In pre-market trading on Thursday, January 15th, futures for the three major U.S. stock indices all advanced. At the time of writing, Dow Jones futures were up 0.12%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.39%, and Nasdaq futures climbed 0.80%.

As of writing, Germany's DAX index fell 0.23%, while the UK's FTSE 100 index gained 0.43%. France's CAC 40 index declined 0.32%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 index increased by 0.53%.

At the time of writing, WTI crude oil dropped 3.42% to $59.90 per barrel. Brent crude fell 3.37% to $64.28 per barrel.

A key U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory bill has stalled: Coinbase Global (COIN.US) withdrew its support, and a Senate committee postponed its review. Hours after Coinbase retracted its backing for the latest version of the cryptocurrency market structure bill, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee delayed discussions on the highly anticipated legislation. Committee Chairman Tim Scott issued a statement Wednesday evening indicating the bill's consideration would be postponed due to ongoing bipartisan negotiations, without providing a new date.

Spooked by Trump's unpredictable nature! A $2.2 trillion giant is hastily reducing its U.S. asset holdings. The "unpredictable" policies of the Trump administration have prompted bond giant PIMCO to begin trimming its U.S. assets to diversify investment risk. Dan Ivascyn, the firm's Chief Investment Officer, revealed that the fund manager, overseeing $2.2 trillion in assets, is adjusting its portfolio in response to the frequently shifting policies of the Trump administration to increase asset diversity. Ivascyn stated, "The key is to recognize the reality: this administration's policy direction is highly unpredictable. Facing this situation, what is our coping strategy? The answer is diversification... We believe that over the coming years, the market will experience a sustained trend of reducing U.S. asset holdings and advancing diversified allocation."

Trump hints at delaying response measures against Iran, Brent crude falls below $65. Trump indicated he had received a clear commitment from Iran that it "will stop killing protesters," a statement that significantly reduces the likelihood of immediate U.S. military action against Iran and also lessens the risk of disruptions to Iranian oil supplies and key shipping lanes. However, the situation in Iran remains volatile. Iranian authorities temporarily closed airspace around Tehran, while the U.S. has redeployed some personnel from bases in Qatar and elsewhere in the region, with subtle changes in military postures from both sides continuing to impact the international energy market.

The faith in gold remains unshaken! Wall Street is playing a $5,000 fantasy. An analyst team from ANZ stated that market geopolitical turmoil and a safe-haven backdrop should continue to boost global demand for gold. The institution's analysts pointed out that geopolitical tensions, globally accommodative monetary policies, the rising U.S. debt burden, and heightened market concerns about Federal Reserve independence will collectively support gold prices breaking through the significant $5,000 per ounce barrier in the second half of this year. Citigroup's bullish outlook is even more aggressive, forecasting gold could surpass $5,000 within the next three months. Citigroup said that the continued deterioration of the global geopolitical situation, uncertainty regarding the global economic outlook and currency values brought by the Trump administration, shortages in physical gold and silver, coupled with threats to Fed independence, all provide crucial support for its prediction.

The silver bull market frenzy hits a "tariff cool-down"! Speculative forces trigger a selling wave, silver prices plummet over 7%. The trading price of silver, the hottest precious metal globally recently, fell sharply on Thursday. This followed several consecutive days of soaring prices that repeatedly hit record highs. Earlier on Thursday, silver prices dropped by over 7%, primarily because President Trump indicated he would delay imposing tariffs on key mineral imports, causing a significant cooling of the panic-driven bullish sentiment for silver. Furthermore, most of the decline likely stemmed from profit-taking by the massive speculative capital in silver and billions of dollars in selling pressure from the Bloomberg Commodity Index (BCOM) rebalancing. By the time of writing, silver's losses had narrowed to approximately 2%, trading at $91.36 per ounce.

