Key News
1. Iranian Parliament Speaker Karibaf: The US has falsely claimed that our unfrozen assets will be used to purchase their agricultural products.
2. The US core PCE price index rose 3.4% year-on-year in May, in line with market expectations and the highest level since October 2023.
3. The final reading of the US Q1 annualized real GDP growth rate was 2.1%, below the expected 1.60% and the previous reading of 1.60%. The final reading of the US Q1 real personal consumption expenditure growth rate was 0.5%, compared to the previous reading of 1.4%.
4. US initial jobless claims last week were 215,000, compared to 226,000 previously.
5. US Secretary of State Rubio: Israel and Lebanon are close to reaching a preliminary agreement. The US hopes to reach an agreement with Iran, but will not do so at any cost.
Stock News
1. Micron Technology (MU.O) surged 18% in pre-market trading after strong earnings far exceeded expectations, prompting several major banks to raise their target prices. 2. Nvidia (NVDA.O) CEO Jensen Huang stated that Vera Rubin is now in full production. Huang also referred to "physical AI" as Nvidia's next wave of growth.
3. IBM (IBM.N) Research announced on Thursday that it has produced the world's first chip technology smaller than 1nm, using a 0.7nm transistor architecture. The new chip design offers up to 50% better performance and 70% better energy efficiency compared to its 2nm chips.
4. Bio-Techne (TECH.US) surged over 20% in pre-market trading on Thursday after Merck announced it had agreed to acquire the company for $73 per share in cash, valuing the company at approximately $11.3 billion (about €9.9 billion).
5. Apple (AAPL.O) raised prices for Macs, iPads, and other products to address memory shortages.
6. Qualcomm (QCOM.O) announced a major push into the artificial intelligence (AI) data center chip market and significantly raised its long-term financial targets. It projects that by fiscal year 2029, its data center business will generate over $15 billion in annual revenue, while total revenue from businesses excluding smartphones will reach $40 billion.
7. Sunrun announced a partnership with Tesla (TSLA.O) and Renew Home to provide power to data centers and utility companies across the United States.
