Steve Brice, global chief investment officer of wealth solutions at Standard Chartered, said the impending public listings of Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX are likely to pose near-term headwinds for equity markets.
Speaking on CNBC's "Access Middle East" program on Tuesday, Brice described the arrival of these large-scale initial public offerings as a process that markets will need to "digest." He said: "There's going to be some digestion challenges of these IPOs coming through the market, and some of the broadening out usually does take place well, but it doesn't necessarily happen in a totally smooth fashion."
Asked about his market outlook, Brice said he is not "super, super bullish at this point," signaling caution about near-term upside. He also warned that investors could see an episode of weakness during the summer months, linking potential market softness to developments in the Middle East. "We could see some weakness at some point over the summer months, and maybe that would fit into what's happening in the Middle East as well," he said.
Brice noted that while near-term volatility is possible, any resulting weakness might create buying opportunities for longer-term investors. "Over the longer term, any potential weakness could present a buying opportunity," he added.
Market sentiment may receive some support from expectations for relatively strong upcoming U.S. labor data, Brice said. However, that upside could be undermined if disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist. He cautioned that strength in labor-market prints could "give way to weakness if the Strait of Hormuz isn't open by the end of summer," linking oil-market disruption to broader market risk.
Brice pointed to sharply higher oil prices as part of the current market backdrop, saying prices have risen as a result of the Trump administration blockading Iranian ports and noting that the Strait has been closed by Tehran. He also observed that inventories are being run down rapidly across multiple inputs to the production cycle, stating: "Inventories are being run down at a rapid pace, not just in physical crude, but also across petrochemicals or urea and different inputs into the production cycle around the world."
In summary, Brice framed the near-term outlook as one of increased volatility tied to large technology-related IPOs and geopolitical-driven energy risks, while leaving open the possibility that any market correction could offer attractive entry points for longer-term investors.