NEW YORK, June 3, 2026, 06:03 EDT
U.S. stock futures wobbled early Wednesday. A crude oil rally put pressure on Wall Street’s string of record highs, with traders questioning if the artificial-intelligence trade still has fuel to push the market further.
Dow Jones futures dropped 197 points, or 0.38%, to 51,203 in early trading at 5:46 a.m. ET. S&P 500 futures fell 9 points, or 0.12%, to 7,614.75. Nasdaq 100 futures edged up 41 points, or 0.13%, to 30,753.75. Brent crude traded higher at $98.62, up 2.79%, and U.S. WTI crude was at $96.96, rising 3.41%, according to Markets Insider.
Stocks are near all-time highs and there’s not much cushion if things sour. The S&P 500 and Dow set new records on Tuesday. The S&P 500 finished above 7,600 for the first time after AI-related shares climbed, helping offset investor worries about the Middle East and inflation.
Oil moved to the forefront. Brent and WTI both climbed to their highest since late May, as worries over new violence in the Middle East and a lack of progress in U.S.-Iran talks drove supply fears. Higher energy costs risk pushing up inflation, something that could keep the Federal Reserve from cutting rates or put a rate hike back on the table.
Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar said, “It is not in the interest of either the U.S. or Iran to go back towards fighting and bombing,” but added that the firm still expects a deal as its main scenario to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters
AI was again the main story on the tape. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called Marvell Technology the next “trillion-dollar company” at Computex, which drove Marvell up sharply Tuesday and put chips back in the spotlight. Traders are zeroed in on Marvell, Nvidia and Broadcom, since those stocks are the go-to plays for those betting that spending on AI infrastructure will keep running. Reuters
Marvell is up another 15% premarket Wednesday, Reuters said, while Broadcom added 3% ahead of earnings after the bell. Nvidia has rolled out new desktop and laptop chips. Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Alphabet gave updates that kept forecasts strong for AI spending.
AI stock gap widens as some rally and others lag, says Dickson
“The market is kind of muted at the surface level, but there is a lot going on under the hood,” Mike Dickson, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments, said. He sees “massive dispersion” in AI infrastructure names, with big moves in some stocks while software shares fall behind. Reuters
Palo Alto Networks boosted the growth-stock trade after it raised its full-year revenue and profit outlooks Tuesday evening. The company pointed to higher demand for cloud, identity, and AI-focused security tools. Shares jumped 7.4% after hours.
GameStop gained after the company posted a 14% jump in quarterly revenue and unveiled a $2 billion share buyback plan. The videogame retailer credited higher demand for collectibles for the sales boost. Its takeover attempt for eBay is still in limbo, with eBay calling last month’s offer “neither credible nor attractive.” Reuters
The economic calendar picks up. Investors will watch for private payrolls, the ISM services index, and the Fed’s Beige Book later Wednesday. May’s jobs report lands Friday. Reuters says economists see payrolls up 85,000, jobless rate steady at 4.3%.
Market bets look tight right now, with traders counting on solid AI earnings, contained oil-driven inflation, and a patient Fed. Any surprise out of the Middle East, a hot jobs number, or evidence that higher energy prices are hitting broader inflation could shake things up. At the moment, futures are pointed to a pause instead of a shift.
