Market Review: June 03, 2026

Closing Recap

Wednesday, June 03, 2026

U.S. stocks end lower, snapping the 9 day winning streaks for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Comp as Energy and defensive sectors like Healthcare, and Staples advanced while Technology and Financials sunk. While the Nasdaq finished lower along with the XLK, QQQ due to Mag 7 and software weakness, the Semiconductor index (SOX) hit another all-time high just shy of 14,000, now up 97% YTD! BTIG noted the S&P 500 tech sector is about to post its best 10-week gain ever in history, if the week ended now, according to BTIG. Tech stocks are up 44.6% over the recent stretch. It has been a truly remarkable rally, and chip stocks continue to surge, with SNDK hitting new highs today. Economic data showed better private payrolls data (ADP) and ISM services data as the results continue to show economic growth/strength, raising prospects of potential Fed hikes in the future vs the cuts previously expected to start the year. Tonight, earnings season continues to wrap up, with Broadcom (AVGO) and CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) set to report.

On the macro front this afternoon, Iran’s negotiating team, per Fars News said talks are still ongoing with the U.S. and no final decision made. First phase of Islamabad talks failed because Iran refused to enter nuclear negotiations. Iran says it “will not enter an agreement in which Lebanon is ignored.” If finalized, any MOU between the US and Iran will go through a four-stage mechanism. The news comes after overnight as President Trump said the Iran blockade could be lifted by Labor Day as the U.S. works toward an agreement with Iran. He also said Iran has agreed it will not possess nuclear weapons and that Iran’s Supreme Leader is involved in talks with the U.S. Trump added that he will “probably” meet with the Supreme Leader at some point.

Fed Beige Book showed employment showed little to no change across eleven districts, while one district experienced modest growth. Economic activity increased at a slight to moderate pace for Ten of the twelve Federal Reserve districts, while one district reported a slight decline and one reported no change. More broadly, business outlooks for the next six months were reported to have little change in anticipated growth, as elevated uncertainty and signs of weakening consumer spending weighed on sentiment. Prices increased at a moderate to strong pace overall, with most districts reporting higher inflation than the previous report.

Stats of the day comes to us from @GlobalMktObserv on X, noting “Call options share has hit 70% of total US options market volume, the highest level since the MEME STOCK MANIA peak in 2021. Over the last few weeks, the call options share has risen almost in a STRAIGHT LINE. Overall, the total value of the S&P 500 call options traded has SURPASSED the S&P 500 market value by 300%. Just 2 months ago, S&P 500 call options total notional value was 100% higher than the index market cap.”

• U.S. S&P Global Services PMI slipped to 50.7 in May, missing estimates of 51.0 & marking one of the weakest readings in last 2.5 years. New biz growth stayed sluggish, employment fell at fastest pace since 2020, & biz optimism dropped to lowest level since Oct 2022.
• ISM non-manufacturing business activity index 57.7 in May above the 55.9 in April while prices paid index 71.3 in May vs 70.7 in April, employment index 47.9 in May vs 48.0 in April, non-manufacturing new orders index 57.3 in May vs 53.5 in April.
• Factory Orders (M/M) for April reported at +4.8% vs. est 4.6% and prior 1.5%, while Factory Orders Ex-Trans (M/M) rose +1.3% vs. est 0.8% and prior 1.6%.

• U.S. crude stocks drew more than expected last week as export and refining demand remained strong. Crude inventories fell by 8 million barrels to 433.7 million barrels in the week ended May 29, the EIA said, compared with a 4 million-barrel draw forecast. Oil exports touched 5.9 million barrels per day, the second-highest level on record. Crude stocks at the key storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma fell by 583,000 barrels in the week to 22.4 million barrels. Oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve eased by 8 million to its lowest since January 2024.
• August gold settles -$53.00/oz, or -1.17%, at $4,466.90 an ounce while July silver settles -$1.86/oz, or -2.46%, at $73.69 as precious metals prices (gold/silver) remain pressured on expectations that war-driven inflation will keep interest rates high as the 10-yr yield is up 3.6bps to 4.491%.

• Restaurant sector: Morgan Stanley upgrade YUM to Overweight with $185 PT, best growth profile in large franchised QSR and solid brands are undervalued.  KFC + TB segments remain strong over time and keep LT algo on track. MSCO’s thinking on potential Pizza Hut scenarios is inside. The firm downgraded CMG to Equal Weight saying sales drivers less impactful w/less visibility into margin upside and thinks unit growth could fade beyond ’26. SHAK was also downgraded at both Morgan Stanley and Raymond James following weaker guidance yesterday for Q2 (now sees comps +2.5-3% vs. prior +3-5%) and the full year (now sees EBITDA $225-235MM vs. the prior $230-245MM).

