Preview of US Stock Market | The three major stock index futures are mixed, with the five tech giants set to report their earnings this week. Qualcomm surged in pre-market trading.

Pre-market Market Trends 1. Before the market opened on April 27 (Monday), the futures of the three major U.S. stock indexes were mixed. As of the time of writing, Dow Jones futures fell 0.07%, S&P 500 index futures fell 0.03%, and Nasdaq futures rose 0.03%. 2. As of the time of writing, the German DAX index rose 0.72%, the UK FTSE 100 index fell 0.05%, the French CAC 40 index rose 0.41%, and the European Stoxx 50 index rose 0.59%. 3. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil rose 0.62% to $94.99 per barrel. Brent crude oil rose 1.03% to $100.15 per barrel. Market News The five tech giants face a "major test" in earnings this week! Will the U.S. stock market continue its surge or will the bubble burst? Despite the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East affecting the market, tech stocks are pushing the S&P 500 index to new highs. Investors are facing the busiest earnings week of the season following a strong week of trading, and the results will be crucial in assessing the sustainability of the recent rally. Five of the "Big Seven" will release earnings this week. Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US), and Meta (META.US) are scheduled to announce results on Wednesday, and Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) will follow on Thursday. NVIDIA Corporation's earnings report is set for May 20. These five tech giants have a total market value close to $16 trillion, accounting for a quarter of the S&P 500 index's market capitalization. Keith Lerner, Chief Investment Officer at Truist, pointed out, "This will be a critical week, and earnings need to validate the recent rally." The Fed will announce its interest rate decision this week, and Powell's nomination may face a vote. The Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday. The market currently expects the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to keep rates unchanged with a probability of 99.5%. This meeting not only marks the second-to-last meeting chaired by Powell, but also a turnaround in the political pressure he faces. The Department of Justice recently dropped a criminal investigation into Powell's role in the renovation costs of the Fed building. This clears the political obstacles for Kevin Warsh, Trump's nominee for the next chairman, to assume the position smoothly in May. Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist at LPL Financial, pointed out that the previous investigation "threatened Warsh's confirmation and exacerbated concerns about the politicization of the central bank." The Senate Banking Committee has scheduled an executive session on Wednesday morning at 10 a.m., where a vote on Warsh's nomination may take place. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. warns! U.S. stocks soar to new highs, and hedge funds are taking the opportunity to cut positions. Traders at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. revealed that hedge funds are reducing risk positions amid the uptrend in U.S. stocks. Analysis shows that as the S&P 500 index quickly rebounded last week and hit a new all-time high, hedge funds reduced the total size of their long and short stock positions, marking the largest cut since September last year. From a technical perspective, the S&P 500 index recently experienced one of the strongest rebounds in history. Using the 14-day relative strength index as a measure, the index transitioned from oversold to overbought territory in just 12 days. With peace talks between the U.S. and Iran at a standstill and the market shifting its focus from geopolitical conflicts to strong corporate profit growth, some investors are returning to the stock market. Systematic strategies, such as commodity trading advisors (CTAs) relying on algorithms and mathematical models, are actively buying stocks, while investors who are more focused on fundamental factors seem to lack confidence. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. urgently raises oil price forecasts: Middle East oil production is decreasing by 14.5 million barrels per day, and global oil inventories are being consumed at a "historically rare" pace. Due to a decrease in oil production in the Middle East, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has raised its fourth-quarter oil price forecasts, with the Brent crude oil target price raised to $90 per barrel and WTI crude oil raised to $83 per barrel. According to Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.'s latest forecast, Gulf region oil exports through the Hormuz Strait are expected to return to normal by the end of June, slightly delayed from the previous estimate of mid-May, with the pace of oil production recovery in the Gulf region expected to slow down. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. estimates that daily oil production in the Middle East has sharply declined by 14.5 million barrels, driving global oil inventories to be consumed at a historically rare pace of 11 to 12 million barrels per day in April. The institution predicts that the global oil market will shift from a daily surplus of 1.8 million barrels in 2025 to a daily deficit of 0.96 million barrels in the second quarter of 2026. Individual Stock News Chip stocks such as Qualcomm (QCOM.US) rose before the market opened. As of the time of writing, Qualcomm surged over 12% before Monday's U.S. stock market opened. According to reports, Tianfeng International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that OpenAI plans to develop its own smartphone and is collaborating with MediaTek and Qualcomm to develop smartphone processors, with production expected in 2028. Other chip stocks also rose, with Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) up nearly 4%, AMD (AMD.US), NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US), and Intel Corporation (INTC.US) all up over 1%. Verizon (VZ.US) reports mixed Q1 results, full-year profit guidance exceeds expectations. The financial report shows that Verizon's first-quarter revenue increased by 3% year-on-year to $34.4 billion, below the market's expectation of $34.8 billion; adjusted earnings per share were $1.28, an 8% increase year-on-year, better than the market's expectation of $1.21. The company expects adjusted earnings per share for the full year 2026 to be $4.95-4.99, higher than previous expectations and above the market's expectation of $4.90. As of the time of writing, Verizon rose over 3% before Monday's U.S. stock market opened. Meta (META.US) bets on space-based power generation! Locks in Overview Energy's future capacity to "feed" AI data centers. Meta is seeking to power its AI data centers with CECEP Solar Energy collected in space in a novel way to meet its nearly infinite power needs. Meta announced on Monday that it has reached an agreement with startup Overview Energy to receive up to 1 gigawatt of space-based CECEP Solar Energy. 1 gigawatt of electricity is roughly equivalent to the generating capacity of a nuclear reactor. Overview Energy plans to collect sunlight through satellites orbiting the Earth and convert it into electricity to support grid operations. The envisioned space-based power station that transmits energy back to Earth is still in the theoretical stage. The startup is continuing to develop and test its underlying technology and plans to conduct its first orbital demonstration in 2028. According to the agreement, Meta will have priority access to Overview Energy's future generation capacity. Both parties expect commercial power generation to be achieved by 2030. Middle East conflict disrupts supply chains, Toyota Motor Corp. Sponsored ADR (TM.US) sees a 5.8% decline in March sales, but production increases by 3.9%. Toyota reported a decline in March sales due to a decrease in demand for its core model RAV4 ahead of a redesign. Meanwhile, the Middle East conflict has disrupted global supply chains, forcing the Japanese automotive industry to issue production warnings. Toyota announced on Monday that global sales in March (including subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino) declined by 5.8% year-on-year to 983,126 vehicles; however, global production increased by 3.9% to 1.02 million vehicles. These figures indicate that despite the turmoil in the Middle East causing aluminum and other raw material prices to rise, increasing costs for automotive components, the world's largest automaker has been able to maintain production stability. As about 70% of Japan's automotive industry's aluminum supply relies on the Middle East, further production declines are possible. A "new giant" in the pharmaceutical industry is born! Sun Pharma to acquire Organon (OGN.US) for $11.75 billion. Indian pharmaceutical company Sun Pharma announced on Sunday that it has agreed to acquire Organon through an all-cash transaction, valuing the company at $11.75 billion, making it one of the largest healthcare industry deals of the year. The transaction has been approved by both companies' boards, and subject to regulatory approval and approval from Organon shareholders, is expected to be completed in early 2027. Organon focuses on women's health, mature drugs, and biosimilars. Sun Pharma stated that the acquisition will expand its international footprint and add new capabilities in the areas of women's health and biosimilars. The combined company is expected to generate approximately $12.4 billion in revenue, placing it among the world's largest pharmaceutical companies by sales. As of the time of writing, Organon surged nearly 17% before Monday's U.S. stock market opened. Earnings Preview Tuesday pre-market: BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR (BP.US), Barclays (BCS.US), Novartis AG Sponsored ADR pharmaceuticals (NVS.US), General Motors Company (GM.US), Coca-Cola Company (KO.US), United Parcel Service (UPS.US)