Overnight US stocks | The Federal Reserve holds steady for the third time in a row, with the three major indexes showing mixed movements. NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI.US) surged over 25%.

On Wednesday, the three major stock indexes had mixed performance, the Federal Reserve decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50%-3.75%, marking the third consecutive meeting to hold steady. Meeting minutes showed that while the Federal Reserve kept the interest rate unchanged, internal disagreements reached their highest levels since 1992. Among the "Big Seven," four companies announced their earnings after the market closed, with only Alphabet (GOOGL.US, GOOG.US) pleasing investors with a strong performance. Alphabet's first-quarter revenue increased by 22%, nearly reaching $110 billion, surpassing analyst expectations. Net profit was $62.6 billion, an 81% increase year-over-year. In addition, the company's 2025 fiscal year sales hit a record $403 billion, with profits reaching around $132 billion. Following the better-than-expected performance, Alphabet's stock price rose more than 6% after hours. Meta Platforms (META.US) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) also reported strong growth but saw their stock prices decline, with Meta falling by over 5% after hours. US stocksAt the close, the Dow fell 280.12 points, a decrease of 0.57%, to 48,861.81 points; the Nasdaq rose 9.44 points, an increase of 0.04%, to 24,673.24 points; the S&P 500 index fell 2.82 points, a decrease of 0.04%, to 7,135.98 points. NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI.US) surged over 25%, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) fell by 1.8%, Qualcomm (QCOM.US) rose by 4%, Intel Corporation (INTC.US) rose by 12%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 0.63%, while iQIYI, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (IQ.US) rose by 4.5%. European stocksThe German DAX30 index fell 92.79 points, a decrease of 0.39%, to 23,947.50 points; the UK's FTSE 100 index fell 123.43 points, a decrease of 1.19%, to 10,209.36 points; the French CAC40 index fell 31.96 points, a decrease of 0.39%, to 8,072.13 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 21.01 points, a decrease of 0.36%, to 5,813.85 points; the Spanish IBEX35 index fell 133.90 points, a decrease of 0.75%, to 17,641.00 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index fell 245.74 points, a decrease of 0.51%, to 47,794.50 points. Dollar IndexThe US dollar index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, rose by 0.32% to close at 98.956 in the foreign exchange market. At the end of the New York forex market, 1 euro was exchanged for $1.1682, lower than the previous trading day's $1.1714; 1 pound was exchanged for $1.3483, lower than the previous trading day's $1.3518. 1 US dollar was exchanged for 160.32 yen, higher than the previous trading day's 159.55 yen; 1 US dollar was exchanged for 0.7907 Swiss francs, higher than the previous trading day's 0.7893 Swiss francs; 1 US dollar was exchanged for 1.3681 Canadian dollars, higher than the previous trading day's 1.3679 Canadian dollars; 1 US dollar was exchanged for 9.3074 Swedish krona, higher than the previous trading day's 9.2716 Swedish krona. CryptocurrencyBitcoin fell by 0.35% to $75,992; Ethereum fell by over 1% to $2,258. Crude oilThe price of light crude oil futures for delivery in June on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $6.95 to close at $106.88 per barrel, an increase of 6.95%; the price of Brent crude oil futures for delivery in June rose by $6.77 to close at $118.03 per barrel, an increase of 6.08%. Precious metalsSpot gold fell by 1.15% to close at $4,543.69 per ounce; spot silver closed at $71.329 per ounce. Macro News Four votes against, cracks deepen in the Federal Reserve as Powell leaves office. As scheduled, the Federal Reserve kept the interest rate unchanged, with a total of 12 voting members participating, four of whom cast dissenting votes, the most since October 1992. According to the FOMC statement, Federal Reserve Governor Milan voted against keeping the interest rate unchanged and supported a 25 basis point cut; Cleveland Fed President Hamek, Minneapolis Fed President Kashikali, and Dallas Fed President Logan voted to keep the interest rate unchanged but opposed retaining dovish wording in the statement. The FOMC statement retained the word "further" in the phrase "when considering the degree and timing of further adjustments to the federal funds rate target range." It was expected that the word "further" would be removed to weaken the implied bias towards rate cuts. For the past two years, this wording has tended to indicate a greater possibility of interest rate cuts rather than hikes. This meeting is likely Powell's last as Federal Reserve Chairman. Trump says negotiations with Iran are ongoing by phone. US President Trump said on the 29th that the US and Iran are negotiating by phone and emphasized that Iran must make a clear commitment to completely abandon nuclear weapons. Trump said in the Oval Office of the White House that the US and Iran have been in talks and are now communicating by phone, "not like before, flying 18 hours every time you want to see a