The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open on Monday, with stocks likely to see further upside after ending last Friday's choppy trading session mostly higher.
Optimism about the AI trade may contribute to initial strength on Wall Street after Nvidia (NVDA) unveiled a new superchip RTX Spark in collaboration with Microsoft (MSFT) that the company said reinvents Windows PCs for the era of personal AI agents.
"The PC is being reinvented," said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. "For forty years, you launched apps. Click. Type. With RTX Spark and Microsoft Windows, you ask — and the PC does the work."
Shares of Nvidia are jumping by 2.4 percent in pre-market trading, while shares of Microsoft are surging by 3.8 percent. PC makers Dell (DELL) and HP (HPQ) are also seeing significant pre-market strength.
Buying interest may be somewhat subdued, however, as uncertainty about the conflict in the Middle East continues to hang over the markets.
Crude oil prices have surged after U.S. Central Command said it conducted "self-defense strikes" on Iranian radar and command and control sites for drones in Iran over the weekend.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said it targeted an airbase allegedly used in a U.S. attack on a telecommunications tower on Sirik Island in southern Hormozgan province.
President Donald Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social early this morning that "Iran really wants to make a deal" but urged patience amid ongoing negotiations.
"Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - It always does!" Trump said.
Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Friday but largely maintained a positive bias before ending the day mostly higher. The Dow led the way higher, although all three major averages ended the day at new record closing highs.
The Dow climbed 363.49 points or 0.7 percent to 51,032.46, while the Nasdaq increased 55.15 points or 0.2 percent to 26,972.62 and the S&P 500 rose 16.43 points or 0.2 percent to 7,580.06.
For the holiday-shortened week, the Nasdaq surged by 2.4 percent, the S&P 500 jumped by 1.4 percent and the Dow advanced by 0.9 percent.
The higher close on Wall Street came as traders generally remain optimistic about a U.S.-Iran deal but seemed to be waiting for more concrete developments before making more significant moves.
Recent reports have suggested the U.S. and Iran have agreed to a framework for a 60-day extension of the ceasefire.
The agreement would purportedly facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and enable fresh negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, although President Donald Trump has yet to sign off on the deal.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he will be meeting with advisors in the situation room to make a "final determination" on the agreement.
Trump indicated certain less important issues have been agreed to but said Iran must agree they will never have a nuclear weapon and to immediately reopen the Strait or Homuz with no tolls.
Positive sentiment may have been generated in reaction a sharp increase by shares of Dell Technologies (DELL), with the computer maker skyrocketing by more than 33.7 percent.
The rally by Dell came after the company reported better than expected fiscal first quarter results and raised its full-year guidance.
With Dell helping lead the way higher, computer hardware stocks skyrocketed on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 8.6 percent to a new record closing high.
NetApp (NTAP) also posted a standout gain, with the data infrastructure company soaring by 22.4 percent after reporting better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance.
Substantial strength was also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 6.2 percent spike by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. The index reached its best closing level in four months.
Gold and brokerage stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while telecom, retail and natural gas stocks showed notable moves to the downside.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are surging $2.43 to $89.79 a barrel after tumbling $1.54 to $87.36 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after jumping $60.60 to $4,593 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slumping $62 to $4,531 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.43 yen versus the 159.26 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1648 compared to last Friday's $1.1659.
Asia
Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Monday as expectations for continued demand for semiconductors and AI-related gear offset lingering uncertainty over a possible ceasefire extension in the Middle East.
In partnership with Microsoft, Nvidia today unveiled its long-rumored RTX Spark N1X ARM processor, set to revolutionize personal computing and challenge Intel and AMD's dominance. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claimed this development is the most significant change in PCs in 40 years.
The dollar held steady in Asian trading, while gold slipped towards $4,500 an ounce ahead of speeches from several Federal Reserve officials and key U.S. manufacturing and jobs data due this week.
Brent crude futures jumped more than 3 percent toward $94 a barrel amid a renewed exchange of military strikes between the United States and Iran. The U.S. said it conducted "self-defense strikes" on radar and command sides in Iran over the weekend.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted an airbase allegedly used in a U.S. attack on a telecommunications tower on Sirik Island in southern Hormozgan province.
China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.3 percent to 4,057.74 on concerns over an economic slowdown after official data pointed to weakening momentum in the country's manufacturing sector in May. A private gauge showed continued growth in manufacturing during the month but at a softer pace.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 0.9 percent to 25,398.18, led by gains in technology shares.
Japanese markets surged, led by AI-related shares. The Nikkei 225 Index crossed 67,000 for the first time before closing up 0.9 percent at 66,934.33. The broader Topix Index settled 0.4 percent lower at 3,940.70.
SoftBank Group shares soared 14 percent to a record high, pushing its valuation to a peak of 48 trillion yen.
The yen remained under pressure to hover near the closely watched 160 level as data showed Japan's biggest companies reduced capital spending in the first quarter.
Bond yields reached their highest level in 40 years following reports that the Japanese government is compiling a supplementary budget of around 3 trillion yen, or about $19 billion, to help households with the cost of living.
Seoul stocks rallied to reach a new peak, lifted by buying in chip stocks tied to artificial intelligence demand. The Kospi Index soared 3.7 percent to 8,788.38 on extended tech rally, with Samsung Electronics rallying over 10 percent to a record high and SK Hynix climbing 1.3 percent.
Government data showed earlier in the day that Korea's exports surged 53 percent from a year earlier to a new monthly high of $87.8 billion in May, driven by the semiconductor supercycle.
Australian markets ended on a flat note ahead of April GDP data due on Wednesday and amid uncertainty over ongoing ceasefire negotiations between the Unted States and Iran. Banks, healthcare and energy stocks led losses, offsetting gains in technology and mining stocks.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index edged up by 0.3 percent to 13,244.55.
Europe
European stocks are turning in a mixed performance on Monday as investors weigh the latest developments in the Middle East and monitored oil prices movements.
Brent crude futures jumped more than 3 percent toward $94 a barrel after the United States and Iran exchanged fire over the weekend, and Israeli troops captured the strategic site of Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon in the deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter-century.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the capture of the strategic fortress as a "decisive shift" in Israel's campaign against Hezbollah.
In economic news, U.K. house prices declined for the first time this year amid high uncertainty over the developments in the Middle East and its impact on inflation and market interest rates, data from Nationwide Building Society showed.
House prices dropped 0.6 percent month-on-month in May, in contrast to the 0.4 percent rise in the prior month. This was the first monthly drop so far this year and also came in weaker than forecast of 0.1 percent fall.
On a yearly basis, house price growth eased notably to 1.7 percent from 3.0 percent in the previous month.
While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.6 percent.
EasyJet has soared on takeover interest. The budget airline called a potential £3 billion bid by a U.S. investment group "highly opportunistic," adding any deal would face substantial hurdles.
Sirius Real Estate shares have also moved to the upside in London. The real estate investment trust reported a 4.9 percent rise in profit before tax for the year to 31 March 2026.
Meanwhile, precision engineering group Hunting has fallen on news that its chief executive Jim Johnson will retire by mid-2027 after more than three decades at the firm.
U.S. Economic News
The Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on manufacturing activity in the month of May at 10 am ET. The ISM's manufacturing PMI is expected to inch up to 53.1 in May from 52.7 in April, with a reading above 50 indicating growth.
Also at 10 am ET, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on construction spending in the month of April. Construction spending is expected to rise by 0.3 percent in April after climbing by 0.6 percent in March.
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May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.