Preview of US Stock Market | Three major stock index futures rise together. Snowflake plunges after earnings. Blackrock supports AI.

Pre-Market Market Trends 1. In the pre-market of December 4th (Thursday), the futures of the three major U.S. stock indexes all rose. As of the time of writing, Dow futures rose by 0.08%, S&P 500 index futures rose by 0.04%, and Nasdaq futures rose by 0.01%. 2. As of the time of writing, the German DAX index rose by 0.79%, the UK's FTSE 100 index rose by 0.18%, the French CAC 40 index rose by 0.43%, and the European Stoxx 50 index rose by 0.39%. 3. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil rose by 0.47% to $59.23 per barrel. Brent crude oil rose by 0.37% to $62.90 per barrel. Market News Wall Street's bullish sentiment prompts Bank of America to cool down: After a three-year bull run for the S&P 500, next year will enter a "low excess return" phase. Bank of America stated that after three consecutive years of double-digit returns and high valuations, the U.S. stock market has limited room for excess returns in 2026. The bank predicts that the S&P 500 index will end next year at around 7100 points. Savita Subramanian, head of stocks and quantitative strategies at the bank, predicts that U.S. companies will achieve double-digit earnings growth next year, but the stock market will see "moderate price returns." She noted that while the current market situation with leading sectors and high valuations resembles the dot-com bubble of 2000, it will not lead to the same outcome. However, she pointed out that as large tech companies continue to invest heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) without realizing profit, the market may face an AI "growth hiatus." BlackRock, Inc. supports AI: Far from being a repeat of the dot-com bubble. BlackRock, Inc. stated that the AI boom is driven by real business investments, profits, and productivity growth, rather than the irrational exuberance that defined the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s. Jean Boivin, head of the think tank at BlackRock, Inc., said, "We believe that the bubble framework is not so useful for investors at this stage, and we want to avoid placing everything on a rear-view mirror indicator or evaluation." He continued, pointing out that given the unprecedented scale and pace of construction, describing the AI boom as a bubble is "incomplete." Boivin also highlighted the healthy skepticism present in today's market, saying, "There is so much discussion about the potential bubble... people are becoming aware of the risks. Only when there is no such discussion should we be more concerned." Haslett's credibility in question, fear of accelerated rate cuts from the Federal Reserve may fall through? Gregory Peters, co-chief investment officer of the fixed-income division at global insurance asset manager PGIM, stated that even if Kevin Haslett is approved as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, he may not be able to achieve the rapid rate cuts that President Trump expects. The general expectation is that Haslett's appointment as Fed chair may lead to significant rate cuts to please Trump. However, Peters pointed out that since the Fed's interest rate decisions are ultimately made by the committee, Haslett alone cannot fulfill this demand. He said, "Does Haslett have enough credibility within the committee to drive consensus? We don't know the answer. I don't think he has that credibility, and this is also the signal that the bond market is sending us." Senior strategist warns: Silver may experience drastic divergence next year, with prices potentially hitting $75 and falling to $40. Senior strategist Mike McGlone stated that the staggering doubling in silver prices this year is somewhat unsettling. He pointed out that due to silver's high volatility, its price may soar to $75 per ounce or fall to $40 per ounce. McGlone noted that silver has historically been prone to extreme price spikes - the current price is already 83% higher than its five-year average - and historically, such spikes have not ended well. McGlone warned that silver's annual market volatility is around 30%, meaning that a one standard deviation price swing next year could push silver to highs of $75 per ounce or lows of $40 per ounce. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. warns that copper prices may struggle to hold above $11,000 mark, supply shortage not expected until 2029. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. injected a note of caution into the optimistic discussions surrounding the future of copper. The bank stated that a spike in copper prices above $11,000 per ton will be brief, as there is still ample global supply to meet demand. Analysts at the bank said, "The recent rally in copper prices is largely based on expectations of future market tension, rather than current fundamentals. We do not expect the current trend of breakthrough above $11,000 to continue." Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. predicted that copper demand will be about 500,000 tons less than supply this year, and a copper shortage is not expected until 2029. Individual Stock News EU plans antitrust investigation on Meta's AI introduction in WhatsApp, generative AI applications face stronger scrutiny. Two officials stated that the European Commission plans to launch an investigation into Meta's integration of the "Meta AI" system into the messaging service earlier this year. Since March 2025, the chatbots Siasun Robot&Automation and the virtual assistant "Meta AI" have been integrated into the WhatsApp interface in the European market. Meta stated that they have not received detailed information about the investigation and cited a previous WhatsApp statement regarding an investigation in Italy, stating that the investigation was "baseless." This reflects the increasing regulatory scrutiny on major tech companies implementing generative AI on their primary platforms. Strategic reversal! Intel Corporation halts plan to spin off network division, focuses on internal integration to deepen AI and edge computing layout. Intel Corporation announced that after evaluation, it has decided not to spin off or sell shares of its network division. The company believes that operating the network division as an internal business unit is more likely to lead to successful development. A company spokesperson added that as part of this strategic adjustment, Intel Corporation has terminated discussions with Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson Sponsored ADR Class B (ERIC.US), the two parties had previously explored the possibility of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson Sponsored ADR Class B acquiring a stake in the NEX network division. Earlier this year, Intel Corporation had disclosed plans to spin off the network division and was looking for strategic investors. Palantir, NVIDIA Corporation, and CenterPoint Energy, Inc. collaborate to develop new AI software to accelerate data center construction. Palantir, NVIDIA Corporation, and U.S. utility company CenterPoint Energy, Inc. announced on Thursday that they are developing a new software platform to expedite the construction of new artificial intelligence data centers. This new software system will be called "Chain Reaction" and aims to help companies building AI data centers address challenges related to approvals, supply chains, and construction. Executives involved in the project stated that the software will utilize AI tools to assist their customers. AI application "bull market narrative" further strengthened! Intelligent agents boost Salesforce, Inc.'s new growth curve. AI intelligent agents are driving Salesforce, Inc.'s new performance growth trajectory. The company's financial report showed that Q3 revenue increased by 8.6% year-on-year to $10.3 billion, with adjusted earnings per share of $3.25. The remaining performance obligations as of now are $29.4 billion, an increase of over 11% compared to the market's expectation of around $29.1 billion. The two core product lines - Sales and Service Cloud software platforms - both saw revenue growth of 8% after currency adjustments. For the 2026 fiscal year, the company raised its full-year revenue expectations to $41.45-41.55 billion, with adjusted earnings per share of $11.75-11.77, and an adjusted operating profit margin of around 34%. At the time of writing, Salesforce, Inc. was up nearly 2% in the pre-market. Profitability of AI tools questioned, Snowflake weak guidance causes stock price plunge. The financial report showed that in the third quarter ending October 31, the company's revenue was $1.21 billion, higher than analysts' previous estimate of $1.18 billion. Product revenue increased by 29% year-on-year to $1.16 billion, surpassing the consensus expectation of around $1.14 billion. The remaining performance obligation amount, which measures the size of orders, grew by 37% to $7.88 billion, higher than analysts' estimated $7.23 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were 35 cents, also higher than analysts' forecast of 31 cents. However, the company's provided operating margin outlook was below analyst expectations, and its product revenue forecast failed to meet investors' higher growth rate expectations, causing concerns about the profitability of its new artificial intelligence (AI) tools. At the time of writing, Snowflake was down over 8% in the pre-market. Government orders soar by 89%, but C3.ai's main business remains weak. The financial report showed that in the second quarter of the 2026 fiscal year, C3.ai reported an adjusted loss per share of 25 cents, better than analysts' expected loss of 33 cents. Revenue reached $75.1 million, slightly higher than the market's consensus of $74.93 million, a 7% increase from the previous quarter but a 20% decline year-on-year. Subscription revenue, as the core business, fell by 13% year-on-year to $70.2 million - accounting for 93% of total revenue, highlighting the difficulty in stabilizing its main business. For the fiscal year 2026, C3.ai expects full-year revenue to be between $289.5 million and $309.5 million, with analysts' average estimate being $299.5 million. At the time of writing, C3.ai was down nearly 2% in the pre-market. Important Economic Data and Events Preview Beijing Time 20:30: U.S. Challenger Business Layoffs for November Beijing Time 21:30: U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending November 29th Earnings Forecast Friday Morning: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE.US), DocuSign (DOCU.US) Pre-market Friday: Tuniu Corp. Sponsored ADR Class A (TOUR.US)