[U.S. stocks before the market] Futures rose slightly, and the Federal Reserve Commission's warnings and concerns about AI capital expenditures affected the opening (2025.09.24)

Moods are moderate and more, but risk appetite is balanced by policies and AI noise

On Wednesday, Taiwan time, U.S. stock futures rose slightly. The previous day, the major index hit highs for three consecutive days and then pulled back. Federal Reserve Chairman Bauer once again mentioned that the high evaluation of the stock market and the emergence of "double-sided risks" in the economy, and market risk appetite has become more cautious; at the same time, disputes over the sustainability of AI capital expenditures and energy consumption have heated up, suppressing the sentiment of technology equity stocks. The pre-market focus was on Micron Technology's earnings and forecasts, Alibaba's increased AI investment, OpenAI data center energy consumption concerns, and Lithium Americas's policy signal that the U.S. government intends to take a stake.

The Federal Reserve emphasizes two-sided risks, with valuations and stagnant inflation as the focus

Bauer said that the labor market is showing signs of cooling but inflation is still high and decision-making faces symmetrical risks, and bluntly said that "under multiple measures, stock prices are already relatively high." The market is concerned about whether this conversation means that evaluations are more sensitive to changes in interest rates, and if inflationary stickiness goes hand in hand with weakening employment, discussions about the risk of stagnant inflation will heat up. Policy signals have caused funds to move closer between growth and value styles, and pre-market trading has the appearance of stock selection rather than stock selection.

U.S. stock futures edged higher, with major indices falling from high the previous day

The S & P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones futures all rose slightly before the market; the S & P 500 ended up falling 0.55% on the previous day, ending its continuous trend of highs. The 10-year U.S. bond yield remained stable at about 4.13%, signaling a neutral signal; gold prices weakened from historical highs to about US$3,800 per ounce. The cryptocurrency atmosphere is relatively active, with Bitcoin trading at around US$113,100, a significant recovery from the night low.

Demand for AI hardware continues to heat up, Micron's financial report and financial forecast are excellent

Micron announced revenue of US$11.32 billion in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, a year-on-year increase of 46%, and adjusted earnings per share of US$3.03, both better than market expectations. The company also estimates revenue for the quarter to range from US$12.2 billion to US$12.8 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of US$3.41 to US$3.71, indicating that demand for AI memory and high-bandwidth memory continues to be high. Micron is a supplier partner of Nvidia(NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices(AMD) and has benefited from the AI server cycle; however, its share price has risen nearly multiple times during the year, falling slightly by about 1% before the market, indicating that investors are absorbing the gains under a high base period.

Alibaba expands AI investment, attracting attention to cloud and data center chain

Foreign reports pointed out that Alibaba CEO Wu Yongming said he would increase AI spending to a higher level than the three-year plan of approximately US$53 billion proposed in February this year, focusing on self-developed models and infrastructure, and building new data centers in Brazil, France and the Netherlands. Its U.S. listed stocks surged more than 8% before the market, driving sentiment related to Hong Kong stocks to recover. The funding signal highlights the long-term investment in AI by large platforms, but the market is also concerned about payback period and capital efficiency.

The launch of OpenAI data center raises concerns about energy consumption, and Huida and Oracle are back to file first

OpenAI's first Stargate data center in Abilene, Texas was launched, using Oracle(ORCL) cloud and Vitek GPU infrastructure. However, concerns about the scale of energy consumption are growing, and electricity demand is estimated to be equivalent to approximately 17 million kilowatts, or even close to the electricity consumption of 17 nuclear power plants or approximately 8 million American households. Energy availability and cost have become key variables. On the previous trading day, the shares of Huida and Oracle fell back after jointly announcing a 10 billion-dollar cooperation the day before yesterday, indicating that funds are more sensitive to the real constraints of AI expansion and power bottlenecks.

The layout of key minerals in the United States warms up, and the lithium industry in the Americas soars General Motors rises

Reuters reported that the Trump administration may require a 10% stake in Lithium America when it renegotiates conditions with the Department of Energy on a $22.6 billion loan from the Thacker Pass lithium mine project, which is partnered with General Motors(GM). The news drove America's lithium industry to surge by about 70% before the market, and General Motors simultaneously rose by more than 2%. The move continues the government's equity intervention in strategic supply chains, and the market recalls previous similar disposals of Intel(INTC). Lithium is a key material for electric vehicle batteries and many electronic products, and the impact of policy changes on the upstream supply pattern has attracted much attention.

Crypto market focuses on capital trends, Tether valuation target sparks discussion

Stable coin issuer Tether is reportedly seeking private placement of US$1.5 billion to US$20 billion, corresponding to approximately 3% equity, with an estimated valuation of US$500 billion. Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino said the funds will be used to expand the scale of diverse business lines such as AI, commodity trading, energy, communications and media. The news echoed Bitcoin's move back above US$110,000, showing that the financing and commercialization process of the crypto asset ecosystem has received higher attention in traditional markets, but regulatory and transparency issues remain the focus of observation.

Commodities and interest rate signals are neutral, gold prices are soft, interest rates are stable, Bitcoin rebounds

The trend of safe-haven assets has diverged, with gold prices falling slightly from high prices, resonating with the U.S. bond yield, indicating that funds are racing between inflationary resilience and doubts about economic slowdown. Stabilizing interest rates helps cool evaluation pressures, but the ongoing market debate over AI capital expenditure energy consumption and compensation periods has kept the volatility of technology equity stocks high. Subsequent trends in foreign exchange markets and energy prices have increased their impact on the performance of industries with high sensitivity to corporate costs and profits.

International market signals are divided, European stocks rise slightly, Asia is boosted by Alibaba

Europe's Stoxx 600 index rose slightly by about 0.28% the previous day, supported by the theme of the global semiconductor chain; Asian stock markets were mixed this morning, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was boosted by Alibaba's strength. Japan's stock market continues to record highs, with foreign investment inflows and corporate governance reforms providing medium-and long-term support. The relative resilience of international stocks and bonds tends to be stable towards the opening of U.S. stocks, but the trend of differentiation led by individual themes remains the main axis.

Pre-market focus on consolidation, financial forecasts and policy clues dominate the rotation of stocks

Highlights of today's observations include the spillover impact of Micron's better-than-expected financial forecast on the memory and server supply chain, the pulling effect of Alibaba's expanded AI investment on cloud and data center demand, and how practical constraints on OpenAI data center energy consumption and power supply affect Vitek and Oracle-related sentiments, as well as fluctuations in the Americas lithium industry in the context of key mineral policies. The neutrality of interest rates and gold prices will help ease evaluation pressure; however, after Bauer's talks, the market became more sensitive to both valuation and prosperity risks. The short-term strength of growth and cyclical stocks is expected to still depend on corporate fundamentals updates and the pace of policy news.