Stock futures jump as Micron continues epic run and oil declines: Live updates

U.S. stock futures jumped on Wednesday, a day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite touched new records, as a tech rally led by memory chipmaker Micron Technology continued and oil prices fell on hopes for an Iran truce.

S&P 500 futures were 0.3% higher, while futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 227points, or 0.45%. Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.49% higher.

Micron was higher by more than 7% in premarket trading, adding to an epic run which saw the shares surge 19% on Tuesday to top $1 trillion in market capitalization for the first time.

Investors have shifted to memory chip makers as their favorite way to play the AI bull market. Micron’s South Korean peer SK Hynix hit a $1 trillion market value as well overnight.

Micron, whose shares have more than tripled this year, was boosted Tuesday after UBS said the stock could more than double from here because of long-term agreements being signed by memory suppliers to fuel AI implementation.

A rally in the technology sector drove both the broad market index and tech-heavy Nasdaq to fresh intraday and closing highs in the previous session. The S&P 500 added 0.61%, while the Nasdaq popped 1.19%. On the other hand, the blue-chip Dow shed 118.02 points, or 0.23%.

Investors were also encouraged by messages from President Donald Trump indicating that talks with Iran to end the war were “proceeding nicely.” While the U.S. conducted “self defense” strikes in southern Iran early Tuesday, Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins said that the U.S. used “restraint during the ongoing ceasefire” between the two nations.

U.S. crude oil is down from its Friday close of around $97 a barrel, but is hovering around the $90 mark after falling 3% Wednesday as traders wait for more solid confirmation an agreement to open the Strait of Iran is near.

Hopes of easing Iran tensions, alongside a strong earnings season, have propelled stocks to a record this month. But Drew Pettit, U.S. equity strategist at Citi, doesn’t see much more room for stocks to run from here.

“You got yields higher, like 4.50% on the [U.S. 10-year Treasury] , and you have inflation expectations higher in a curve that’s actually gotten flatter throughout the year. All of that doesn’t set you up for a higher sustainable multiple at this point,” he said on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Tuesday afternoon.

Pettit’s 7,700 year-end target for the S&P 500 implies a modest increase of just 2% for the index.

Goldman Sachs disagrees, raising their year-end S&P 500 target to 8,000 from 7,600 late Tuesday on the notion that earnings growth will continue to be strong even with some geopolitical headwinds.