Preview of US Stock Market | The three major stock index futures rose together, while commercial aerospace stocks generally fell. Dell Technologies, Inc. Class C technology (DELL.US) and NetApp, Inc. (NTAP.US) soared after their earnings reports.

Pre-Market Market Trends 1. Before the US stock market on May 29th (Friday), the futures of the three major US stock indexes rose. As of the time of writing, Dow Jones futures rose by 0.29%, S&P 500 index futures rose by 0.16%, and Nasdaq futures rose by 0.06%. 2. As of the time of writing, the Germany DAX index rose by 0.00%, the UK FTSE 100 index rose by 0.19%, the France CAC 40 index rose by 0.63%, and the European Stoxx 50 index rose by 0.39%. 3. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil fell by 1.38%, trading at $87.67 per barrel. Brent crude oil fell by 1.61%, trading at $91.21 per barrel. Market News US and Iran reportedly agree to extend ceasefire for 60 days, agreement awaiting approval from Trump. According to US officials, negotiators from the US and Iran have reached a preliminary consensus on a 60-day memorandum of understanding after multiple rounds of indirect talks. The agreement aims to extend the fragile ceasefire and pave the way for substantive negotiations on the Iran nuclear issue. This has raised hopes in the market that the three-month-long conflict may be close to a resolution. While significant progress has been made in negotiations, the effectiveness of the agreement still depends on approval from the highest leadership levels in both the US and Iran. According to reports citing a US official, President Trump has requested a few days to consider the agreement and has not yet given final approval. Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has also not confirmed the terms by signing. Interest rate storm hits the Federal Reserve! Rate cut roadmap invalidated, Powell as new chief "wins" by not raising rates. Powell's victory in the competition for Federal Reserve chair was partly due to his plan for a path to lower rates. However, he now faces a different situation: how to counter sudden shifts in market expectations for higher rates as fellow policymakers warn of a resurgence in inflation. Observers of the Federal Reserve indicate that the window for rate cuts has closed due to the energy shocks caused by the conflict in the Middle East. This means that for Powell, simply maintaining the current rate levels may already be a victory. How Powell navigates the public opinion surrounding interest rates in the coming months may set the tone for his leadership style and shape his ability to demonstrate the defense of the Fed's independence to the outside world. Although President Trump has expressed his hope that Powell will act independently as Federal Reserve chair, the political pressure to lower rates continues to simmer. Federal Reserve's Moseley warns: Don't count on AI to solve inflation problems, rate hike door cannot be closed. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President Moseley stated that policymakers cannot rely on the potential productivity boom brought about by AI to alleviate current inflation problems and cautioned that the possibility of future rate hikes cannot be ruled out. He stated, "I think there is a risk in relying on the prospect of higher future productivity growth to solve our current inflation problem." While he acknowledges being an avid user of AI and optimistic about its long-term potential to boost the economy, he sees that the market's enthusiasm for AI is pushing up demand for electricity and chips, potentially prompting central banks to raise rates. He emphasized, "Our task is to maintain price stability and maximize employment, and currently, the inflation rate is still above target. Therefore, the possibility or probability of raising rates in the futureI think it must be greater than zero." Federal Reserve's Kashkari: Asserts it is too early to raise rates, but all policy options should be retained. In a Friday event, Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari made a statement about the outlook for US monetary policy. He noted that it is not yet clear whether an immediate rate hike is needed but stressed the need to keep the policy path flexible. The disagreement over the rate path was evident at the Federal Reserve's April meeting. Although the meeting ultimately decided to keep rates unchanged, Kashkari supported this outcome, but he and two other policymakers opposed the wording in the statement that implied a possible future rate cut. These three individuals are more inclined to use neutral language to clearly retain various policy options, including rate hikes. Kashkari pointed out the uncertainty in the economic environment, noting that the conflict in the Middle East has brought more variables to the outlook for the US economy. The impact of this conflict has already been reflected in the inflation trend, as energy prices have been pushed up, adding to the ongoing pressures on the cost of living that have remained high over the past five years. He also expressed concern about current inflation policies. Exxon Mobil Corporation warns oil inventories are nearing historic lows! If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, oil prices may soar again. Exxon Mobil Corporation has warned that oil inventories will reach historically low levels in the coming weeks, forcing oil prices to start another round of surge and potentially dampening demand. The senior executive in the oil and gas industry stated that when inventories reach historic lows in the coming weeks, the spot trading price of Brent crude oil will rise to between $150 and $160 per barrel. In addition, top commodities analysts on Wall Street are warning that the Strait of Hormuz is now not about "opening soon" but approaching the stage of "must restore stable passage rapidly." Once commercial and strategic inventories approach the "minimum operational inventory," oil prices will transition from linear growth to non-linear jumps. May's surge just a "last glimmer"? Wall Street giants collectively pour cold water: don't blindly chase the dollar higher. In May, as traders digested the prospects of higher US interest rates, the dollar exchange rate continued to rise. However, this rebound has made Wall Street strategists cautious about further strengthening of the dollar. Strategists from Morgan Stanley to