SG Morning Brief | S&P, Nasdaq Hit Records as Oil Retreats and Chips Roar

US Overnight

The S&P 500 rose 0.81% to a record 7,259.22, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.03% to a closing record of 25,326.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 356.35 points (+0.73%) to 49,298.25. All three indexes erased Monday's Iran-missile-driven losses in a single session. The catalyst was a sharp drop in oil prices: WTI crude settled down 3.9% at $102.27 per barrel, while Brent fell 4.0% to $109.87, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US-Iran ceasefire "certainly holds" and Trump paused a plan to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing progress in negotiations. Tech led the S&P 500 with a 2% sector gain, followed by a rebounding materials sector. The JOLTS report showed job openings at 6.87 million (roughly in line with consensus), while the hiring rate surged to 3.5%, the highest in months. The 10-year Treasury yield data was not available.

Key Movers

Intel (INTC) +13% — Intel surged to a new all-time high after Bloomberg reported that Apple is in early-stage talks to use Intel's foundry services for US chip production. The report validated Intel's 18A process node as a competitive alternative to TSMC, sending the stock above $109. Intel has rallied over 330% since the US government took a 10% stake in August 2025. Samsung also rose 5.4% in Seoul on similar reports of Apple diversification talks. TSMC gained just 1%, reflecting the market's view that any Apple foundry shift would be gradual.

Micron (MU) +11% — Micron surged 11% to close at $640.20, a new all-time high, driven by the AI memory supercycle. The stock added another 4% after hours to $665.99. The company's HBM3E and HBM4 products are fully sold out through 2026, and hyperscalers have confirmed in their own earnings calls that memory costs have "skyrocketed" (Amazon CEO) with supply unable to meet demand. Meta cited higher component pricing as the key driver behind its raised capex, while Microsoft quantified a $25 billion cost impact. DA Davidson set a Street-high $1,000 price target.

SanDisk (SNDK) +12% — The NAND flash maker extended its extraordinary run, hitting a new 52-week high near $1,409. The rally builds on a fiscal Q3 blowout reported April 30: revenue of $5.95 billion (+97% YoY), with Data Center revenue up 233% and GAAP EPS of $23.03, crushing the $14.66 consensus. Q4 guidance of $7.75-8.25 billion in revenue and $30-33 in non-GAAP EPS was far above Street expectations. Susquehanna doubled its price target to $2,000; Bernstein raised to $1,700. The stock is up over 300% year-to-date as NAND pricing is expected to rise 70-75% on AI data center demand.

After hours, AMD (AMD) +15% — AMD delivered a clean beat-and-raise. Q1 revenue came in at $10.25 billion versus the $9.89 billion consensus (+38% YoY), with adjusted EPS of $1.37 versus $1.29 expected. Data Center revenue surged 57% to $5.8 billion, the segment's strongest print yet. Lisa Su guided Q2 revenue to $11.2 billion (+46% YoY), well above Street expectations, citing accelerating AI inference and agentic workload demand. The stock jumped 15% after hours, hitting an all-time high above $379.

SGX Preview

The STI closed at 4,912.69 on Tuesday, up about 0.4%, snapping a losing streak as the index tracked gains in US futures ahead of the tech earnings wave. Today's trading is shaping up differently: with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq at fresh records and oil pulling back sharply, the setup is constructive for Singapore equities. DBS closed near S$58.50 as of April 30 (latest available weekly close), having rallied 3.4% on strong Q1 results. OCBC was around S$20.19, with UOB near S$22.70. The banks benefit from the elevated rate environment (Fed holding at 3.50-3.75%), but energy-driven inflation remains a headwind for Singapore's trade-sensitive economy. The AMD after-hours surge could lift local semiconductor names such as Venture Corp and ST Engineering, which tracked gains in yesterday's session. Singtel and ST Engineering both hit all-time highs recently.

Asia Pre-Market

S&P 500 futures are roughly flat (+0.01%), Nasdaq futures flat, and Dow futures up 0.04% — a holding pattern ahead of tonight's ARM earnings. WTI crude is trading around $105.23, off about 1% from the prior session. Gold is at $4,528, roughly flat. Bitcoin is at $80,289, up 1.4%, continuing its push above $80,000. The flat futures suggest the market is digesting yesterday's record close; the real question is whether the semiconductor rally extends after AMD's blowout or whether ARM's print tonight resets expectations.

Today's US Earnings and Economic Calendar

No major US economic data releases are scheduled for today.

Earnings Spotlight: Arm Holdings (ARM) — ARM reports fiscal Q4 2026 after the close, with consensus at $0.58 EPS on $1.47 billion in revenue (+18% YoY). The stock has surged 84% year-to-date, making this a high-bar print — it trades at over 90x forward earnings. The key question is whether AI-driven licensing royalties from Nvidia's GPU partners and custom silicon design wins can offset weakness in smartphone-related royalties. ARM's result will serve as a referendum on how deep the AI infrastructure tailwind extends beyond GPU makers into the architecture layer. With AMD's blowout fresh in memory and Intel surging on foundry hopes, the semiconductor narrative is running hot. Any guide miss from ARM could trigger profit-taking across the entire chip complex. Tomorrow brings Shell and McDonald's earnings, plus CoreWeave's closely watched fifth quarterly print.

One More Thing

Semiconductors are having their moment. Intel's 14% surge on Apple foundry talks, AMD's 15% after-hours pop on a Data Center beat, and Micron's 11% rally on HBM demand all landed on the same day. This is no longer just an Nvidia story — the AI buildout is now broad enough to lift foundries, CPU makers, memory producers, and architecture licensors simultaneously. But breadth cuts both ways. When every semiconductor name is priced for perfection, a single disappointing print can cascade. ARM tonight is the next test. The stock is up 84% this year on the expectation that AI compute demand will keep its royalty stream growing at cloud-era rates. If ARM delivers, the chip rally has room to extend. If the guide disappoints, the sector's vertical move invites a swift correction. Singapore investors watching Venture Corp and the local tech complex should keep one eye on ARM's 5 AM SGT earnings call.

This briefing is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.