Andy Chen

Tradingkey - Following the release of the U.S. June non-farm payrolls data, gold prices (XAUUSD) strengthened once again, rising to as high as $2,195.48 and nearing the $2,200 threshold, putting the metal on track for its first weekly gain in nearly a month. Gold prices have trended generally weaker overall since the beginning of this year. Persistent inflation concerns, a sustained strong U.S. dollar, and a hawkish shift by major global central banks in the wake of the U.S.-Iran conflict have combined to significantly dampen market demand for gold as a traditional safe-haven asset.

TradingKey - On June 25, Apple officially announced its largest price hike in recent years, implementing global price increases for MacBooks, iPads, and certain smart home devices, with hikes ranging from 17% to 54%. Among them, the MacBook Air 512GB rose from $1,099 to $1,299; the iPad Air increased from $599 to $749; and the Apple TV price leaped from $129 to $199, a surge of up to 54%. Apple stated in its announcement that "the rapid expansion of AI data centers has caused an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage," and that the company has "never seen the price of a component rise so much, so fast." Following the announcement, Apple's stock price fell more than 6% on the day, as the market widely believed that raising product prices would impact sales volume.

Tradingkey - On July 3, U.S. stock markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday, but Nasdaq 100 Index futures rebounded strongly after dropping 1.7% yesterday. As of press time, Nasdaq 100 Index futures rose 1.18% to 29,904.25 points, while S&P 500 Index futures edged up 0.40% to 7,558 points. Although rate hike expectations have repeatedly weighed on tech stocks since June, the consensus market view remains that the current upward momentum of U.S. equities is well-supported for continued growth, driven by the resonance of three key factors: the ongoing expansion of AI capital expenditures, the marginal recovery of macro liquidity expectations, and the gradual broadening of the earnings growth narrative.

Tradingkey - On July 3, Eastern Time, the U.S. stock market is closed today in observance of the Independence Day holiday. Trading for precious metals, energy, foreign exchange, U.S. Treasury, and equity index futures contracts under the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) ended early at 13:00 Eastern Time. Trading for Brent crude oil futures contracts under the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) ended early at 13:30 Eastern Time. Currently, the two major crude oil futures are trading flat, with prices hovering around $68. The overall market has entered a phase of cooling down. The core driver of the market adjustment stems from the narrowing of risk premiums led by the rapid easing of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as well as the recovery of supply-side expectations driven by the gradual restoration of global energy transit channels. The market is still awaiting the next catalyst.

TradingKey - On July 2, Eastern Time, US stock markets will be closed tomorrow for Independence Day. Today's weaker-than-expected non-farm payrolls dampened bets on Federal Reserve rate hikes, but Meta's plan to sell computing power still weighed on trading sentiment, resulting in a continued divergence among the three major US stock indices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit another record high, while memory and optical communication stocks led the declines. At the close, the Dow rose 1.14% to 52,900.07 points; the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.80% to 25,832.67 points; and the S&P 500 erased its losses late in the session to close at 7,483.24 points.

TradingKey - As of June 2026, the trillion-dollar club in the US stock market underwent a major shakeup during the month, with the number of global companies boasting a market capitalization of over $1 trillion growing to 16. Among them, the technology sector occupies a prominent position, reflecting strong investor confidence in both the scaling capabilities and long-term growth potential of the AI industry.

TradingKey - On July 2, Eastern Time, Apple (AAPL) shares reclaimed the $300 mark. As of press time, the stock rose 4.59% to trade at $307.88. It is reported that Apple is in negotiations with two Chinese memory chip manufacturers, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC), to source memory chips for some of its products sold in the Chinese market. The move aims to alleviate cost pressures driven by the tight global supply of memory chips.

TradingKey - On July 2, Eastern Time, the three major US stock indexes showed mixed performance. Affected by Meta's transition into a computing power leasing provider, AI hardware stocks continued their decline today. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit another record high, the Nasdaq 100 Index fell 1.46%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped by about 5%. As of press time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.73% to 52,685.45 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.89% to 25,808.97 points; and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.21% to 7,467.39 points.

TradingKey - On July 2, Eastern Time, following two consecutive labor market reports that unexpectedly cooled, another Fed official stated that the current restrictive monetary policy stance will bring inflation down gradually. US non-farm payrolls for June, released today, grew by 57,000, significantly below the market expectation of 113,000, while the figures for April and May were downwardly revised by a combined 74,000. The ADP report released yesterday showed that private sector employment increased by 98,000 in June, also missing the market expectation of 118,000, marking the smallest increase since March. The two weaker-than-expected employment reports have intensified market concerns over a cooling labor market.

