International Morning Express | US White House: Will Not Confirm Whether Negotiations with Iran Will Occur This Week

Middle East Situation | U.S. White House: Will Not Confirm Negotiations with Iran This Week

Trump told the media that both Iran and the U.S. are very interested in negotiations and that an agreement could be reached within five days or even sooner. He postponed the attack on Iran’s power plants for five days. The White House recently stated that diplomatic discussions are sensitive matters and will not confirm whether officials in Washington will hold further talks with Iran or intermediaries this week. Iran’s news agency quoted sources saying that there has been no direct communication with Iran, nor through mediators. Iranian media believe that Trump’s deceptive strategies aim to manipulate financial and oil prices, buy time to deploy additional U.S. troops, and conspire to deepen internal divisions within Iran.

Middle East Situation | Netanyahu and Trump Speak, Say Will Continue Attacks on Iran and Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. President Trump spoke by phone, stating that Israel will continue airstrikes against Iran and Lebanon. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Defense reportedly decided to accelerate the deployment of thousands of Marines and sailors to the Middle East. The Iranian armed forces’ Hatem Abiyah Central Command spokesperson said Iran has taken the initiative in relevant waters in the Persian Gulf and Oman Gulf, has effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, and does not need to lay mines in the Persian Gulf.

U.S. Interest Rates | Goolsbee: Inflation Has Become a Greater Risk

Chicago Fed President Goolsbee said that with unemployment remaining relatively stable, inflation is currently the biggest risk facing the U.S. economy. However, if the Iran conflict is resolved quickly, the Federal Reserve may still cut interest rates later this year. Fed Governor Milani said it is too early to conclude how rising oil prices will impact the U.S. economy. He maintains his stance that softening employment markets require further rate cuts from the Fed.

AI | TSMC’s 2nm Process Demand Strong, Orders Backlogged to 2028

Benefiting from strong AI demand, TSMC’s 2nm process capacity is severely oversubscribed. According to Taiwanese media, NVIDIA and Meta have joined the queue for capacity, with orders scheduled through 2028 and beyond.

U.S. Stock Market | Dow Rises 631 Points, Surges Over 1,100 During Trading

After Trump suddenly announced a five-day delay in attacking Iran’s power plants, investors took a breath of relief. The Dow rose as much as 1,135 points to 46,712 on Monday. However, Iran denied negotiations with the U.S., claiming they will continue fighting. The Dow closed up 631 points or 1.38%; the S&P 500 gained 1.15%; the Nasdaq surged 1.38%, hitting a high of 2.5% intraday; the China Dragon Index rose 0.86%. Tesla climbed 3.5%, Amazon up 2.4%, and NVIDIA increased 1.7%.

External Focus Briefings

￭ U.S. Central Command stated that rumors of an American F-15 being shot down are false, emphasizing that no U.S. aircraft have been downed by Iran.
￭ Iran claims to have destroyed a U.S. oil tanker days ago but did not specify details such as the ship’s information, attack time, or location. The U.S. has not responded.
￭ “Stock King” Buffett’s flagship Berkshire Hathaway has made a major investment in Japan again, announcing a strategic investment in Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, involving 287.4 billion yen (about HKD 14.04 billion).
￭ Apple announced that the 37th Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will mainly be held online from June 8 to June 12.
￭ The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield briefly fell 7.91 basis points to 4.3005%, while the 2-year yield dropped 10.2 basis points to 3.792%.
￭ The U.S. dollar index fell as much as 0.77% to 98.88, with the euro rising 0.6% and the yen up 0.76%.
￭ Bitcoin surged up to 6.5% to $71,782.
￭ The RMB rebounded significantly. At 3 a.m. Hong Kong time Tuesday, onshore RMB/USD closed at 6.8795, up 255 pips from last Friday’s close. At 4:59 a.m. Hong Kong time (end of New York session), offshore RMB (CNH) was at 6.8841, up 226 pips from last Friday’s New York close.
￭ Spot gold once plunged 8.75% to $4,099.17 per ounce, closing at $4,406.87, down 1.88%; spot silver dropped 10.21% to a low of $61.0073, then recovered 2.01% to $69.1525.
￭ NYMEX crude oil fell 14.11% to $84.37, closing down 10.28% at $88.13; Brent crude oil dropped 14.43% to $96, then closed at $99.94, down 10.92%.
￭ Italian Prime Minister Meloni admitted defeat in a nationwide referendum aimed at reforming the judicial system, with about 78% of votes counted, approximately 54.1% voting against. The referendum has become a vote on her political future.
￭ Stoxx 600 closed up 0.61%. UK stocks fell 0.24%, while France and Germany rose 0.79% and 1.22%, respectively.
￭ Southeast Asian ride-hailing app Grab announced it will acquire Foodpanda Taiwan’s delivery business from Delivery Hero for $600 million, expected to be completed in the second half of this year.
￭ Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met UK National Security Advisor Powel in Beijing, stating that China and the UK should engage at all levels, deepen cooperation across fields, effectively manage differences, and promote stable development of bilateral relations.
￭ Kyodo News reports that Japan is considering importing crude oil from Central Asia’s Kazakhstan and plans to jointly develop U.S. strategic reserves, accelerating diversification of sourcing.
￭ Asia-Pacific stock markets were heavily pressured, with Japanese stocks plunging 3.41%; South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 6.49%, but local retail investors bought heavily, breaking records with stocks worth 70 trillion won in a single day.
￭ KCNA reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was re-elected as Chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly at the first session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly on Sunday. The session also implemented a major personnel reshuffle of the Workers’ Party and Cabinet, with Kim’s third leadership term essentially finalized.

