June 1 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in European

and global markets from Wayne Cole.

It seems investors are concluding no news is good news when

it comes to the Gulf peace talks. President Trump had said he

was meeting last Friday to decide on whether to sign off on an

extension to the ceasefire, but since then it's been silence,

well apart from comparing himself to Elvis.

Defence Secretary Hegseth did pop up to say the U.S. could

restart attacks on Iran if a suitable deal was not agreed.

Indeed, news came Monday that U.S. forces had struck Iranian

targets over the weekend, while Iran said it had targeted an air

base used in what it called a U.S. attack and Kuwaiti defences

were reported to be intercepting missile and drone strikes.

As it is, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a

trickle with eight vessels heading outbound on May 30, and only

two of those tankers. Pre-war the daily average was 136 or so.

Commodity analysts have for some time been warning that

mid-June would be when global oil inventories would be so run

down that actual shortages would emerge, so the clock is

ticking. Yet Brent is well under $100, even after rising 2.5%

today to $93.40.

Asian share markets are too focused on AI to care, and who

can blame them? South Korea's main index climbed 28% in May,

while Taiwan added 15% and the Nikkei 12%. Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF )

was up 10% on Monday alone as it began shipping a

new type of faster chips.

The boom in tech was clear in some truly astounding trade

numbers from South Korea where exports were up 53% in May on a

year earlier at almost $88 billion. Exports of semiconductors

rose 169% and computers 291%.

And yet the Korean won is not far from all-time lows,

suggesting Korea's dollar earnings are staying in dollars and

not being converted. Presumably much of that is held in Treasury

paper, so the AI boom is indirectly helping the U.S.

administration fund its massive budget deficit. Swings and

roundabouts.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) boss Jensen Huang kicks off the Computex

trade show in Taipei on Monday with a speech about AI in which

he is expected to tout his company's latest products as well as

the mountain of investment he's planning for Taiwan.

Key developments that could influence markets on Monday:

- EU unemployment for April, EU PMIs, German retail sales

- US ISM manufacturing survey for May, US PMI