TradingKey - Meta's transition into a computing power leasing provider has triggered market concerns over weakening AI demand, leading to a sell-off in memory and chip stocks. The three major U.S. stock indexes fell across the board, although the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new intraday historic high of 52,742.66 points. At the close, the Dow fell 0.03% to 52,305.24 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.66% to 26,040.03 points; and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.22% to 7,483.23 points.

TradingKey - On July 1, Eastern Time, AI hardware stocks came under pressure, with memory and optical communication stocks plummeting across the board. SanDisk (SNDK) fell 10.82%, Micron Technology (MU) dropped 9.7%, Corning (GLW) fell over 13%, Marvell Technology (MRVL) slid over 7%, and Lumentum (LITE) declined more than 6%. Reportedly, Meta plans to enter the cloud computing market, transitioning from a pure buyer of computing power to a computing power leasing provider. According to media reports, Meta is officially planning its AI cloud infrastructure business, transforming from a pure purchaser of computing power into a market participant with supply capabilities. It is simultaneously developing two business lines—model services and bare-metal computing power leasing—to directly compete with the three traditional cloud giants, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, while posing a disruptive threat to vertical AI computing power providers such as CoreWeave.

TradingKey - On July 1, Eastern Time, Tesla (TSLA) rose for the fourth consecutive day, gaining over 14% and pushing its share price back above $430. As of press time, the stock was up 1.71% at $427.79. Amid an overall slowdown in the global electric vehicle market, the market expects Tesla's second-quarter global deliveries to be approximately 396,500 vehicles, representing a year-on-year increase of about 3%.

TradingKey - On July 1, Eastern Time, gold (XAUUSD) surged past $4,100 at one point, reclaiming a near one-week high. As of press time, it was up 2.27% to trade at $4,098 per ounce. Newly appointed Fed Chairman Warsh stated on Wednesday that both inflation expectations and inflation risks have declined in recent weeks.

TradingKey - On June 30 EST, after Nike (NKE) released its fourth-quarter financial results for fiscal year 2026 during post-market trading, its stock price initially rose over 2% before turning downward. As of press time, it fell 3.58% to $39.58. Consumer goods, represented by Nike, are no longer the primary artificial intelligence-focused investment targets favored by the market. However, they hold a highly important observational value for the market: namely, whether financial reports will bring incremental capital to undervalued consumer stocks.

TradingKey - US stocks regained upward momentum as corporate earnings were validated and macroeconomic risks partially subsided. The three major US stock indexes extended yesterday's gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average continuing to hit a new closing high, led by chipmakers and memory chip stocks. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26% to 52,319.20 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.52% to 26,213.72 points; and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.79% to 7,499.36 points.

TradingKey - On June 30, Eastern Time, AMD (AMD) hit an intraday historic high of $579.73. As of press time, it rose over 7% to report at $577.61. Notably, Wells Fargo raised its price target for AMD from $505 to $615, an upward adjustment of over 21%, while maintaining an "Overweight" rating.

TradingKey - On June 30, Eastern Time, the three major US stock indices all strengthened in early trading. The Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ), which tracks the performance of tech stocks, rose over 1%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged by more than 3%.

TradingKey - On Monday, June 29, Eastern Time, market sentiment rebounded as the US and Iran returned to the negotiating table, lifting all three major indices, with space and technology stocks leading the gains. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.59% to 52,182.74 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.07% to 25,820.14 points; and the S&P 500 Index rose 1.18% to 7,440.43 points.

TradingKey — On June 29, Eastern Time, Cerebras Systems (CBRS) surged more than 20% at one point. As of press time, it was up 19.36% at $216.75. The latest holdings of Cathie Wood, CEO and CIO of ARK Invest, show that she added over 20,000 shares of CBRS stock last Friday, reflecting her continued optimism in the AI chip sector. Notably, the AI chipmaker, which is regarded as a competitor to Nvidia, has seen its stock price plunge about 40% since its listing, hitting an all-time low of $160.81 last Friday.

TradingKey - On June 29, Eastern Time, Tesla (TSLA) shares reclaimed the $400 mark, rising 5.83% to $401.84 as of press time. Tesla is scheduled to release its second-quarter delivery report this week, with Wall Street investment banks expecting deliveries to beat market expectations.