Futures tied to Canada’s commodity-intensive benchmark inched upward on Tuesday, with traders reacting to diverging moves in safe-haven and energy markets as uncertainty persisted over U.S.-Iran peace talks.
By 08:20 ET (12:20 ET), the S&P/TSX 60 index standard futures contract had risen by 5 points, or roughly 0.2%.
That slight improvement followed a muted session on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday, when the S&P/TSX composite index closed 0.1% lower at 34,734.89. The decline was driven in part by weakness among financial stocks after renewed signs of tension in the Middle East weighed on risk appetite.
U.S. futures and technology headlines
Across the border, U.S. stock futures were broadly softer, with equity investors digesting a stream of technology-sector developments alongside the geopolitical headlines. As of 08:41 ET, Dow futures were down 247 points, or about 0.5%, S&P 500 futures had fallen 13 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were largely unchanged.
Wall Street’s main averages had finished slightly higher in the prior trading session, staging a modest rebound after President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran were still on track despite earlier reports that Tehran had ceased sending mediated messages to Washington. That resilience in sentiment during the last session was underpinned by strength in technology shares, which continue to attract investor interest amid widespread enthusiasm for artificial-intelligence developments.
One prominent tech-sector headline saw Anthropic, the creator of the Claude AI model, announce plans for a very large initial public offering at a valuation described in reports as approaching $1 trillion. Separately, hard economic data signaled that U.S. manufacturing activity has been broadly resilient even as the Iran war presents potential headwinds.
Alphabet’s capital-raising plan and market reactions
Alphabet Inc. unveiled a major capital-raising program intended to support its artificial-intelligence infrastructure spending. The plan comprises an $80 billion package made up of a $30 billion underwritten public offering - consisting of depositary shares representing mandatory convertible preferred stock, Class A common stock and Class C capital stock - together with a $40 billion at-the-market offering that the company expects to commence in the third quarter of 2026.
As part of the fundraising, conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway agreed to participate with a $10 billion private placement. Analysts at Vital Knowledge characterized that detail as an "ultimately negative" development in a note, saying that if a company with Alphabet’s scale cannot finance AI internally, it raises questions about who can.
Alphabet’s shares were trading lower by more than 2% in premarket U.S. activity.
Other tech moves: earnings, guidance and market cap shifts
Credo Technology Group experienced a share decline after reporting sales that fell short of optimistic expectations. By contrast, Marvell Technology’s stock saw a dramatic uptick, with shares described as having surged by more than 22%. At the last close, Marvell’s market capitalization stood at a little under $192 billion.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang suggested that Marvell could be the next "trillion-dollar company" in comments that accompanied broader optimism about demand for semiconductors tied to AI. Huang also stated that Nvidia has adequate supply to meet rapidly expanding demand for central processing units and graphics processing units. Nvidia shares rose around 1.6% in premarket trading.
Separately, Hewlett Packard Enterprise reported record second-quarter results and said it had accelerated its long-term financial targets by two years, attributing improved momentum to growth in AI data-center demand for servers and networking equipment. HPE’s stock jumped significantly in premarket trading.
Energy and geopolitical developments
On the geopolitical front, Lebanon announced a partial ceasefire between Iran-backed Hezbollah militants and Israel. At the same time, Israel’s military reported intercepting two projectiles fired from Lebanon on Tuesday, reflecting continued instability along the border.
Citing Lebanon’s embassy in Washington, reports said the truce was limited in scope and would not bring an end to the broader fighting in Lebanon - a point that has figured prominently in the U.S.-Iran negotiation process. The embassy urged Israel, a U.S. ally, to refrain from strikes on Beirut and Hezbollah-controlled suburbs.
The reporting noted that Israel has, in recent months, launched a joint assault with the U.S. on Iran and has also deployed forces into southern Lebanon. President Trump emphasized that Hezbollah had given mediators a commitment not to attack Israel, and, according to remarks attributed to the president, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to refrain from striking Beirut. Earlier comments by the president to ABC News suggested he believed a peace deal that would extend an existing ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz could materialize "over the next week," after a report that Tehran had halted mediated communications with Washington.
Trump described a recent interruption in talks as "a little glitch," which he linked to Iran’s objection to Israeli actions in Lebanon and which may have prompted Tehran to step away from direct engagement. It was not immediately clear whether formal U.S.-Iran negotiations had resumed.
Within this environment, global oil benchmarks moved lower. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, fell about 1.0% to $94.02 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped roughly 1.1% to $91.13 a barrel.
Gold and market implications
Gold prices advanced on Tuesday after suffering a sharp decline in the previous session. Market participants continue to weigh the possibility that a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz - a critical shipping lane for about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply - could trigger an energy-driven bout of inflation. Such a scenario could prompt central banks to raise interest rates, a dynamic that typically has negative implications for non-yielding assets like gold.
For Canadian markets in particular, the interplay between rising gold prices and softer oil has mixed implications. Canada’s large commodity exposure means that energy price moves remain a central driver of sentiment, while gains in gold can underpin valuations for mining-related segments of the TSX. At the same time, renewed geopolitical friction continues to pressure risk-sensitive sectors such as financials, which helped push the composite index modestly lower on Monday.
Investors entering the session faced a palette of cross-cutting influences: central market-moving headlines tied to geopolitics; large, company-specific capital moves in technology; and fluid energy-market dynamics that respond quickly to reports from the Middle East. Together, those factors helped shape the modest gains in Canadian futures and the mixed picture in U.S. premarket trading.