GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks rally on AI optimism; jitters over Iran persist

Tue, 02nd Jun 2026 17:27

* AI optimism and strong tech ⁠forecasts drive global stock rally

* Oil slips, but Middle East tensions persist

* Euro zone core inflation rises, ECB rate hike expected

NEW YORK/LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) - Global stocks rallied on Tuesday, buoyed by AI optimism, while oil prices ‌and bond yields fell on renewed hopes of a U.S.-Iran deal.

Brent crude futures fell 0.1% to just below $95 a barrel, paring the previous session's sharp gains, after U.S. President ⁠Donald Trump said talks with Iran continued.

His comments came despite a report that ⁠Tehran had suspended indirect negotiations with Washington to end hostilities, keeping investors cautious about efforts to end the three-month war and underlining the fragility of an ongoing ceasefire.

AI ENTHUSIASM

Anthropic said on Monday it had confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, edging ahead of rival OpenAI in a closely watched race to reach public markets. Google parent Alphabet is also seeking to raise $80 billion ‌in equity to fund the expansion of its AI infrastructure.

"This speaks to the huge sums involved in keeping pace in the AI arms race. It represents a significant shift from a period of bumper free cash flow to going cap in hand to the markets to help fund its expansion," Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said.

On the economic front, U.S. job openings, a measure of labor demand, increased more than expected in April, hitting the highest level in nearly two years, according to Labor Department data on Tuesday.

That came after data showed on Monday that U.S. manufacturing beat expectations ‌to hit a four-year high, likely driven by firms front-loading orders amid rising prices and supply concerns linked to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

"The jobs data was significantly higher than expected and you would think ‌that it would have boosted rates but they didn't go up," said Gerry Sparrow, chief investment officer at Sparrow Capital Management.

"Employment is strong, which is a good thing for consumer spending. So I think the market is healthy because of the jobs data."

On Wall Street, all three indexes were trading higher after losing ground in early trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.30%, the S&P 500 rose 0.24%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.28%.

Europe's STOXX 600 was up ‌0.71%, as a strong forecast from chipmaker STMicroelectronics lifted technology stocks.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe was up 0.48% after hitting a fresh record high.

In Taipei, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company had enough supply to support strong growth in central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs), but acknowledged supply constraints remained ⁠a concern.

In ⁠currency markets, the dollar edged slightly lower. The euro, still 1.5% below its level at the ‌start of the war, was last up 0.04% on the day at $1.16365.

The Japanese yen weakened 0.14% against the greenback to 159.85 per dollar. Sterling strengthened 0.19% to $1.3477.

Data showed euro zone core inflation at 2.5% year-on-year in May, above expectations of 2.4% and April's 2.1%. Money markets price in a quarter-point European Central Bank rate ‌hike this month, with at least one more by year-end.

The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 3 basis points to 4.447%. The yield on the benchmark German 10-year Bunds fell 4 basis points to 2.973%.

Gold rose 0.46% to $4,504.09 an ounce.