• Specialty Retail: GME approves $2B share repurchase authorization while reported a Q1 revenue increase of +14% y/y to $835.3M from $732.4M y/y helped by strong demand for collectibles as co shifts focus from traditional hardware
• In Beauty: ULTA Q1 EPS $7.74 topped consensus $6.91 and revs +11% y/y to $3.16B vs. est. $3.12B; Q1 comp store sales increased +5.3% saying FY26 off to a strong start driven by broad-based growth across all channels; raises FY26 EPS to $28.36-$28.80 from $28.05-$28.55, vs. est. $28.61; maintains FY26 revs 6%-7%, or $13.14B-$13.26B, vs. est. $13.24B; backs FY26 comps +2.5%-3.5%

• In Cruise sector: VIK was initiated at Outperform and $120 tgt at Bernstein saying it is the only luxury travel pure play, has a unique niche, has very strong visibility of growth and despite a lot of sell side love (84% buy) Viking’s multiple does not reflect that outlook

• In Airlines (AAL, DAL, JBLU, ALK, LUV, UAL): Many airlines have been hit hard by price swings in the jet fuel market, while others are not in a position to hedge their exposure, the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) head of fuel Daniel Chereau said on Wednesday. Some airlines with more elaborate hedging strategies get a bit of a cushion, but the impact of soaring jet fuel refinery profit margins, known as crack spreads, has not been helpful for the airline industry, Chereau said at a conference.
• In Truckers: ODFL reported May revenue per day increased 12.3% y/y due to an increase in LTL revenue per hundredweight that was partially offset by a 3.8% decrease in LTL tons per day. The change in LTL tons per day was attributable to a 5.3% decrease in LTL shipments per day that was partially offset by a 1.6% increase in LTL weight per shipment.
• Industrials: URI estimates and price tgt raised (to $1,145 from $1,025), based on increased conviction in a rebound in US non-res construction in 2H26-2027. UBS’s monthly rental Equipment branch manager surveys continue to show positive momentum in the rental sector, and project starts in end markets in which URI has notable differentiation (manufacturing, data Centers, power) remain strong. Recent channel checks support UBS’s view that URI continues to win key positions on these large projects.

• Payments: shares of GPN tumbled as Mizuho noted this afternoon in a note likely due to Street commentary suggesting Q2 estimates might need to be revised downward. Upon further investigation, Mizuho believes these worries are overblown saying the reality is there is no reason to believe Q2 guidance should be changing after CFO reiterated the guide at a conference ~2 weeks ago on 5/20.
• Brokers & Exchanges: ICE May 2026 trading activity remained strong, with total daily volume up 14% YoY and open interest positions hitting a record 130.6M contracts. Energy markets stayed active, with Natural gas and Brent Crude volumes growing. Total Natural gas open interest reached a record 47.9M contracts, while Asian gas trading volume jumped 30%.
• Private credit sector: shares of APO, ARES, CG, BX, OWL, KKR were pressured early after reports Cliffwater’s flagship private credit fund redemption requests hit 17%, while the firm capped withdrawals from its $31 billion flagship private credit fund after redemption requests surged to more than $5 billion in the second quarter. Also, Switzerland’s Partners Group caid total net redemption requests submitted for Q2 exceeded 5% of the net asset value of the Partners Group Global Value SICAV, the underlying fund of the Partners Group Global Value Fund, highlighting growing investor exits from the sector.
• Banks weak with broader financials; DB may set aside more money than analysts had expected for loan losses in the three months through June as it cleans up its balance sheet, Bloomberg reported. Credit-loss provisions in the quarter "will be lower sequentially, quarter over quarter, perhaps a little bit higher than consensus," CFO Raja Akram said at an investor conference on Wednesday.
• Real Estate Services: COMP shares after reports the antitrust division of the New York Attorney General’s Office is investigating Compass’ footprint in the New York market, The Real Deal has learned. Agents with the department have reached out to leaders at some of New York City’s top brokerages, requesting information as part of an inquiry into the residential giant.