Local Focus Briefings

￭ The ADR Hong Kong Stock Connect Index closed at 25,097, up 715 points from the Hong Kong market. HSBC (00005) rose 5.2%, Alibaba (09988) and AIA (01299) up 3.1%, HKEX (00388) up 2%, Xiaomi (01810) and Meituan (03690) up over 1%, Tencent (00700) down 1.4%.
￭ Hang Seng Index night futures closed at 25,020, up 638 points, with a high of 25,228 during the session, up 845 points.
￭ The “Two Yuan Ride Discount Scheme” will be adjusted from April 3 to “Two Yuan Two Discount,” with the Labour and Welfare Bureau estimating a savings of HKD 550 million in the next fiscal year.
￭ Hong Kong Post will adjust postage fees from April 13, with local letters up to 30 grams increasing from HKD 2.2 to HKD 2.4.
￭ Tuen Mun Hospital completed Hong Kong’s first case of treating tremor-type Parkinson’s disease with magnetic wave ablation, with plans to treat 40 patients over two years.
￭ Chief Executive John Lee said that over 3,380 single-family offices have now gathered in Hong Kong, a 25% increase over two years ago.
￭ Police Commissioner Chris Tang noted that in 2025, there were 100 cases related to online sexual grooming, with 20 cases in the first two months of this year, nearly half involving popular local social media platforms.
￭ An independent committee investigating the fire at Hong Fook Court in Tai Po announced that it will hold 13 hearings in April to gather evidence.
￭ Hang Seng Bank raised Hong Kong’s 2023 economic growth forecast to 3.1%.
￭ Beijing’s Market Supervision Bureau officially interviewed and provided guidance to 12 platform companies including Ctrip (09961), JD.com (09618), Alibaba (09988) (including Amap, Taobao Flash Sale, Meituan (03690), Kuaishou (01024)), reporting initial issues found during platform “internal competition” rectification and requiring rectification.
￭ Bloomberg reports that Sony plans to reach a binding agreement with China’s TCL Electronics (01070) to sell a majority stake in Sony’s home entertainment business, with a transaction value of about $1 billion.
￭ Henderson Land (00012) reported a 10.21% decline in profit last year, with core profit down 37.97%.
￭ Centaline Investment, a subsidiary of Centaline Group, acquired the Kowloon City Rich East Hotel from Richer Industry Trust (01881) for over HKD 1.5 billion, planning to convert it into student dormitories after completion.
￭ According to government statistics, the median monthly wage of employees in Hong Kong from May to June last year was HKD 21,200, a 3.5% increase year-on-year.
￭ Fastly Innovations (03355) debuted at a high of HKD 57, up 37.02% from the IPO price; closed at HKD 47.2, up 13.46%.
￭ National Technology (02701) debuted at a high of HKD 16.5, up 52.78% from IPO; closed at HKD 11.25, up 4.17%.
￭ CaloStar Technology (02729) closed at HKD 30.5 in the dark pool, up 83.07% from IPO price.
￭ Zejing Holdings (02632) closed at HKD 45.5 in the dark pool, up 2.94%.
￭ Master Kong (00322) reported a 20.52% profit increase last year.
￭ Old Shop Gold (06181) saw profits soar 2.3 times last year.
￭ The 30-year-old Kowloon City Plaza “Haocai Seafood Restaurant” closed on the 22nd due to lease expiration.
￭ Sinopec (00386) Vice Chairman Zhao Dong said at the earnings conference that since the disruption of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, some crude oil resources in the Gulf cannot be exported, affecting the company’s oil supply. The company has expedited procurement of crude oil exported from Saudi Arabia via the Gulf of Aden, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, and is actively expanding non-Middle East sources. Currently, there are no issues with crude oil supply for April and May in the second quarter.