US EQUITY OPEN: Indices in the red, but off lows, amid US/Iran headlines

OPEN: Indices opened in the red, as did the majority of sectors, with initially only Energy in the green, buoyed by gains in the crude complex; however, risk sentiment has improved in the last couple of minutes with oil paring back a couple of Dollars of losses as Al Jazeera quoting a senior Iranian official denied reports that Supreme Leader Khamenei has issued a new order requiring enriched uranium to remain inside Iran, saying they are “propaganda by the enemies of the deal”. Prior to this, the most recent reports suggested the White House is pushing back on Reuters reports that Iran is drawing a hard line in nuclear talks. Nvidia have seen two-way trade since earnings last night, but currently see marginal gains as the AI-darling saw the typical beat and raise but came amid lofty expectations. On the data, housing metrics were strong, while initial jobless claims were more-or-less unchanged M/M. Ahead, there is a couple of Fed speakers and a 10yr TIPS auction. In FX, the Dollar is firmer to the detriment of all G10 peers with the Aussie lagging post-jobs data. Treasuries are lower across the curve, with precious metals weaker, albeit off lows given recent headlines.

STOCK SPECIFICS:

• Nvidia (NVDA): Usual beat & raised guidance, but shares weighed on amid lofty investor expectations
• Samsung Electronics’ largest union suspended a planned strike after reaching a tentative pay agreement
• US reportedly set to award quantum computing firms $2bln and take equity stakes, WSJ reports; IBM set to receive $1bln, GFS $375mln; Other Cos. incl. QBTS, RGTI, INFQ
• Walmart (WMT): Next Q EPS guidance light
• Ralph Lauren (RL): Rev. beat & approves 10% dividend increase. 
• Elf Beauty (ELF): Top and bottom line topped expectations; to reverse some tariff-driven price increases amid consumer pressure.
• Applied Digital (APLD): Signed a 15-year lease agreement with the same US-based hyperscaler from its Delta Forge 1 project for its new Polaris Forge 3 AI campus
• Occidental Petroleum (OXY): Upgraded at Goldman Sachs to 'Neutral' from 'Sell.