US equity markets opened higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 advancing 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq rising 0.4 percent. Pre-market futures had shown mixed signals—Dow futures were up 0.15 percent while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were both down 0.03 percent.
The Nasdaq 100 was taxed by broker IG at 30,474 points, just below Monday’s close. The index had climbed 2.8 percent at the week’s start, narrowing the gap to its June record to under 300 points. Gains were driven in part by a sharp advance in Meta, which benefited from what appeared to be a successful launch of its AI assistant Muse, and by further advances in semiconductor suppliers.
David Kruk, head of trading at Paris-based asset manager La Financière de l’Echiquier, said he saw no reason for investors to initiate short positions in technology and AI stocks ahead of the third-quarter earnings season. He added there was hope that President Donald Trump would find a way to lower oil prices before the November midterms, when the entire US House and roughly a third of the Senate are up for election and Trump faces tight races for Republican majorities in both chambers.
Oil prices remained a focal point. Brent crude traded around 0.6 percent lower at $98.95 a barrel, dipping back below the $100 psychological mark. A market commentary noted the market was shifting from a phase of worsening supply to one in which the worst of the shortage may have passed, though conditions for a sustained downturn were not yet in place. New fighting in the Yemen and a brief oil-price spike earlier in the day had renewed uncertainty after Monday’s mood had been buoyed by falling crude and optimism around AI.
Iranian diplomacy continued to weigh on energy markets. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf told state media that “diplomacy means no surrender but the transformation of field strength into political gains,” and said Trump could not impose his will on the Iranian people or armed forces. Iranian President Massud Peseschkian arrived in New York for the UN General Assembly, where he is set to speak Wednesday, with speculation building over possible meetings between the Iranian delegation and mediators or US officials.
At the Swiss listed Alibabas, US-listed shares were expected to gain 3.1 percent after Tuesday’s recovery. The Chinese e-commerce rival is launching what it calls China’s most powerful AI chip, intended to compete with Nvidia and support the massive expansion of its own datacenter capacity over the coming years. Nvidia shares traded slightly in negative territory.
Other semiconductor names faced modest pullbacks ahead of the bell: ARM Holdings, Intel and AMD each opened around 1 percent lower. AMD’s market capitalisation had surpassed $1 trillion on Monday.
Grab shares were projected to rise 4.8 percent after CEO Anthony Tan filed comprehensive stock purchases with the SEC, following a stabilisation attempt on Monday after a prolonged decline. Gamestop rose 4.1 percent on insider buying activity.
Swiss sportswear maker On surged more than 10 percent pre-market after announcing a share buyback of up to $1 billion through the end of 2029 and new long-term guidance. The company targets annual currency-adjusted revenue growth in the upper single-digit percentage range and net revenue of at least SFr 5.6 billion by 2029. For the current quarter, On expects currency-adjusted revenue growth of roughly 17 percent. The firm, whose investor roster includes Roger Federer, has also partnered with French football star Kylian Mbappé to expand its presence in apparel, sneakers and new sports categories, targeting market-share gains against Nike, Adidas and Puma.
In Switzerland, the SMI was 0.4 percent higher at the open, led by Geberit, which rose 3.2 percent. UBS fell 0.9 percent, while the euro traded just below 94 rappen against the franc. The SMI was last at 13,974 points, up 0.13 percent, and the SPI rose 0.20 percent to 19,799. EUR/CHF was at 0.9397, EUR/USD at 1.1457 (down from 1.1474 in the morning), and USD/CHF at 0.8202.
Logitech led Swiss blue chips at +2.7 percent and Givaudan rose 1.7 percent. UBS was the SMI’s biggest loser, down 1.7 percent after an intraday slide of nearly 4 percent, weighed down by expectations of political debate over future financial-sector regulation. Zurich fell 1.0 percent and Swiss Re dropped 0.7 percent. Kühne+Nagel rose 1.4 percent, supported by its long-term strategic partnership with Amazon announced the previous day.
