AM Markets Need to Know: United CEO backs wealth tax, OpenAI seeks $30B, and more

Stock index futures were mixed before the bell Tuesday, as a 4% tumble in South Korea's market brought back AI trade worries.

Here are the five news items investors should watch:

United CEO backs national wealth tax: United Airlines (UAL) CEO Scott Kirby expressed support for a federal wealth tax and near-100% inheritance levies to combat wealth inequality, arguing that state-level taxes are ineffective because the wealthy simply relocate. His comments align with new Stanford research predicting that California's proposed Proposition 40 wealth tax could fall $70B short of revenue estimates due to an ongoing exodus of billionaires.

U.S. to allow sale of sanctioned oil tankers: Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that the U.S. government will authorize the sale of sanctioned "dark fleet" oil tankers to legitimate operators in an effort to rein in soaring shipping costs. Through an approval process, dozens to hundreds of these vessels—previously used to transport oil from countries like Iran, Russia and Venezuela—will be rehabilitated to legally carry non-sanctioned crude.

OpenAI races for $30B funding ahead of Anthropic IPO: OpenAI (OPENAI) is moving swiftly to secure $30B in new investor commitments at a massive $1.4T valuation, aiming to lock down capital before rival Anthropic's (ANTHRO) anticipated mid-November public debut. The accelerated push seeks to capitalize on a revenue surge driven by the new GPT-6 Astra model, even as Anthropic faces pressure to lower its IPO valuation expectations following a Q3 earnings miss.

Nvidia's $10B European AI push: Nvidia (NVDA) made plans to invest in four German startups as part of a broader, nearly $10B commitment to accelerate AI development across Europe. The chipmaker is also deepening its partnerships with the German government and industrial heavyweights like Siemens to drive AI adoption and drastically reduce manufacturing costs.

Indonesian market rebounds on MSCI defense: Indonesia's stock index (EIDO) rebounded from a six-year low, jumping over 5% after authorities introduced new measures to prevent a potential emerging-market downgrade by MSCI (MSCI). To directly address concerns over shareholding opacity, the national exchange will exclude highly concentrated stocks from its main index and enforce stricter ownership disclosure rules.