Overview of global markets and news

Market Overview

U.S. stocks closed slightly higher, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices hitting new all-time highs again, led by the technology sector. Among them, the S&P 500 rose 0.26%, and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%, marking a 12-day winning streak, the longest since July 2017. The North American Software ETF rebounded continuously, rising 1.2% on the day, while Oracle's stock price rose more than 5% and Microsoft's rose 2.2%. However, some individual stocks underperformed: Charles Schwab plummeted 7.6% after releasing earnings, its biggest one-day drop in more than a year; Netflix fell nearly 9% in after-hours trading, and Allbirds dropped as much as 36% on the day.

The trends of the stock and bond markets were decoupled, international crude oil prices remained high, and market expectations for Fed interest rate changes leaned hawkish. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 3 basis points to 4.31%, and the 2-year U.S. Treasury yield edged up 2 basis points.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.2%, ending an eight-day losing streak. Bitcoin rebounded after touching a low of $73,000, encountered resistance around $75,500, and finally closed slightly higher.

Spot gold prices were flat, hovering around $4,800 per ounce. WTI crude oil futures rose 3.72%, and Middle East Dubai crude oil futures rose 0.65%.

During the Asian trading session, China's ChiNext Index hit a new high in nearly 11 years, with battery and computing power-related sectors performing strongly; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index soared 3%, and Baidu's stock price rose more than 7%.

News

China

China's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 5.0% year-on-year in the first quarter, achieving a good start in economic development. In March, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 1.7% year-on-year, among which retail sales of automobiles decreased by 11.8% year-on-year; the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 5.7% year-on-year, with the transportation equipment and electronic manufacturing industries performing prominently, and cement output fell by 21% year-on-year. From January to March, urban fixed asset investment increased by 1.7% year-on-year, and infrastructure investment increased by 8.9% year-on-year; national real estate development investment decreased by 11.2% year-on-year, and the decline in commercial housing sales showed a marginal narrowing trend. The March 70-city housing price data showed that housing prices in first-tier cities rose month-on-month, while the month-on-month decline in housing prices in second and third-tier cities narrowed or remained the same as the previous month, among which new housing prices in Shanghai rose 3.7% year-on-year.

TSMC released its 2026 Q1 results, with net profit increasing by 58% year-on-year, gross profit margin hitting a historic high of over 66%, and capital expenditure in the current period reaching $11.1 billion; at the earnings call, the company stated that this year's capital expenditure will target the high end of the $52-56 billion range, and 2nm chips have been mass-produced.

In 2026 Q1, InnoLight's net profit reached 5.7 billion yuan, a significant year-on-year increase of 262%, with the single-quarter profit exceeding the full-year level of 2024.

Kweichow Moutai experienced its first annual revenue decline since its listing, while its annual dividend amount hit a record high.

Famous investor Duan Yongping responded to recent market rumors, clearly stating that he has not sold Tencent stocks and refuted the relevant false analyses.

Qunhe Technology received 1,591 times oversubscription during the Hong Kong public offering period, and its stock price soared 170% in dark pool trading.

Overseas

Former U.S. President Trump stated that the next round of talks between the United States and Iran may be held this weekend, and he did not rule out extending the ceasefire if necessary, adding that Iran has agreed not to possess nuclear weapons; at the same time, Lebanon and Israel will implement a 10-day ceasefire, and Israel has agreed to the ceasefire but will not withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon. In addition, the United States launched the "Economic Fury" operation against Iran to pressure Iran to reach a relevant agreement, while Iran condemned the operation as economic terrorism, saying that the enemy had miscalculated the current war situation. On the third day of the U.S. blockade, two ships related to Iran slowly sailed into the Persian Gulf, and the shipping volume in the Strait of Hormuz dropped sharply.

Cuban President stated that the United States may launch a military aggression against Cuba and urged the Cuban people to prepare for it.

With the countdown to the expiration of Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's term on May 15, Powell refused to "hand over power" in advance, while Trump threatened to "fire him on the spot", putting the Fed's power transition in a legal dilemma. Bessent made a sharp reversal in his attitude, stating for two consecutive days that he supports the Federal Reserve to "stand pat". On the eve of the hearing of Trump's nominee for Federal Reserve Chairman, Waller, Democrats on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee collectively requested to postpone the hearing.

Anthropic released its main AI model Opus 4.7, which has improved software engineering capabilities and specifically weakened network attack and defense-related functions. The White House plans to open access to Anthropic's powerful AI model Mythos to federal agencies.

OpenAI launched a dedicated drug research and development model, challenging competitors such as Google, and simultaneously released the Codex model, which can operate computers and perform continuous work.

Netflix's 2026 Q1 results achieved better-than-expected growth, but its future performance guidance was lower than market expectations, and its "soul figure" chairman will step down after his term expires; affected by this, Netflix's stock price plummeted in after-hours trading.

The target monthly output of the first production line of Musk's "super chip factory" is 3,000 pieces, and suppliers have been asked to "supply goods at the speed of light" to accelerate the project landing.

Oracle and AWS (Amazon Web Services) deepened their multi-cloud cooperation, and their joint enterprise-level high-speed private interconnection project will be launched this year.

Market Closing Report

European and American Stocks: The S&P 500 rose 0.26% to close at 7,041.28 points; the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24% to close at 48,578.72 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.36% to close at 24,102.704 points. Europe's STOXX 600 index closed slightly down 0.05% at 616.95 points.

A-shares: The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 4,055.55 points, up 0.70%; the Shenzhen Component Index closed at 14,796.33 points, up 2.05%; the ChiNext Index closed at 3,626.27 points, up 3.17%.

Bond Market: The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 2.38 basis points to close at 4.3072%; the 2-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 1.23 basis points to close at 3.7737%.

Commodities: WTI May crude oil futures rose $3.40, or 3.72%, to close at $94.69 per barrel; spot gold prices fell 0.04% to close at $4,788.96 per ounce; spot silver prices fell 0.69% to close at $78.4150 per ounce.

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