U.S. equity futures traded close to unchanged on Friday as market participants assessed reports of progress in negotiations between the United States and Iran, while also turning their attention to a series of potentially record-setting stock market debuts expected later this year.
Futures hold steady
At 03:42 ET, futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were broadly flat, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped by 0.1%.
U.S. stocks ended Thursday’s session modestly higher after investors welcomed a combination of encouraging corporate earnings, softer-than-expected inflation data and growing hopes that diplomatic efforts could lead to a resolution of the conflict involving Iran.
“We still think an Iran deal is widely expected and so the reaction in the SPX when one arrives shouldn’t be dramatic at this point, although oil and yields have room to fall, and could have a more pronounced response to an accord,” analysts at Vital Knowledge said in a note.
Reports suggest progress on extending Iran truce
According to media reports, Washington and Tehran have reached a preliminary agreement to prolong their existing ceasefire, although the proposal still requires approval from President Donald Trump.
Sources cited by Reuters said the arrangement would extend the truce by 60 days and allow commercial vessels to once again pass through the Strait of Hormuz while negotiators continue discussions on a broader framework that includes Iran’s nuclear programme.
The Strait of Hormuz has become one of the most critical issues in the conflict. Around 20% of global oil shipments pass through the waterway, and restrictions imposed during the crisis have disrupted energy flows, tightened supply and driven crude prices sharply higher.
Oil heads lower on easing supply concerns
Energy markets responded positively to the prospect of renewed stability in the region.
Brent crude futures traded around $93.87 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures slipped 0.2% to $88.72 per barrel.
The recent decline puts oil on course for its largest weekly loss since early April, although prices remain significantly above levels seen before the conflict began. Earlier in the crisis, crude prices briefly climbed above $100 per barrel, intensifying concerns that rising energy costs could feed into global inflation.
Fresh inflation data from the United States indicated that price pressures eased more than expected in April. However, there are signs that higher fuel and energy costs are beginning to weigh on consumers, leading some households to reduce spending.
“[T]he Fed is unlikely to cut rates again anytime soon and will likely retain a hawkish bias over the summer months, until policymakers are confident that the energy surge has passed and will start to reverse,” analysts at ING said in a note. “But that requires a deal to re-open the Strait of Hormuz.”
Anthropic nears trillion-dollar valuation milestone
Investor attention was also drawn to developments in the technology sector, where several high-profile listings are expected to dominate capital markets activity in the months ahead.
Artificial intelligence company Anthropic announced a $65 billion Series H funding round, giving the business a post-money valuation of $965 billion and bringing it close to the trillion-dollar mark.
The fundraising attracted backing from a wide range of major investors, including Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, Sequoia Capital, Capital Group, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, GIC, ICONIQ and XN.
Anthropic chief financial officer Krishna Rao said the company’s annualised revenue run rate surpassed $47 billion earlier this month, driven by increasing demand from enterprise customers following its Series G financing round in February.
The company said the new capital would be used to strengthen its computing infrastructure, advance research into AI safety and interpretability, and support the continued expansion of its Claude artificial intelligence models.
Anthropic has recently secured significant computing capacity through partnerships with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX).
Its Claude models are currently available through Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, with AWS continuing to serve as the company’s primary cloud and training partner.
SpaceX reportedly lowers IPO valuation goal
Meanwhile, Bloomberg News reported that SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) is targeting a valuation of at least $1.8 trillion for its forthcoming initial public offering.
Although below earlier internal projections of more than $2 trillion, the revised figure would still make the offering the largest IPO ever undertaken if achieved.
According to the report, the company plans to raise as much as $75 billion through the transaction. Investor presentations could begin as early as 4 June, with pricing potentially taking place around 11 June.
Bloomberg noted that the lower valuation target followed discussions with advisers and institutional investors, although the final valuation and amount raised will depend on demand throughout the marketing process.
With geopolitical developments and landmark technology listings both shaping investor sentiment, markets are likely to remain focused on the progress of Iran negotiations and the scale of upcoming IPOs as key themes in the weeks ahead.
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