US Premarket: Semiconductor stocks under broad pressure; Microsoft hits record high; Bank of England rate decision looms

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Market Snapshot

Semiconductor stocks are under broad premarket pressure, with $Micron Technology(MU.US)$ down 2.79%, $AMD(AMD.US)$ down 3.30%, and $NVIDIA(NVDA.US)$ down 1.08%, dragged by AI regulatory concerns following the Democrats' midterm sweep and delays in Microsoft data center construction. $AppLovin(APP.US)$ bucked the trend, surging over 17% premarket after Q3 results smashed estimates and Q4 guidance came in strong. On Thursday, US stock futures were mixed: Dow futures rose 0.64%, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.55%, and S&P 500 futures edged up 0.15%. Major European indices advanced across the board, with Germany's DAX up 0.85%. COMEX gold rose 1.79% to USD 4,145.90 per ounce, as a pullback in the dollar and Treasury yields lent support to precious metals.

Stock News

1. AppLovin surges 17%+ premarket as Q3 beats across the board:$AppLovin(APP.US)$ surged 17.04% premarket to USD 318.05. Q3 revenue jumped 55% YoY to USD 2.185 billion, with EPS of USD 4.30 beating the consensus estimate of USD 4.04. Net profit climbed 72% YoY to USD 1.439 billion, with net margin reaching 66%. Q4 revenue guidance of USD 2.37–2.40 billion handily topped the Street's USD 2.25 billion estimate. The company also announced an additional USD 3.2 billion share buyback authorization, with its Axon AI advertising technology continuing to drive profitability gains.

2. Micron halts USD 450 million Taiwan fab construction:$Micron Technology(MU.US)$ fell 2.79% premarket. Citing local labor disputes and the risk of agreements being overturned, Micron has suspended construction of a USD 4.5 billion memory chip fab in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Management expressed concerns over project uncertainty and has yet to provide a timeline for resuming work.

3. NVIDIA chips pile up in Hong Kong as China withholds import approvals:Reuters reported that a large volume of $NVIDIA(NVDA.US)$ chips is piling up in Hong Kong after Chinese authorities slowed import approvals. This follows the Biden administration's further tightening of AI chip export restrictions to China. The uncertainty surrounding the China market is casting a shadow over NVIDIA's near-term outlook, with the stock down 1.08% premarket.

4. IREN data center delay, USD 5 billion gap in Microsoft AI spending:$Microsoft(MSFT.US)$ reported an approximately USD 5 billion gap in AI infrastructure spending, primarily due to construction and permitting delays at $IREN(IREN.US)$'s Texas data center. Satellite imagery suggests project delivery is at risk, echoing similar capital expenditure shortfalls previously seen at Alphabet. IREN has dropped over 13% in two sessions, with sentiment under pressure ahead of earnings.

5. Microsoft Azure revenue surges 48%, shares hit record high:$Microsoft(MSFT.US)$ reported FY2027 Q1 revenue up 19% YoY to USD 92.3 billion, with Azure revenue surging 48%. Shares jumped 6.7% to a record high of USD 555.80 on Wednesday, as multiple Wall Street firms raised their price targets. Technical support is seen in the USD 552–555 range, with upside targets approaching USD 600.

Macro Drivers

1. Democrats sweep midterms, AI regulatory fears intensify:With Democrats controlling both chambers, markets fear the new Congress will tighten oversight of AI data center construction and approvals. Capital is rotating out of Korean AI hardware names into cheaper Chinese tech stocks, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surging 877 points on Wednesday — its biggest gain in over a year and a half — while semiconductor stocks came under visible pressure.

2. Bank of England rate decision tonight, markets price in first hike in three years:At 8:00 PM Beijing time, the Bank of England is expected to raise rates by 25 bps to 4%. Buoyed by economic resilience and rate hike expectations, the pound has strengthened to its highest level since 2016, breaking above USD 1.35. A hawkish rate decision could rattle global risk asset sentiment.

3. Citi: Brent crude could fall below USD 70 next year, but tail risks remain:Citi issued a report following the Democratic victory, noting that while geopolitical tensions could flare in the near term, the long-term cooling trend is clear. Under its base-case scenario, Brent crude falls below USD 70 per barrel in 2027. That said, Citi assigns a 30% probability to an extreme scenario where oil spikes to USD 120, advising investors not to overlook near-term volatility risks.

Premarket Turnover TOP10

No.NamePremarket ChangePremarket PricePremarket Turnover
1$Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares(SOXL.US)$-8.10%61.28408M
2$Micron Technology(MU.US)$-2.79%773.04217M
3$Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares(SOXS.US)$+8.50%63.30211M
4$Invesco QQQ Trust(QQQ.US)$-0.57%688.00205M
5$SanDisk(SNDK.US)$-3.61%1000.00165M
6$NVIDIA(NVDA.US)$-1.08%197.96136M
7$AMD(AMD.US)$-3.30%472.67121M
8$ProShares UltraPro QQQ(TQQQ.US)$-1.72%61.17119M
9$SpaceX(SPCX.US)$-1.32%134.1289.14M
10$SK Hynix(SKHY.US)$-4.84%136.1577.08M

Economic Calendar (US)

(All times in Beijing time)

17:30 US Challenger Job Cuts
21:30 US Initial Jobless Claims
21:30 US Continuing Jobless Claims
21:30 US Unit Labor Costs Preliminary (QoQ)
21:30 US Labor Productivity Preliminary
23:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage Change

Source: US Market Preview The copyright of this article belongs to the original author/organization.

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