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US stock index futures rise on Middle East peace hopes, AI optimism

By Thomson Reuters May 6, 2026 | 3:57 AM

May 6 (Reuters) – Wall Street futures climbed on Wednesday, buoyed by hopes of a U.S.-Iran peace agreement and unrelenting optimism around artificial intelligence.

The rally, which took ​the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite indexes to ‌record highs on Tuesday, showed few signs of easing after Advanced Micro Devices forecast second-quarter revenue above expectations, helped by robust demand for its data-center chips.

“Wall Street continues to double down on its bet that ‌the ​war in the Middle East will ⁠not re-escalate and disrupt ⁠the market’s earnings-driven surge to all-time highs,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.

“The signals sent from the United States appear to offer reassurance that it’s not ​interested in renewing hostilities.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said “great progress” had been made toward a peace agreement with Iran, while ⁠Tehran said it will only ⁠accept “a fair and comprehensive agreement.”

Oil prices fell for ​a second consecutive day, with Brent crude futures slipping 3.3%.

The gains ​reflect rising risk appetite among investors, provided corporate ‌earnings remain strong and hopes for a peace deal stay alive.

But the more the stocks rise, the greater is the chance of a pullback if the diplomatic efforts to end the ⁠Iran war derails.

At 4:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis rose 126 points, or 0.25%, S&P 500 E-minis gained 23.25 points, or 0.32% ⁠and Nasdaq 100 ‌E-minis were up 228 points, or 0.81%.

AMD jumped ⁠18.1% in premarket trading, while rival Intel ​rose ‌6.1%. Super Micro also jumped 17.7% following a ​stronger-than-expected forecast ⁠for fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted profit.

Alphabet jumped 1.4%, narrowing the gap with Nvidia in the race to become the biggest company by market value. Nvidia rose 0.44%.

Arm Holdings gained 11.3% ahead of its quarterly results.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing ​by Arun Koyyur)