- Equity markets set to move lower at the open
- Oil ticks higher on fresh uncertainty
- Key US results from Salesforce, Marvell, and Snowflake
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“Global equity markets are set for a softer open, with FTSE 100 futures pointing to a decent step lower, and similar pressure showing across US futures and much of Europe. The issue for investors is that markets have started to price in the Middle East conflict being largely contained, which means positive headlines now have less power to lift sentiment, while any setback can quickly take the shine off. Hopes yesterday around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz offered some relief, but renewed hostilities and fresh uncertainty over key sticking points, including shipping traffic and the nuclear programme, have brought caution back to the fore. That leaves markets in a fragile mood this morning.
Oil prices hovering in the low to mid $90’s per barrel show there is still a clear risk premium attached to the conflict, especially while shipping through the Strait and Iran’s nuclear programme remain unresolved sticking points. But the bigger picture is that crude is still on course for a second weekly decline, suggesting investors are not yet pricing in a worst-case disruption. For now, the market looks caught between short-term nerves over renewed hostilities and a lingering hope that both sides still have enough incentive to get energy flows moving.
AI was back in the spotlight across the pond last night, with three big US tech names showing just how wide the gap can be between excitement and execution. Salesforce, Marvell, and Snowflake all had AI at the heart of their updates, but the market reaction was far from uniform: Snowflake stole the show, while Salesforce and Marvell drew a more muted response.
Salesforce gave investors plenty of nice stats on AI, but not quite enough to settle the bigger debate. Agentforce, its push into AI-powered work tools, is gaining traction fast, and there are signs it is breathing fresh life into areas like Slack. But the market still wants to see that excitement translate into stronger subscription growth across the wider business, and the latest booking trends didn’t bring any flashy AI surprises. With the shares down around 1% after-hours, but down 30% this year, Salesforce continues to be a reminder that investors want business-wide evidence of AI benefits, not just enthusiasm.
Marvell remains firmly plugged into the AI infrastructure boom, but last night’s update was a case of solid, not spectacular. Demand for custom chips and networking products linked to AI data centres continues to support the long-term story, and the company’s longer-range outlook has improved. But after a big run of enthusiasm around anything tied to the AI buildout, simply doing well may no longer be enough. The subdued after-hours reaction suggests investors had already built in plenty of optimism. From here, it’s about showcasing continued progression. As far as custom AI chips go, Marvell is the smaller brother to the much larger Broadcom, and it’ll need to show some evidence of larger scale to drive the next leg of growth.
Snowflake was the clear standout. The data cloud group delivered the sort of update investors had been waiting for, with growth picking up, guidance raised, and management pointing to real demand from AI-related products rather than just future potential. Snowflake sits in the plumbing of AI, helping companies organise and use their data before the clever tools can do anything useful with it. Shares jumping around 38% after results, but still only up about 10% this year, tells you just how much scepticism had built up as data names were caught in the broader AI software sell-off. But it also shows how quickly sentiment can turn when a company shows AI is already helping the top line, rather than simply decorating the slide deck.”