document." he said. This way is very convenient, "I make a call, or send my people to make one, and I can get the answer within 15 minutes," but "I have always preferred face-to-face communication." Trump said that progress has been made in negotiations between the two sides, but the question is whether Iran's concessions can meet US demands. "At present, unless they clearly commit to completely abandon nuclear weapons, there is no chance that both sides will reach any agreement." Powell staying on as a board member is not common; admits "legal action" keeps him from leaving. Powell's decision to remain a board member after the end of his term as Federal Reserve Chairman is uncommon, but not unprecedented. Most modern Federal Reserve Chairs have left the Board after their terms. Powell's predecessor, Yellen, left the Federal Reserve in 2018 to join the Brookings Institution and was later appointed as Biden's Treasury Secretary in 2020. The only exception was Eccles, who served as Federal Reserve Chairman from 1934 to 1948 and stayed on as a board member for three more years. In a conflict with Truman over the extent of the White House's power to set interest rates, Eccles played a key role in ensuring the Federal Reserve's modern independence. During his tenure as Chairman, Powell did not shy away from addressing political pressures facing the Federal Reserve. He explicitly stated on Wednesday that his decision to stay on was not due to any verbal attacks from politicians, but as a result of legal actions against the Federal Reserve. OPEC+ may discuss output increase on Sunday; UAE's exit to lower the magnitude. Three sources familiar with the discussions said that the seven OPEC+ member countries are likely to agree to increase their oil production targets again during a meeting on Sunday, considering the UAE's withdrawal from the oil-producing group, the increase amount is expected to be lowered. However, due to tensions between the US and Iran leading to the actual closure of the Strait of Hormuz for shipping, few oil-producing countries can actually increase production. OPEC+ sources said that before the UAE unexpectedly announced its withdrawal from OPEC+ on Tuesday, the group's eight member countries were expected to continue raising their production targets by 206,000 barrels per day in June, similar to the increases in May and April. They are likely to continue to increase production by a similar magnitude now, excluding the UAE's previous share of 18,000 barrels per day. One source said that the group had not made a decision before the meeting. Stock-specific News Amazon.com, Inc.'s cloud business quarterly growth beats expectations, but some guidance falls slightly short. Amazon.com, Inc.'s (AMZN.US) cloud business revenue growth in Q1 2026 exceeded Wall Street's expectations, mainly due to increased corporate investment in cloud computing services. In Q1 2026, Amazon.com, Inc.'s AWS (Amazon Web Services) revenue grew by 28% to $37.6 billion, while analysts had previously expected an average growth rate of 25.08% to $36.1 billion. However, the company's stock price fell by 2% in volatile after-hours trading as it forecast second-quarter operating profit to be between $20 billion and $24 billion, slightly lower than the analyst's median estimate of $22.62 billion. Meta revenue surges, raises full-year capital expenditure forecast. Meta Platforms (META.US) reported its highest quarterly revenue growth in recent periods, but the company stated that it will invest more funds than originally expected this year to build AI data centers. The company's revenue for Q1 was $56.3 billion, a 33% increase year-on-year; net profit was $26.8 billion, both figures exceeding analyst expectations. The company expects revenue for the current quarter to be between $58 billion and $61 billion, which is basically in line with analysts' expectations. The company stated that capital expenditure was $19.84 billion for the quarter, lower than the market's expected $27.57 billion. However, Meta said that the full-year capital expenditure will be between $125 billion and $145 billion, higher than the previous forecast of $115 billion to $135 billion. Meta fell by over 5% in after-hours trading. Slower spending growth, Microsoft Corporation's cloud revenue growth accelerates. Microsoft Corporation's (MSFT.US) cloud revenue increased in Q3 of the fiscal year 2026, while spending growth was lower than expected. Microsoft Corporation's Q3 fiscal year 2026 capital expenditure increased by 49% to $31.9 billion, with institutions previously expecting $34.9 billion. Capital expenditure in the second quarter was $37.5 billion. Azure cloud computing division achieved 40% revenue growth in the quarter, faster than the 39% in the previous three months. This performance may alleviate market concerns: previously, Microsoft Corporation's promotion of the Copilot365 assistant for enterprises has been slow, and over-reliance on OpenAI may have weakened Microsoft Corporation's early lead in the AI competition. In addition, this also helps prove that data center spending is justified - although this spending has put pressure on cash flow, major cloud service providers are expected to invest over $600 billion in AI infrastructure this year.