• AXSM said it has resolved all patent litigation related to its product Sunosi. The litigations resulted from companies seeking approval to market a generic version of Sunosi in the U.S.
• CTMX said it has expanded its licensing agreement with REGN to develop next-generation bispecific cancer therapies in a collaboration that could be worth up to about $4 billion; partnership combines CytomX’s Probody platform with Regeneron’s Veloci-Bi technology.

• In MedTech: MDT Q4 EPS and revs topped consensus ($1.55/$9.80B vs. est. $1.54/$9.63B as sales in it cardiovascular segment, which accounts for nearly 40% of sales, jumped 13.8% to $3.8B while sales in its Neuroscience segment rose 5% to $2.75B; guided FY adj EPS $5.9-6.00 below consensus $6.06
• Healthcare Services: Canaccord noted the U.S. FDA’s April move to revisit the classification of a dozen compounded peptides could position HIMS to capture credible market share. The FDA said in April it planned to convene a panel of outside experts to review easing restrictions on 12 peptides. Canaccord estimates the compounded peptide total addressable market, excluding GLP-1s, could reach about $20 billion (ranging from $13 to $26 billion) over the next three to five years.
• Healthcare Facilities: ACHC was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies and raised tgt to $30 citing a belief that new management is well-positioned to bring enhanced operational stability, earnings visibility and a much-needed boost to underperforming assets.

• In Space: LUNR files up to $500M stock offering. SpaceX (SPCX) plans to raise a record $75B by pricing its IPO at $135 per share, selling 555.6 million shares and targeting a valuation of $1.75T, Reuters’ reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. SpaceX’s roadshow begins on Thursday.
• In Defense: LDOS was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies and cut tgt to $140 from $185 saying that the firm had been wrong on the thought Leidos could outperform on organic growth given defense tech exposure. EPS revisions seem limited from here. ONDS shares fell in drone sector after files for offer and sale from time to time of 2.1M shares of common stock by selling stockholders.

• Chemicals: SHW and Nippon Paint have terminated efforts to jointly acquire rival paint maker AkzoNobel, they said on Wednesday. The companies’ decision to walk away followed AkzoNobel’s rejection of their €12.5 billion ($14.5 billion) cash takeover offer last week.
• Materials: in rare earth sector, USAR finalizes agreement with U.S. Commerce Department for up to $1.6B funding saying the agreement includes up to $277M in grants and $1.3 bln loan capacity under CHIPS Act.

• AI Sector: GOOGL upsized its capital raise to ~$85B from $80B after its convertible stock sale was reportedly oversubscribed pricing 25,459,689 shares of Class A Common Stock at a public offering price of $355.1982 per share, 25,459,689 shares of Class C Capital Stock at a public offering price of $351.80 and said sees 2026 capital expenditures $180-$190B, significantly higher in 2027; DeepSeek, China’s AI startup, is set to raise about 50 billion yuan ($7.4B) in its first funding round from investors including Tencent Holdings and CATL Reuters reported citing people with knowledge of the matter said. The fundraising could value the company after the investment at between 350 billion yuan and 400 billion yuan, or between $52 billion and $59 billion.

• Software: GTLB shares fell after saying it would cut about 14% of its staff as part of a pivot toward AI; beats on top and bottom line for Q1 but Q2 revenue guide implies 15.7% revenue growth, lower than 23.1% in Q1, and implied second half guidance implies more deceleration to 14%; RPO also showed deceleration to 18% growth vs. 20% LQ, implying bookings growth of 14% vs 5% last quarter. More weakness in general for the software sector after a good run last week (ORCL, MDB, TEAM fall).
• Security Software: PANW delivered a strong print, with all metrics (including organic and inorganic) above expectations given strong execution in a strong cybersecurity demand; shares fell after an initial jump last night post results given a bigger beat on acquired assets and a skinnier organic beat.

• MRVL adds to the gains Tuesday, a day after NVDA CEO Jensen Huang said Marvell could be the next trillion-dollar chip stock. Marvell shares rose 32% yesterday.
• NVTS shares surge as its 800 V-to-6 V DC-DC power delivery board (PDB) is being shown at NVIDIA’s AI Factory MGX(TM) Ecosystem Showcase at COMPUTEX 2026 in Taipei. The PDB features 16 GaNFast FETs rated at 650 V, 11 mOhms, in the latest DFN8×8 dual-cooled package, aiming 97.5% peak efficiency, operating at 1 MHz switching frequency, and enabling a power density of 2100 W/in(3)