(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a

columnist for Reuters.)

By Mike Dolan

June 1 (Reuters) -

What matters in U.S. and global markets today

By Mike Dolan, Editor-at-Large, Finance and Markets

A new month, but the same market obsessions. Iran and AI

continue to compete for investors' attention, with the latter

winning out for now, as last week's momentum looks set to

continue into Monday.

I'll get into that and more below.

But first, listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily

podcast. Subscribe to hear Reuters journalists discuss the

biggest news in markets and finance seven days a week.

AI AND 1984

Last week's U.S.-Iran peace plan hopes ran into sand over the

weekend and the two sides exchanged fresh military exchanges,

while Israel advanced its incursion into Lebanon in its fight

against Tehran-backed Hezbollah.

U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated claims on Monday that

Iran wanted to strike a deal, but whatever happens on the

diplomatic front, there's been no relief in the Gulf, and June

is a crunch month for energy supplies. Brent crude pushed back

up over 3% to trade at around $94 per barrel, after a 2% fall on

Friday.

But the AI frenzy continued unabated. Nvidia's Jensen Huang on

Monday unveiled a new chip that puts AI capabilities directly

into laptops and desktop computers, which experts say will

overhaul how users engage with AI.

Meantime, shares of South Korea's Samsung added another 10% on

Monday, feeding off a mix of news, from the start of shipments

of its new HBM4E chip to expectations surrounding a meeting with

Nvidia's Huang later this week. South Korean shares rose more

than 4%.

If there was any doubt about how real the global demand for

chips is, official data on Monday showed South Korean exports

surged by more than 50% year-on-year in May, the fastest annual

pace since 1984.

It was a different picture in China, where factory growth

stalled in May, according to the latest official survey, as

export demand fell. There were also reports that Washington has

moved to halt Nvidia chip shipments to Chinese subsidiaries

located outside of China.

The ISM's U.S. manufacturing survey for May is due for

release later today. That will kick off another big week for

macro data, with the U.S. employment report for May due on

Friday.

There's a slight weariness with the dominant themes among

analysts, but June will add other factors to weigh. Central bank

meetings this month could deliver interest rate rises, while a

critical UK by-election will sharpen focus on a brewing

leadership challenge there.

And there may even be appetite to look at other stock sectors.

Even though tech has hogged the attention lately with its

blistering stock moves - like Dell's latest explosive rise last

week - the Russell 2000 small-cap index has done at least as

well as the SOX chip index so far this year.

Revolution Medicines' shares surged 20% ahead of Monday's bell

after trials of its pancreatic cancer drug showed it doubled the

chances of survival from the disease.

Chart of the day

South Korea's exports grew more than expected in May at the

strongest annual rate in over four decades, as a global boom in

AI investment drove chip sales to a record, swelling optimism on

the trade-reliant economy.

Exports from Asia's fourth-largest economy, a bellwether for

global trade, rose 53.2% from a year earlier to a record high of

$87.75 billion, preliminary trade data showed on Monday.

It was the 12th consecutive month of exports growing on a

year-on-year basis and the biggest percentage rise since January

1984. The country's benchmark KOSPI stock index has more than

doubled so far this year.

Today's events to watch

* U.S. ISM and S&P Global manufacturing PMIs for May

(9:45-10 a.m. EDT)

Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday

morning? Sign up for the newsletter here. You can find ROI on

the Reuters website, and you can follow us on LinkedIn and X.

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect

the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is

committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

(By Mike Dolan; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)