Dow defies tech weakness as Nasdaq, S&P close lower

4:20pm: Semiconductor rally fades

US stocks finished mixed on Tuesday as investors rotated out of technology shares and geopolitical concerns weighed on sentiment.

The S&P 500 slipped 19 points, or 0.3%, to 7,387, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 251 points, or 1%, to 25,679.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the broader trend, rising 86 points, or 0.2%, to close at 50,872.

Markets started the session on a firmer footing as AI-related stocks attempted to rebound from recent weakness. By the afternoon, the recovery lost steam as early gains in semiconductor names such as Micron Technology and Broadcom faded, dragging the broader technology sector lower.

3:30pm: Proactive news headlines

• 1911 Gold Corp (TSX-V:AUMB, OTCQB:AUMBF, FRA:2KY) filed a preliminary prospectus for a public offering of common and flow-through shares to fund exploration, development, technical studies and working capital at its True North Gold Project in Manitoba.
• Miivo Holdings Corp (TSX-V:MIVO) completed its C$1.25 million acquisition of Dubai-based advisory firm Tandem Partners, formalizing a long-standing relationship that included CEO and CFO services.
• 374Water Inc (NASDAQ:SCWO, FRA:8LL) expanded its commercial-scale supercritical water oxidation operations in Orlando through an amended license agreement that significantly increases facility size, storage capacity and processing throughput.
• Royal Road Minerals Ltd (TSX-V:RYR, OTC:RRDMF, FRA:RLU) reported high-grade silver and antimony drill results at its Margaritas target in Colombia, including an intercept grading 651 g/t silver and 0.47% antimony.
• Arizona Gold & Silver Inc (TSX-V:AZS, OTCQB:AZASF, FRA:A9J0) launched a 27-hole drill program at its Silverton project in Nevada to test near-surface antimony mineralization and a deeper gold target.
• Alvopetro Energy Ltd (TSX-V:ALV, OTC:ALVOF, FRA:A6Y0) identified potential natural gas pay zones at a new infill well in Brazil's Murucututu field while also announcing a quarterly dividend.

2:40pm: Market movers

• Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, XETRA:APC)shares fell after its Worldwide Developers Conference highlighted a major Siri AI overhaul powered by Apple Intelligence and Google collaboration, though investors questioned the speed of its broader artificial intelligence rollout despite the product upgrades.
• Designer Brands Inc (NYSE:DBI) shares tumbled after the footwear retailer posted a first-quarter earnings beat but kept its full-year outlook unchanged, which investors interpreted as a sign of weakening forward demand despite modest sales growth.
• United Natural Foods (NASDAQ:UNFI) shares dropped after the grocery wholesaler reported quarterly net sales below analyst expectations, even as earnings slightly beat forecasts, highlighting pressure on revenue performance.
• J M Smucker Co (NYSE:SJM) shares rose after the packaged food company delivered stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results, driven by strength in its coffee business and higher-than-forecast net sales growth.

1:40pm: IPOs could test investor patience: analyst

Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, has cautioned investors against treating OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX as a single investment theme, arguing the three companies have fundamentally different value drivers.

According to Green, OpenAI’s strength lies in its global brand recognition and rapid consumer adoption, but the analyst warned that its push to popularise AI tools for free or low cost could make monetisation more challenging as public market investors demand clearer paths to profitability.

By contrast, he highlighted Anthropic as more enterprise-focused, saying its strategy of targeting corporate clients could generate stickier, higher-value contracts and potentially more durable revenue streams as AI becomes embedded in business operations.

SpaceX, meanwhile, was described as a separate case altogether, with Green pointing to its expansion beyond rockets into satellite communications and broader space infrastructure.

“OpenAI is a bet on turning extraordinary consumer adoption into profits,” he wrote.

“Anthropic is a bet on enterprise AI becoming embedded across business.

“SpaceX is a bet on Elon Musk continuing to achieve what critics say cannot be done.”

12:20pm: Oil softens

Stock markets were mixed by midday despite lower energy prices, renewed buying in AI infrastructure stocks, according to Axel Rudolph, Chief Technical Analyst at investing and trading platform IG.

