- Asian equities decline, snapping four-day rally
Stocks in Asia fell on Thursday for the first time in five sessions as the rally on Wall Street sparked by US-China
trade talks showed signs of exhaustion. Japanese and Australian stocks edged lower, while a gauge of US-listed
Chinese companies climbed 1.2% on Wednesday. Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s revenue grew at its fastest pace in
more than three years. - S&P 500 ticks higher as traders extend tariff relief rally for a third day
The S&P 500 rose modestly on Wednesday, extending a strong start to the week that pushed the benchmark
into the green for the year. The broad market index inched up 0.10% to close at 5,892.58, while the Nasdaq
Composite gained 0.72% and ended at 19,146.81. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 89.37 points, or 0.21%,
to settle at 42,051.06. Technology stocks climbed. Shares of Nvidia advanced more than 4%, following news
that it would send Saudi Arabia 18,000 of its top artificial intelligence chips. Peer chip stock AMD also rose
more than 4% on the back of a $6 billion buyback. Week to date, the S&P 500 and Dow are up more than 4%
and nearly 2%, respectively. The Nasdaq has jumped more than 6%. This week’s pop also put the S&P 500 in
positive territory for the year. At one point, the S&P 500 was more than 20% below its record high set in
February. Since hitting that April 7 intraday low, the benchmark is up more than 21%. - Oil falls after US crude inventories rise
Oil prices eased on Wednesday after government data showed U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last
week, prompting investor concerns of excess supplies. Brent crude futures fell 54 cents, or 0.81%, to close at
$66.09 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 52 cents, or 0.82%, to settle at $63.15. Both
benchmarks, which traded close to their highest in two weeks in the previous session, lifted by a temporary
cut in U.S.-China tariffs, fell after data from the Energy Information Administration showed crude stockpiles
rose by 3.5 million barrels to 441.8 million barrels last week. Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 422,000
barrels per day, the EIA said. API industry data also showed a large build of 4.3 million barrels in crude stocks
last week, market sources said on Tuesday. “Definitely, the crude build in the API numbers was not of help,”
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said of Wednesday’s oil price fall. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries and allied producers, known as OPEC+, has been increasing supply to the market. On Wednesday,
however, OPEC trimmed its forecast for growth in oil supply from the United States and other producers
outside the wider OPEC+ group this year. “They are not changing their demand profile but adding more
barrels,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. “At some point, supply is just going to swamp
out demand and drill the market lower.” - Gold prices fall to almost five-week low as trade optimism rises
Gold prices dropped more than 2% on Wednesday, hitting an almost five-week low, as rising trade optimism
boosted risk appetite, leading investors to shift away from bullion. Spot gold slipped to its lowest since April
11, shedding 2.1% to $3,188.52 an ounce. Bullion fell as low as $3,174.62 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures
eased 1.9% to $3,186.00. “The global relief rally sparked by the steep reduction in U.S.-China tariffs has
triggered a correction through technical levels in gold,” said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher, driven by the tariff deal and on expectations of more trade
agreements. Washington and Beijing agreed to reduce tariffs drastically and adopted a 90-day pause while the
details are being worked out. Spot silver fell 1.8% to $32.29 an ounce. - Boeing inks record-breaking deal for Qatar Airways to buy up to 210 planes
Boeing secured an agreement to sell Qatar Airways up to 210 aircraft. Qatar Airways also signed an agreement
with GE Aerospace for more than 400 engines to power the Boeing planes. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg appeared
alongside President Donald Trump in Doha for a signing ceremony on the deal for the 787 Dreamliner and 777X
planes. The deal could draw more scrutiny toward President Donald Trump’s defense of Qatar’s offer to gift
the U.S. a luxury 747 jet that will act as the new Air Force One. - Top Iranian official says Tehran would forego highly enriched uranium in nuclear deal with Trump
Iran is ready to sign a nuclear deal with certain conditions with President Donald Trump in exchange for lifting
economic sanctions, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader told NBC News on Wednesday. Ali Shamkhani, a
top political, military and nuclear adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is one of the most
senior Iranian officials to speak publicly about the ongoing discussions. He said Iran would commit to never
making nuclear weapons, getting rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium which can be weaponized,
agree to only enrich uranium to the lower levels needed for civilian use, and allow international inspectors to
