- Asian equities extended gains for a second consecutive session, supported by capital rotation into AI-linked companies and still-resilient sentiment on Wall Street. The MSCI Asia Index rose around 1%, led by Japan’s Nikkei, which advanced 2.7%.
- The strongest signal came from SoftBank, which surged 11% on expectations tied to the company’s exposure to AI infrastructure. Lenovo hit its highest level in Hong Kong in 26 years after strong results in AI-related segments.
- Improved sentiment is also visible beyond Asia: Nasdaq 100 futures are up 0.4%, while European indices are pointing to a higher open.
- Geopolitical factors are still somewhat limiting risk appetite, although Brent crude has slipped below USD 102 per barrel despite signals from Iran pointing to a tougher negotiating stance on Hormuz and the presence of enriched uranium in the country.
- Gold fell toward USD 4,540 per ounce, suggesting partial profit-taking despite ongoing geopolitical tensions. The yen remained weak near 159 against the dollar after Japan’s key inflation reading came in below expectations.
- Germany’s GfK consumer sentiment index came in at -29.8, pointing to an improvement from -33.3 previously and beating the -34 consensus forecast. Meanwhile, Germany’s final Q1 GDP growth was confirmed at 0.3% q/q, in line with both expectations and the previous quarter’s pace.
- Donald Trump decided to send an additional 5,000 US troops to Poland.
- OpenAI maintained its revenue lead over Anthropic in the first quarter, generating around USD 5.7 billion — roughly USD 1 billion more than its main rival, according to The Information.
- At the same time, Anthropic continues to scale rapidly. The company’s annualized revenue recently approached USD 45 billion, significantly above the roughly USD 25 billion reported for OpenAI.
- Anthropic is also projecting a very strong second quarter, with revenue expected to double to USD 11 billion and projected profit reaching around USD 600 million. Both companies are reportedly planning IPOs this year.
US100 Chart (H1)
Nasdaq futures have resumed their move above the 29,550 level after a brief pullback, with bulls likely preparing for another attempt at fresh record highs. The benchmark has moved back above both hourly exponential moving averages, pointing to improving momentum, while the RSI stands near 60 - still far from extreme overbought territory. Key support remains in the 29,100–29,000 zone, while major resistance can be found near the psychological 29,750 area (recent highs) and the round 30,000 level.
Source: xStation5
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