US STOCKS STEADY AS SPACEX MARKET DEBUT APPROACHES
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting after oil prices fell again and as Wall Street waits for the highly anticipated debut of SpaceX coming later in the day.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% early Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 292 points, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%.
SpaceX’s stock will begin trading later in the day, marking the first of three significant AI-related companies to start selling shares on the U.S. market. This debut could indicate investor appetite for AI stocks following recent volatility and skepticism.
Brent crude fell 2.4%, contributing to a backdrop of fluctuating oil prices as Wall Street's rebound continued into early Friday. Futures for the S&P 500 were 0.6% higher before the opening bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.5%.
Investors in the U.S. and abroad were also preparing for SpaceX's Friday debut on Wall Street, which is expected to be the largest IPO on record, raising around $75 billion. Elon Musk, whose net worth Forbes estimates at $982.6 billion, is on track to become the world's first trillionaire.
If SpaceX shares maintain their offering price, the company's market value would reach $1.77 trillion, equating it to Broadcom, the sixth most valuable publicly traded company. Currently, Nvidia holds the title of the world’s most valuable public company, valued at approximately $4.9 trillion.
In other trading news, Adobe's shares fell by 7.3% after the software company exceeded Wall Street's sales and profit expectations while raising its full-year guidance. Adobe's stock has declined by 42% since the beginning of the year, and the company is searching for a new CEO following Shantanu Narayen's announcement in March that he would step aside after 18 years in leadership.
Expectations of a U.S.-Iran agreement to potentially reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil and gas transport, have contributed to falling oil prices. Brent crude oil, the international standard, dropped $2.94 to $87.44 a barrel, remaining significantly higher than the approximately $70 per barrel level before the conflict escalated in late February.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell $3.05 to $84.66 a barrel. Earlier in the week, global markets had retreated amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Investor optimism resurfaced after President Trump claimed a breakthrough in discussions to conclude the Iran war. He stated that the U.S. had achieved a 'great settlement' and indicated that an extension of the current ceasefire could be finalized in the coming days, though few details were provided.
ING commodities analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey noted, 'Trump has said many times before that a deal is very close, only for hostilities to resume. However, there does appear to be more positive noise around the deal this time.'
They cautioned, 'We would be cautious about assuming that the extension of the ceasefire is a done deal. Even if it is, it could be fragile.'
In Europe, midday trading saw Germany's DAX increase by 1.6%, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose by 1.8%. Despite data indicating a 0.1% contraction in Britain's economy in April, the FTSE 100 added 1.1%.
Asian markets recorded larger gains, with South Korea’s Kospi jumping 4.6% to 8,123.62, recovering losses from earlier this month due to sell-offs in AI-related shares. The Kospi has nearly doubled over the past six months, achieving a record closing high of 8,801.49 on June 2.
Samsung Electronics, South Korea's most valuable company, advanced by 7.9%, and computer chipmaker SK Hynix rose by 2.3%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 2.8% to 66,020.04, driven by technology stocks, with SoftBank Group up by 1.5% and chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron surging by 7.3%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose by 1.7% to 24,658.91, while the Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.1% to 4,031.51. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 2% higher at 8,804.00, with Taiwan’s Taiex gaining 2.4% and India’s Sensex advancing by 1.4%.
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2026-06-12T14:43:33Z