supervise the process, in exchange for the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions on Iran. Asked if Iran
would agree to sign an agreement today if those conditions were met, Shamkhani said, “Yes.” - Trump tariffs face major legal hurdle as federal trade court hears challenge
A little-known federal court is set to hear arguments Tuesday in a case challenging President Donald Trump’s
tariffs, putting a key plank of his economic agenda under the legal microscope for the first time. A panel of
three judges at the U.S. Court of International Trade will consider whether Trump exceeded his power when
he enacted steep tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories last month. If they side with the plaintiffs,
the judges could sharply rein in Trump’s ability to unilaterally impose import taxes, one of his preferred
methods of flexing executive power. Audio of the arguments in the Manhattan courtroom will be livestreamed
starting at 11 a.m. ET. The lawsuit was filed in mid-April by five domestic businesses that say they rely on
imported goods not reasonably available to them in the U.S. Their legal complaint argues that the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act — the 1977 law Trump invoked in early April to impose his worldwide
“reciprocal” tariffs — does not actually give the president the power to issue those sweeping duties. The law
gives the president a range of economic powers in a national emergency, including to regulate or ban imports,
though it does not explicitly mention tariffs, according to the Congressional Research Service. - UnitedHealth under criminal probe for possible Medicare fraud, report says
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is carrying out a criminal investigation into UnitedHealth Group for
possible Medicare fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The company’s stock slipped 8% in
after-hours trade following the report, which follows a series of problems at the insurer. On
Tuesday, UnitedHealth Group’s CEO, Andrew Witty, stepped down unexpectedly, and the company
simultaneously suspended its 2025 financial forecast due to rising medical costs. The announcement sent
shares plunging nearly 18% to a four-year low. While the exact nature of the criminal allegations is unclear, the
Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter, the probe by the healthcare-fraud unit of the DOJ’s criminal
division has been active since at least last summer. - Shares of AMD (along with NVDA) moved higher after securing deals with Humain, a Saudi company, to
develop artificial intelligence models and build data center infrastructure
AMD’s board also approved a $6 billion share repurchase plan that represents 3.3 percent of the company’s
current market value. Bank of America also raised its price targets on the name. Analyst Vivek Arya lifted his
price target for AMD to $130. The analyst cited the multiyear projects tied to artificial intelligence
infrastructure with a Saudi subsidiary called Humain. Bank of America predicts these projects to cost between
$3 billion to $5 billion annually, which equates to a range of $15 billion to $20 billion across multiple years.
“Sovereign AI nicely complements commercial cloud investments with a focus on training and inference of
LLMs in local culture, language and needs,” Arya told clients. - Super Micro Computer shares rose 15.7%, extending Tuesday’s 16% rally, after Saudi Arabia-based data
center company DataVolt signed a multi-year partnership agreement with the US server company
The agreement should “fast-track delivery of ultra-dense GPU platforms and rack systems for DataVolt’s
hyperscale AI campuses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the US,” the company said. “The deal, valued at
$20 billion, deepens the strategic bond between the companies and marks a major milestone and commitment
to artificial intelligence and data center solutions,” DataVolt said. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Woo Jin Ho
says the $20 billion multi-year DataVolt partnership reinforces “view of the company’s solid strategic
positioning in AI servers amid mounting competition”. “We expect Super Micro will be one of several AI-server
providers supporting DataVolt’s AI data-center efforts, which should give it exposure to several multibillion
dollar deals.” - Cisco Systems forecasts revenue of $14.5 billion to $14.7 billion for the quarter ending in July, exceeding
analyst estimates of $14.5 billion. Profit, excluding some items will be as high as 98 cents a share, compared
with an average analyst estimate of 95 cents
Sales rose 11% to $14.1 billion in the fiscal third quarter, which ended April 26, in line with the average
estimate. Profit climbed to 96 cents a share, minus some items. Wall Street projected 92 cents. Cisco’s product
orders rose 20% from a year ago. Minus the contribution from Splunk, new orders were up 9%, the company
said. The company’s growth is driven by demand for systems using AI technology, as well as expansion into
areas like cybersecurity and remote management tools. Cisco’s CEO Chuck Robbins says the company hasn’t
seen customers slowing down purchases, and expects spending to continue despite economic uncertainty and
tariffs. Shares rose 2.7% afterhours.
