European Shares Likely To Open On Cautious Note; Micron Earnings Eyed

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening flat to slightly lower on Wednesday as investors fret over chip stock valuations and the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz.

Following a bruising sell-off in technology and chipmaking shares on Wall Steet overnight, focus now shifts to earnings from memory chip major Micron later in the day.

Micron is set to report its fiscal third-quarter earnings after the U.S. closing bell, with investors waiting for more cues on AI-driven demand for memory.

Traders may also parse mixed signals on U.S.-Iran peace talks despite improving shipping activity in the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S.-Iran peace agreement helped ease regional tensions, but disputes persist over whether Tehran had agreed to allow U.N. inspections of its nuclear sites.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran are offering conflicting accounts of their fragile peace deal, raising doubts about its viability.

Trump has said that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections into "infinity," but Tehran said it had made no such concessions in negotiations.

The initial peace agreement between Washinton and Tehran has allowed traffic to flow again through the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran's chief negotiator and parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has made it clear that the vital waterway, which typically handles one-fifth of global energy supply, will "never return to what it was before the war." Iran has never trusted the Americans and never will, he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that no country is allowed to charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz as part of any final agreement.

At the same time, Iran and Oman said they would examine charges for what they called maritime service fees in the Strait of Hormuz through a joint working group.

The two countries also remain at odds over frozen assets and Israel's parallel war against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Asian markets were mixed in cautious trade as investors reacted to a fundamental shift in the AI and earnings narrative.

Technology stocks pared an earlier decline to trade mixed amid fears that the artificial intelligence spending boom may not deliver the returns investors had anticipated.

The dollar index extended gains to reach a 13-month high on Fed rate hike bets, while gold extended overnight losses to trade below $4,100 an ounce.

Oil extended this week's losses to trade near four-month lows, with Brent crude futures falling toward $76 a barrel.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mostly lower as a sell-off in high-flying chip and other tech stocks extended into a second day on expectations of Fed rate hikes later this year and concerns over frothy artificial intelligence valuations.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.2 percent, the S&P 500 gave up 1.4 percent and the narrower Dow ended marginally lower.

European stocks ended lower on Tuesday amid skepticism over spending in AI infrastructure, mixed signals from talks between Washinton and Tehran on ending the conflict, and investor anxiety over "higher-for-longer" interest rates.

The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 0.7 percent. The German DAX lost 1 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.