U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite up 0.79% at 26,548 in morning trading as investors bought into a fresh wave of gains in technology shares. The S&P 500 rose 0.59% to 7,517, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.23% to 50,693.
Futures had already pointed to a stronger start. Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 1.2%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.7%, and Dow futures added 258 points, or 0.5%, as traders weighed a mix of earnings optimism, deal speculation and a brief easing in geopolitical risk. President Trump said Monday that negotiations with Iran to end the war were “proceeding nicely,” and Brent crude was hovering below $100 a barrel, a combination that helped keep pressure off energy prices and broader inflation worries.
Micron Technology led the chip names higher, jumping 8% in premarket trading after UBS flagged more than 100% upside for the memory maker, citing durable long-term supply agreements. Dell Technologies rose nearly 2% in early trading on expectations for a strong first-quarter earnings print tied to Nvidia demand and wider artificial intelligence spending. Microsoft also drew attention after Pershing Square disclosed a new position in the company. Bill Ackman said Microsoft offers “analogous and compelling long-term value at today’s valuation,” putting another large-cap technology name in focus for investors looking past the day's headlines.
The move in semiconductors matters because it lands as markets are trying to decide whether the latest rally can broaden beyond a handful of megacap names. Nvidia is expected to report earnings soon and could spark a wider move if the numbers meet the market's high bar. At the same time, the European Union is speeding up trade talks with the United States ahead of the July 4th deadline in an effort to avoid higher tariffs on imported automobiles, another reminder that policy risks have not left the picture.
The sharpest single-company move came from SoftBank, whose shares hit a record high on Tuesday and were up roughly 40% over five trading sessions. The rally has been tied to reports that OpenAI is preparing to file for an IPO in the coming days, a development that would put fresh value on SoftBank's nearly $65 billion position in the company. By October, SoftBank would have an approximately 13% stake in OpenAI, and the surge has already pushed it past Toyota as Japan's most valuable company for the first time since 2000, excluding treasury shares. That is the line that matters for this market: the bid is not just about one stock or one report, but about how quickly investors are pricing the next phase of the artificial intelligence trade before it is even on the calendar.