“The price of crude oil slid by around 3% - to below the $90 per barrel mark - as Iran and Israel agreed to halt exchanges of fire, boosting hopes of peace negotiations resuming," Rudolph noted. 

"Yields and the US dollar retreated as safe heaven trades were unwound, but this didn't seem to help gold and silver prices which were back under pressure."

11:10am: OpenAI joins IPO party

OpenAI has taken its first formal step towards a stock market listing, filing confidentially for an initial public offering just months after securing one of the largest private fundraising rounds in corporate history.

The ChatGPT developer said it had submitted draft registration documents to the US Securities and Exchange Commission but stressed that no decision had been taken on the timing of a flotation.

"We expect it to leak so we're just announcing it," the company said. "We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company."

Reports suggested that management and advisers including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are targeting an IPO in the fall.  

The filing comes just a week after rival Anthropic began its own IPO process at a projected higher valuation just shy of $1 trillion, highlighting intensifying competition between the two AI groups.

10am: Dow Jones opens highest

US stocks have continued their rebound in early Tuesday trading, with the Dow rising 0.8%, ahead of gains of 0.7% for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

On the Dow, Nike, American Express, Sherwin-Williams, Home Depot and Caterpillar were among the biggest early gainers as investors rotated back into cyclical and consumer-facing names after last week's sell-off.

The strongest gains on the S&P came from semiconductor and technology names, with Lam Research, KLA and Applied Materials all up more than 6.5%, while consumer staples group JM Smucker joined the rally after reporting results.

8.25am: Nasdaq chips tipped to drive gains

Wall Street looked set to see chipmakers continue their rebound on Tuesday, with investors continuing to pick through the wreckage of last week's tech sell-off ahead of key US inflation data.

Futures pointed higher across the board, with contracts on the Nasdaq 100 up 0.9%, S&P 500 futures rising 0.4% and Dow Jones futures gaining 0.2%.

The positive tone follows a tentative recovery at the start of the week, when the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9% to close at 25,930 as investors returned to beaten-up semiconductor stocks, and the S&P 500 added 0.3% to finish at 7,406.

The Dow Jones was the odd one out, slipping 81 points to 50,786.

Semiconductor stocks led the rebound after Friday's sharp rout, which was triggered by stronger-than-expected US jobs data and concerns that stretched valuations left the sector vulnerable to profit-taking. Nvidia, AMD, Micron and Broadcom all recovered some lost ground.

"Friday's selloff didn't come out of nowhere," said market analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth. "It was the collision of not one but two powerful forces that had been building for weeks – the stretched technology trade and the stronger than expected economic data."

The sell-off reflected concerns that a resilient US economy could keep inflation elevated and force the Federal Reserve to maintain higher interest rates for longer, he said.

Investors will get fresh clues on that front this week, with consumer price inflation due on Wednesday and producer price data on Thursday.

Meanwhile, oil prices continued to retreat from last week's highs, with WTI dropping back below $90 a barrel, having topped $95 at the start of the week and almost $97 last week. This eases some concerns about energy-driven inflation and helps support risk appetite.

Asian and European markets were mostly higher in the early hours of Tuesday, with Nikkei closing up 2.2% in Tokyo, and the Kospi surging 8.2% in Seoul. Further west, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% in London, while there were good gains on the Continent, ranging from 0.6% to 1.9% as Italian banks and French and Spanish fashion brands led the way.

In company news, OpenAI confidentially filed for an IPO overnight, with the ChatGPT developer reported to be looking at a potential listing in the autumn. Following upcoming floats from SpaceX and Anthropic.

Macro data includes balance of trade, new home sales and the EIA short-term energy outlook. Earlier, US small business confidence was shown to have weakened slightly in May, with the NFIB optimism index falling to 95.3 from 95.9 in April, missing economists' forecasts for a reading of 96.0.

"We treat the NFIB survey with some scepticism, given the sharp fall in its already relatively small sample size in recent years," said Pantheon Macroeconomics, as just 504 companies replied to the survey in May.