pickups and sport utility vehicles continue to sell even as gasoline prices soar due to the war in Iran. United Parcel Service Inc. left its financial guidance unchanged despite topping Wall Street’s first-quarter sales and profit expectations, underscoring the uncertainty that remains for the courier’s plan to overhaul its delivery network. Novartis AG reported profit below analysts’ estimates and an unexpected sales decline as some of its best-selling medicines were hard hit by generic competition.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% as of 6:48 a.m. New York time Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.7% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed The MSCI World Index was little changed Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2% The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1694 The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3488 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 159.61 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $76,598.96 Ether fell 0.3% to $2,285.24 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.35% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 3.05% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.99% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.5% to $99.73 a barrel Spot gold fell 1.5% to $4,613.39 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Neil Campling.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
