Preview of US Stock Market | The three major stock index futures all fell as uncertainty over Trump's tariffs swept through the market.

1. Before the opening of the US stock market on Monday, the futures of the three major US stock indexes all fell. As of the time of writing, the Nasdaq futures were down 0.66%, S&P 500 index futures were down 0.46%, and Dow futures were down 0.49%. 2. As of the time of writing, the German DAX index fell 0.59%, the UK FTSE 100 index rose 0.35%, the French CAC 40 index rose 0.50%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.11%. 3. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil rose 0.36% to $66.72 per barrel. Brent crude oil rose 0.31% to $71.52 per barrel. Market News Tariff policy uncertainty swept the financial markets, causing the US dollar and US stock futures to decline, with spot gold rising above $5170. On Monday, the US dollar index and futures of the three major US stock indexes fell, as uncertainty and vagueness about President Trump's tariff policy significantly weakened investors' confidence in US assets and increased global market volatility risk. The US Supreme Court ruled on the 20th that the US government's imposition of large-scale tariff policy was "overstepping its bounds," prompting Trump to immediately issue a new executive order, emphasizing that the US government will continue to maintain existing import tariffs under the framework of Sections 301 and 232 and implying that more trade investigations will be launched. Therefore, concerns about the uncertainty of Trump's next tariff policy actions have intensified, leading to weakness in the futures of the three major US stock indexes. Spot gold rose above $5170 per ounce, up 1.3% intraday. Demand for downside protection in the US stock market hits a four-year high, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.: Professional investors are preparing for "some breakthrough." Despite trading in one of the narrowest ranges in history over the past two months, institutional investors are buying downside protection with rare intensity. The latest data from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. shows that while the S&P 500 index has traded in one of the narrowest ranges in history over the past two months, the trading behavior of institutional investors is more indicative of dealing with extreme VIX volatility index reaching 35 - while VIX is currently at 19. This abnormal divergence suggests that the market may be on the verge of a directional breakthrough. The urgency of this defensive positioning arises from the proximity of key technical levels. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. points out that when the gamma value decreases slightly, it will turn negative, coinciding with the triggering threshold of the bank's CTA momentum strategy. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. emphasizes that this is "extremely important," indicating that the market may be preparing to reflect the intense volatility in individual stocks that has persisted for some time. Super Week is coming! Turmoil in Trump's tariff policy + escalation of tensions with Iran, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) earnings report highly anticipated. In the past week, policy issues have dominated market attention, culminating in the long-awaited Supreme Court decision on Friday, which rejected President Trump's large-scale tariff system. Subsequently, Trump swiftly signed a 10% global tariff retaliation following the Supreme Court ruling, and on the 21st, he announced on social media that the previously announced "global import tariffs" on goods imported to the US would immediately increase from 10% to 15%, highlighting increasing challenges to stable policies and growth in the global trade system, with constant fluctuating undercurrents. Oil prices, which had been steadily declining since 2025, rose by 15% since the beginning of 2026. This is largely attributed to the tense situation in Iran; the latest developments indicate that US and Iranian negotiating representatives are expected to meet in Geneva on Thursday, with Trump leaning towards specific strikes against Iran in the coming days and potentially launching larger attacks in the next few months. The fourth-quarter earnings report for NVIDIA Corporation, the world's largest AI chip giant, will be released after the market close on Wednesday in US Eastern Time. This report from the global market capitalization leader in the AI trading theme, DRIVE, will be a key indicator for the global stock market bull market. Due to the tariff risks from the Trump administration, the EU plans to freeze the approval process for a trade agreement with the US. Reports suggest that the EU is preparing to suspend the approval process for its trade agreement with the US and is asking the Trump administration for more details on its new tariff plans. The main political groups in the European Parliament have stated that they will pause legislative work related to approving the trade agreement on Monday. Earlier, the US Supreme Court ruled that Trump's use of emergency powers to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs globally was invalid. Zeljana Zovko, the chief negotiator for the European People's Party delegation responsible for US trade agreements, said: "We have no choice but to postpone the approval process to clarify the situation." The "illegally" imposed tariffs ruled by the US Supreme Court are coming to an end! A seamless transition to a 15% global new tax. The US Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) announced that it will stop enforcing the US government's reciprocal tariff measures implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday - more than three days after the Supreme Court declared these tariffs to be of "illegal" nature. The government agency stated in its message to shippers through the Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) that it will deactivate all tariff policy codes related to the executive orders issued by President Trump under the IEEPA. Despite President Trump telling reporters shortly after the Supreme Court tariff ruling was announced that the US government would soon impose a 15% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, it is unclear whether the US government will need to refund previously collected tariff payments. Chip giant SK Hynix: to expand AI storage chip capacity to meet surging demand. At a time when its stock price has surged more than fourfold in the past year and set profit records, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won promised to significantly expand AI storage chip capacity to meet the surge in demand brought about by the global data center construction boom. Speaking at a meeting in Washington on February 20th, the chairman of South Korea's second largest conglomerate referred to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips as "monster-level chips" and stated that this storage product line is generating huge profits for SK Hynix. The chip manufacturer, driven by explosive growth in demand for AI chips, has outperformed the global semiconductor industry in stock performance. US tech giants are engaged in a broad-based infrastructure race, aiming to gain an advantage in AI technology development. From Microsoft Corporation and Meta to other tech giants, a total of about $650 billion is expected to be invested this year in AI-related infrastructure construction, which unprecedented level of investment is directly driving the demand for high-performance storage chips such as HBM, server DDR5, and enterprise-level SSDs. Individual Stock News Arcellx (ACLX.US) stock price rises over 78% in pre-market trading, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD.US) to acquire Arcellx at $115 per share. US pharmaceutical leader Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced on Monday that it would acquire cancer therapy partner Arcellx, with the implied equity value of the latest acquisition reaching $7.8 billion, expanding their cell therapy development collaboration that began in 2022. Gilead will pay a cash acquisition price of $115 per share at the close, a 79% premium over the stock's last closing price. Gilead Sciences, Inc.'s subsidiary Kite Pharma has long collaborated with Arcellx in the development and marketing of anito-cel, an experimental CAR-T therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma (a type of blood cancer). The US Supreme Court will hear a lawsuit filed by Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM.US) seeking compensation from Cuba. The US Supreme Court is set to consider the scope of a law that allows US companies to seek compensation from the Cuban government for property seized in Cuba. The case involves the US oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM.US), and comes as the government led by US President Donald Trump is increasing pressure on the Cuban government, leading to controversy among large energy operators. The court will hear two cases involving the 1996 US law, the Helms-Burton Act. Domino's Pizza (DPZ.US) has a strong fourth-quarter performance and increases dividend by 14.4%. US pizza restaurant leader Domino's Pizza had a strong performance in the fourth quarter, marking the 32nd consecutive year of same-store sales growth in international markets and further increasing its market share in the US market. Benefiting from a 1.7% increase in food basket prices, increased franchisee profits, and growth in international and domestic market sales, Domino's Pizza reported a 9% increase in overall profit, while total sales increased by 6.4%. The company increased its quarterly dividend by over 14%, offsetting the impact of lower-than-expected adjusted earnings and pushing the stock price up nearly 6% in pre-market trading on Monday. Important Economic Data and Events Previews 9:00 pm: Speech by Federal Reserve Governor Waller 11:00 pm: US December factory orders month-on-month 11:30 pm: Dallas Fed Business Activity Index and Manufacturing Output Index for February