US Markets Overnight: Nvidia brought a bazooka to Computex 2026

US Markets Overnight had a distinct “Spark”

The Monday session on June 1 US time was a story of one stock dragging the entire market uphill while most of its mega-cap peers stumbled backwards over geopolitical rocks. Nvidia unveiled its RTX Spark superchip and Vera CPUs at Computex Taipei, essentially telling the PC industry it was coming for their lunch, and investors responded by piling into the stock with the subtlety of a freight train.

Meanwhile, Iran threw a diplomatic grenade by halting all communication with the US and threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices screaming higher and giving everything outside of tech and energy a distinctly queasy feel. US markets overnight produced a session where the headline numbers looked calm, the internals were anything but, and only two of the Magnificent 7 managed to finish in the green.

Numbers in, vibes out

The S&P 500 closed at 7,600, up 0.3% and above the 7,600 mark for the first time, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% to finish at 27,087 All three major indexes touched fresh all-time intraday highs before reality reasserted itself in a few corners. The Dow Jones Industrial Average barely moved, adding 46 points to close at 51,078.9, up less than 0.1%. The Russell 2000, that reliable barometer of whether anyone cares about anything beyond mega-caps, slipped 0.4% as small-cap punters decided this was not their party.

WTI crude surged about 5.6% to around $92 a barrel after Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Tehran would suspend all message exchanges with Washington and move to fully close the Strait of Hormuz over Israel’s operations in Lebanon. Brent jumped 4.6% to around $95. Gold, usually a friend in times of chaos, fell 1.8% to $4,511 as the stronger US dollar and rising yields made the barbarous relic less attractive. Bitcoin continued its grim slide, dropping 3.0% to around $71,435 as ETF outflows stretched to a tenth consecutive day.

The US 10-year Treasury yield climbed 6 basis points to around 4.51%, and the VIX ticked up 4.6% to 16.03, a polite warning that not everyone was convinced the good times would keep rolling. US markets overnight had a lot of crosscurrents, and crude was the loudest of them.

Jensen giveth, and Jensen taketh away

Nvidia was the undisputed star, closing at $224 (+6.3%) after CEO Jensen Huang used his Computex keynote to unveil the RTX Spark superchip for personal computers, pitching it as the moment PCs enter the AI age. Dell Technologies and HP rode the wave, surging roughly 10% and 8% respectively, while Intel, the company that actually used to own the PC chip market, cratered about 5% on the implicit threat.

Microsoft joined the winners’ table at $461 (+2.3%), buoyed by anticipation for its Build conference kicking off on June 2, reports it will unveil a proprietary AI coding model, and the disclosure that Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has taken a major stake. A $1 billion partnership with EY for enterprise AI deployment didn’t hurt either.

The other five members of the Mag 7 had no such luck. Meta was the worst performer at $600 (-5.1%), giving back much of its recent subscription-news rally with the enthusiasm of someone who regrets their impulse purchase. An EU Digital Services Act probe into underage user access and a broader rotation out of communication services added to the pain. Tesla fell to $416 (-4.6%), weighed down by competitive noise from OpenAI’s robotics expansion announcement and the lingering stench of disappointing Q1 deliveries. Amazon dropped to $261 (-3.5%) as mounting regulatory challenges around AWS in Europe and Australia, combined with investor anxiety about its $200 billion capex guidance, kept the stock on the back foot. Apple eased to $306 (-1.8%) after data showed the global smartphone market approaching a record shipment drop, although WWDC anticipation should provide a catalyst soon. Alphabet was the quietest loser at $373 (-1.0%), drifting lower with the broader communication services sector.

Silicon winners and silicon roadkill

Beyond Nvidia, the semiconductor sector had a split personality. Broadcom was well bid ahead of its fiscal Q2 earnings report due after the close on June 3, with analysts expecting revenue of around $22 billion and AI chip revenue growth of 140% year-over-year. Our coverage of what COMPUTEX 2026 means for AI chip stocks breaks down the setup. AMD fell about 3.4% and Intel dropped roughly 5% as the market decided Nvidia’s PC ambitions were their problem. The SOX index finished slightly higher on balance, carried almost entirely by Nvidia’s weight, but the divergence between the AI haves and have-nots is getting harder to ignore. US markets overnight in the chip space boiled down to one question: is Nvidia leaving anything for anyone else?

One thing worth watching … The Broadcom earnings

Broadcom’s earnings on June 3 are the next major test for the AI hardware narrative. Wall Street expects a massive beat on AI revenue, but the stock has already rallied 36% since last quarter and expectations are priced accordingly. If Broadcom delivers and guides up, the COMPUTEX momentum carries into mid-week. If it wobbles, the semiconductor rally loses its second leg. Australian investors with ASX-listed AI and data centre exposure should keep one eye on that print in US markets overnight tomorrow.