Wells Fargo & Company believe that the focus is now shifting to the possibility of more aggressive rate hikes by other major central banks. At the same time, optimism about the US-Iran peace agreement is weakening the dollar's safe haven demand. According to compiled forecasts from forecasting agencies, the consensus on Wall Street is that the main indicators for the dollar will fall by more than 1% in the third quarter and by 2% in the fourth quarter. Eric Nelson, a macro strategist at Wells Fargo & Company Securities LLC in New York, said, "We are not going to blindly chase the rebound of the dollar now. The 'US exceptionalism' may have reached another peak, limiting the dollar's further breakthrough and its ability to break the internal capabilities of the existing mature range." Individual Stock News Commercial space stocks in the US pre-market are mostly down. Before the US stock market on Friday, as of the time of writing, AST SpaceMobile (ASTS.US) dropped by over 12%, Momentus (MNTS.US) and Rocket Lab (RKLB.US) fell by over 4%, Firefly Aerospace (FLY.US), Redwire (RDW.US), and Intuitive Machines (LUNR.US) fell by over 6%, MDA Space (MDA.US), York Space Systems (YSS.US), and Voyager Technologies (VOYG.US) fell by over 2%. AI Money Printing Machine in full force! Dell Technologies, Inc. Class C Technology (DELL.US) delivers explosive Q1 performance: revenue sees strongest growth since going public, net profit doubles. According to the financial report for the first quarter ending on May 1st, Dell Technologies, Inc. Class C's revenue surged by 88% year-on-year to $43.84 billion, significantly exceeding the average analyst expectation of $35.43 billion; this is the fastest quarterly revenue growth for Dell Technologies, Inc. Class C since going public in 2018, previously at 39%. Net profit more than doubled from $965 million in the same period last year to $3.44 billion; adjusted earnings per share reached $4.86, significantly higher than the market expectation of $2.94. While the gross margin was diluted to 18.1% due to the structural shift towards AI servers, the gross profit increased by 57% year-on-year to $7.9 billion, with operating profit soaring by 154% to $4.2 billion. The standout performer this quarter was undoubtedly the AI servers - AI server revenue surged by 757% year-on-year to $16.1 billion. The quarterly AI order backlog reached a record $24.4 billion, with over 5,000 customers. By the end of the quarter, the AI server backlog orders reached a record $51.3 billion, several times higher than this figure. Faced with strong demand, Dell Technologies, Inc. Class C has substantially raised its full-year AI server revenue forecast for fiscal year 2027 from $50 billion previously announced in February to $60 billion, implying a growth rate of about 144% year-on-year. As of the time of writing, Dell Technologies, Inc. Class C technology surged by nearly 34% before the US stock market on Friday. AI Disruption Anxiety dissipating? MongoDB (MDB.US) surpasses expectations in performance and guidance. According to the financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, ending on April 30, MongoDB reported an adjusted earnings per share of $1.32, far exceeding the general analyst expectation of $1.19, representing a 32% increase from $1.00 in the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter increased by 25% year-on-year to $687.6 million, significantly surpassing the market expectation of approximately $665 million. What excites the market even more is MongoDB's performance outlook. The company expects adjusted earnings per share for the second quarter to be between $1.58 and $1.61, with revenue ranging from $729 million to $734 million, both far above the analyst estimate of $1.29 earnings per share and a revenue of $701 million. MongoDB also raised its full-year performance guidance. The company raised its adjusted earnings per share guidance for the full year from $5.75 to $5.93 to $5.95 to $6.14, and the revenue guidance from $28.6 billion to $29 billion to $29.2 billion to $29.6 billion, while the market's previous expectations were $5.92 per share and $29 billion in revenue. The company attributes its strong performance and guidance raise to the robust demand for its cloud database service Atlas. As of the time of writing, MongoDB was up over 3% before the US stock market on Friday. Not a storage chip manufacturer, yet reaping the benefits of the "storage supercycle" wave! NetApp in the US (NTAP.US), riding the NAND superwave, surpasses expectations in performance outlook. NetApp, which has long focused on enterprise-grade high-performance storage systems and data infrastructure platforms, is fully taking advantage of the "AI storage supercycle" boom brought about by the rapid expansion of AI data centers worldwide. Data shows that the company's fourth-quarter revenue was approximately $1.948 billion, up by 12%, significantly stronger than the market's expected $1.85 billion; adjusted earnings per share reached a record $2.43, surging by 11% year-on-year, significantly higher than the market's expectation of approximately $2.27. The strong growth in performance was mainly driven by the accelerated growth of the all-flash array business and public cloud high-performance storage services. In addition, the company's first-quarter and full-year performance guidance for fiscal year 2027 exceeded market expectations. As of the time of writing, NetApp in the US was up nearly 19% before the US stock market on Friday. Bubble Tea Empress (CHA.US) releases financial report for Q1 2026, total GMV reaches 7.918 billion RMB. According to the financial report for the first quarter ending on March 31 this year, Bubble Tea Empress has reached a global store count of 7,531. Total GMV in the first quarter reached 7.918 billion RMB, with net revenue of 3.546 billion RMB and adjusted net profit of 507 million RMB. This quarter, overseas GMV reached 426 million RMB, up by 139% year-on-year and 14.6% quarter-on-quarter. As of the time of writing, Bubble Tea Empress was up over 12% before the US stock market on Friday. Important Economic Data and Events Preview 11:10 PM Beijing Time Federal Reserve Board Member Bauman Speech 11:15 PM Beijing Time 2026 FOMC Voter, Philadelphia Fed President Paulson on Economic Outlook Speech 12:40 AM Beijing Time the Next Day 2027 FOMC Voter, San Francisco Fed President Daly Speech