Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTBy Elizabeth HowcroftThu, August 6, 2026 at 1:53 PM GMT+2 3 min readBy Elizabeth HowcroftPARIS, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Investor sentiment rebounded during European trading on Thursday, helped by optimism about company earnings, but Wall Street was set for a mixed opening, with Nasdaq futures down after chipmakers disappointed traders.Markets were also waiting for any U.S. reaction to a proposed deal between Iran and Oman, which traders interpreted as progress towards ending the U.S.-Iran conflict.Stock markets faltered on Wall Street overnight and during Asian trading hours, as investors turned cautious about AI spending, and some earnings - including chipmakers Sandisk and Advanced Micro Devices and data storage company Western Digital - failed to meet investors' lofty expectations.But the rally resumed as European markets opened, with the pan-European STOXX 600 touching an all-time high, driven by media and telecoms stocks. It was up 0.4% on the day by 1102 GMT, while London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2%, France's CAC 40 was up 0.7% and Germany's DAX was up 0.2%.Wall Street futures were mixed, with S&P 500 e-minis nudging up 0.1% but Nasdaq e-minis down 0.7% on the day.Hani Redha, multi-asset portfolio manager at MetLife, said the overnight losses were a natural correction to a rally that was set to continue. Strong earnings and renewed enthusiasm for AI-related tech stocks have pushed Wall Street to record highs in recent sessions."This is just part of an overall hangover from a tremendous party we've had in the market over the last few trading sessions," he said."We remain pretty constructive...I don't expect the pace of returns that we saw over the last few weeks, but we should be still in a market environment which is conducive for risk assets, equities in particular."PROPOSED IRAN-OMAN DEALOil prices initially held below $80 a barrel, after Reuters reported a proposed deal between Iran and Oman to help end the U.S.-Iran conflict, which could give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. did not comment on the proposal, which would be one of the biggest concessions to Iran yet.Still, prices rose again during the European session, and Brent crude futures were last up 1.1% on the day at $80.34 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 1% at $75.93.Gold briefly touched its highest in seven weeks.MetLife's Redha said that although the U.S.-Iran conflict has been one of the main factors influencing markets this year, along with AI spending, the market was becoming less sensitive to it.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info