Strong AI demand gets another boost! Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM.US) Q4 net profit greatly exceeds expectations, advanced process revenue占比 reaches 77%. Earnings reports show TSMC's Q4 revenue was NT$1,046.09 billion (approximately $33.67 billion), a year-over-year increase of 20.5% and a quarter-over-quarter increase of 5.7%, exceeding the upper end of the company's guidance range. Net profit was NT$505.744 billion, up 35.0% year-over-year and 11.8% quarter-over-quarter, beating market expectations of NT$467 billion. The gross margin was 62.3%, significantly surpassing the guided range of 59%-61%. Revenue from advanced technologies (defined as 7nm and more advanced chip processes) contributed 77% of total revenue. This revenue structure, dominated by high-value-added products, ensures the company maintains high profitability despite market fluctuations. Looking ahead, TSMC expects Q1 2026 revenue to be in the range of $34.6 billion to $35.8 billion, with a gross margin between 63% and 65%, and an operating margin between 54% and 56%. The company also anticipates full-year 2026 capital expenditure to be between $52 billion and $56 billion, better than market expectations of $48-50 billion. At the time of writing, TSMC's U.S. shares were up over 6% in Thursday's pre-market trading.

BlackRock (BLK.US) Q4 profit exceeds expectations, assets under management hit a record high of $14 trillion. Earnings reports show BlackRock's Q4 revenue increased 23% year-over-year to $7 billion; adjusted EPS grew 10% year-over-year to $13.16, beating market expectations of $12.28. Operating expenses rose to $5.3 billion, reflecting BlackRock's continued aggressive expansion in the private markets sector. Meanwhile, BlackRock attracted a total of $342 billion in client funds during the fourth quarter, driving its assets under management to a record $14 trillion. Net inflows into long-term investment funds in Q4 were $268 billion, better than the market expectation of $232 billion. Full-year net inflow reached a record $698 billion.

The AI wave creates Europe's stock king! TSMC's strong 2026 capital expenditure guidance fuels a rally, ASML Holding NV (ASML.US) market cap surpasses $500 billion. Following stronger-than-expected 2026 performance guidance from its core client TSMC, shares of lithography giant ASML surged to a record high, pushing its market capitalization above the $500 billion mark. This makes it the third European company to reach a $500 billion market cap, after luxury giant LVMH and Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. TSMC's 2026 capital expenditure guidance has brought renewed optimism for sustained global artificial intelligence (AI) spending growth, indicating that both TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, and ASML, which supplies chipmaking equipment to TSMC, are poised to continue benefiting from the strong demand driven by the AI wave. At the time of writing, ASML's U.S. shares were up over 5% in Thursday's pre-market trading.

Ericsson (ERIC.US) continues its cost-cutting plan, intends to cut 1,600 jobs in Sweden. Telecom equipment maker Ericsson plans to cut approximately 1,600 jobs in its home country, Sweden, as part of a broader plan to reduce operating costs. In a statement on Thursday, Ericsson said it had notified the Swedish labor department and had begun negotiations with unions. An Ericsson spokesperson stated the company has about 12,600 employees in Sweden, meaning the layoffs will affect approximately 13% of its workforce there. The spokesperson added that further "efficiency measures" would be taken at the group level, but these would not be announced separately. Ericsson has been focused on cutting costs and improving margins in recent years to cope with a sluggish telecom equipment market.

Google (GOOGL.US) boosts Gemini upgrade, fully integrates it across the Google app ecosystem. Google announced a further upgrade to its artificial intelligence (AI) tool Gemini, fully integrating it into Google user applications like YouTube and Gmail. The company stated this feature, named "Personal Intelligence," aims to make Gemini "personalized," enabling it to provide users with "exclusive, practical services." Officials added, "With a simple tap, users can connect Gmail, Photos, YouTube, and Search functions, and we've designed the setup process to be simple and secure." This enhanced interoperability between Gemini and more Google services gives it a differentiated competitive advantage compared to OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Key Economic Data and Event Schedule: Beijing Time 21:00: U.S. Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for January Beijing Time 21:30: U.S. New York Fed Manufacturing Index for January Beijing Time 21:30: U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending January 10th Beijing Time 21:45: U.S. S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash for January Beijing Time 22:15: Fed Governor Barr participates in a "Stablecoins" panel discussion Beijing Time Next Day 01:40: 2027 FOMC voter, Richmond Fed President Barkin speaks on the economic outlook of Virginia Beijing Time Next Day 02:30: 2028 FOMC voter, Kansas City Fed President Schmid speaks on monetary policy and the economic outlook