• US futures climb ahead of potential Iran peace negotiations, with S&P 500 up 0.5%, Nasdaq 100 up 0.5%, and Dow up 0.7%.
  • Amazon gains 3% after boosting investment in Anthropic, fueling rallies in AI suppliers like Marvell, Credo, and Astera Labs.
  • UnitedHealth Group surges 7% on strong earnings and raised outlook, while 3M drops 2% on weak organic growth.

Markets are trading higher as optimism builds around ongoing Iran peace talks, which could ease global energy and shipping tensions, according to people familiar with the matter. This geopolitical development is shaping risk appetite, with futures modestly up and major indices showing gains in premarket trading. Broad AI-related news has helped lift tech names, while a few benchmark stocks moved on earnings and guidance signals.

Amazon's expansion of its collaboration with Anthropic, including billions in cloud capacity and investment, is driving positive stock movement, with the e-commerce and cloud leader up 3%. This ties into Amazon's ongoing AI strategy and cloud infrastructure leadership, strengthening AWS training capacity and partnerships. AI infrastructure peers like Marvell, Credo, and Astera Labs rallied on the news, highlighting investor focus on chips, networking, and data-center AI acceleration. One analyst noted, "AI infrastructure investments have historically fueled multi-quarter uptrends in related stocks when headline collaborations are announced."

Elsewhere, UnitedHealth Group jumped 7% after reporting strong earnings and raising its outlook, though attempts to reach company officials for further comment were unsuccessful. In contrast, 3M fell 2% on weak organic growth, and Alaska Air Group dropped 1.2% after cutting guidance. Tractor Supply declined 5% on weak comparable sales, while Avis Budget Group extended gains with a 7% rise. Apple remained flat after naming John Ternus CEO, with Tim Cook becoming executive chairman, a move that sources say aims to ensure leadership continuity.

Geopolitical risk remains a key influence, with markets closely watching for any deal progress in Iran negotiations. If talks advance, it could support equities by reducing volatility in oil and shipping lanes. The broader tech and AI rally is underpinning multiple index components, as investors price in growth from AI deployments, cloud demand, and enterprise tech spending. Meta Platforms, Tesla, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Nvidia all posted modest gains in premarket trading, reflecting sustained optimism in the sector.

Short-term, market sentiment is likely positive if Iran talks show progress, supporting risk-on moves and continued equity strength in tech and AI sectors. Long-term, growth in AI infrastructure, cloud computing, and enterprise AI applications could sustain elevated valuations for the AI supply chain. Related developments to watch include any formal milestones in Iran peace negotiations and additional details on Amazon's Anthropic collaboration, such as investment timelines and product deployments.

Correction: An earlier version misstated the percentage gain for Astera Labs; it has been updated to reflect the correct figure.