Amid market concerns over the US-Iran situation and an unexpected announcement by the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder Strategy Inc (MSTR.US) to trim its Bitcoin holdings, Bitcoin sank below the USD70,000 mark today (2nd), according to Coindesk data.

Bitcoin once slid to USD69,710, the lowest level since early April and a nearly two-month low, and last reported at USD69,778, down about 4.1% from 24 hours earlier. Ethereum, Solana and other cryptocurrencies shrank broadly.

Strategy Inc sold approximately USD2.5 million worth of Bitcoin, marking the company's first reduction in Bitcoin holdings since end-2022. Strategy Inc currently still holds Bitcoin valued at approximately USD61 billion.

Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, said geopolitical uncertainty, paired with market discussions over Strategy Inc's Bitcoin sale, has exerted immense pressure on Bitcoin.
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Tencent Cloud announced that its intelligent agent development platform will axe the prices of the DeepSeek-V4 series models starting from 00:00 Beijing time on Wednesday (3rd), with the maximum price cut reaching 97.5%, so as to continuously lower user costs.

This adjustment only involves pricing changes, while the model service capabilities remain unchanged.
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Arm Holdings plc (ARM.US) CEO Rene Haas said the company may achieve its USD15 billion in-house chip sales target earlier than expected, reflecting stronger-than-anticipated demand driven by the AI boom.

Arm had announced in March this year its plan to sell its own chips for the first time. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META.US) will become the first major customer of the chip, named AGI CPU.
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BABA-W (09988.HK) underwent two major personnel changes in May, Chinese media reported, citing sources. Group CTO Wu Zeming has joined the Alibaba Partnership Committee, becoming the fifth member of the committee.

Meanwhile, Hema CEO Yan Xiaolei has changed her reporting line from Wu Zeming to directly report to Jiang Fan, who oversees the entire Alibaba commerce segment.

The Alibaba Partnership Committee is the company's highest decision-making body. The Alibaba commerce segment refers to all businesses related to merchandise.
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In May, the combined online signings of primary and secondary residential properties in Shenzhen numbered 13,348 units, up 6% MoM and 28% YoY, data from Leyoujia Research Center showed.

On a residential basis, the total number of online signings for primary and secondary residential units in Shenzhen exceeded 10,000 units again after 14 months, reaching 10,077 units, up 28% MoM.

Analysis indicated that whether for first- or second-hand homes, it usually takes about one month from contract signing to final online registration filing, resulting in a lagged market response.

The continued effects of Shenzhen's "429" property policy are gradually emerging. In May, Shenzhen's property market charted both volume and price increases, with transaction volumes for luxury homes, upgrade demand and first-time buyer units all rebounding simultaneously.

Most projects in core districts and popular projects in non-core districts are entering a phase of stable volume and prices, while some less popular projects in non-core areas are still seeing price cuts to boost sales.
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XPENG-W (09868.HK) has recently initiated an internal investigation into non-compete compliance by departed employees, Chinese media reported, citing sources.

The group's legal department has filed a labor arbitration case against a former employee for allegedly breaching non-compete obligations.

The company is seeking to require the individual to continue fulfilling the non-compete obligation, return compensation already received for the non-compete period, hand back proceeds from the sale of restricted shares, and pay liquidated damages, with total claims amounting to nearly RMB10 million.

The employee had signed a non-compete agreement with XPENG-W upon joining the company and, upon departure at the end of 2025, provided written confirmation to continue observing a one-year non-compete obligation.

Since the employee's departure, XPENG-W has been paying full monthly non-compete compensation. However, the individual reportedly joined a competing company shortly after leaving and continued to engage in related research and development work, allegedly constituting a serious breach of the agreement.
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Eli Lilly and Company (LLY.US) has closed its Hong Kong branch operations for strategic reasons, according to Ming Pao.

Product sales in Hong Kong will be handled by distributors, meaning that about 50 employees will be laid off. The affected staff may seek employment with the distributors.

Earlier, Eli Lilly and Company had stated that it does not comment on rumors or speculation.
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Macau's May GGR reached MOP22.6 billion, up 6.7% YoY and 14% MoM, beating market expectations, Morgan Stanley said in a research report.

Due to short-term disruptions from the World Cup in June and a higher base last year, Morgan Stanley expected June GGR to be MOP20.8 billion, down 1% YoY, implying 2Q26 GGR will grow 4% YoY.

However, the broker believed the revenue growth will not be sufficient to offset souring cost pressures, and therefore forecast 2Q EBITDA to remain flat YoY.

The broker was bullish on WYNN MACAU (01128.HK) and SANDS CHINA LTD (01928.HK), as it considers their dividend yields more attractive than those of other HSI constituents.
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Macau's GGR in May came in at MOP22.6 billion, up 6.7% YoY and 13.7% MoM, slightly above the market's forecast of a 5% YoY hike, CICC said in its report. During the month, average daily GGR reached MOP729 million, representing a 10% growth compared with April. The broker attributed May's performance to the Labor Day holiday and multiple large-scale entertainment events held in Macau, which helped boost visitor traffic.

CICC forecast Macau's GGR in June to range between MOP19.5 billion and MOP21 billion, with average daily GGR of MOP650-700 million, representing a YoY decline of 0-7%. Compared with the same period in 2019, GGR would reduce by 12-18%, owing to the seasonal diversion effect of the World Cup on Macau's gaming demand.

Among Macau gaming stocks, the broker preferred SANDS CHINA LTD (01928.HK) the most, followed by GALAXY ENT (00027.HK), MELCO INT'L DEV (00200.HK), WYNN MACAU (01128.HK), Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (MLCO.US), and lastly SJM HOLDINGS (00880.HK).
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LENOVO GROUP (00992.HK) opened 2.85% higher today and once surged 8.6% to a record high of HKD27.42. It last quoted at HKD26.04, up 3.17%, with turnover of 136 million shares, involving HKD3.617 billion.

Macquarie said in a research report that LENOVO GROUP's recent results confirmed a structural inflection point, with its ISG returning to profit amid accelerating demand for AI and traditional servers. The broker believed AI server demand will continue to outpace supply, supporting strong ISG revenue growth and margin expansion.

Meanwhile, tight memory supply has become a tailwind, helping improve server pricing, market share gains and operating leverage. The broker viewed the recent share price rally as the beginning of a valuation re-rating cycle.

Macquarie noted that LENOVO GROUP's AI server pipeline has increased to USD21 billion (as of the end of FY2026 in March), providing strong earnings visibility.

Although its market share in the high-end enterprise infrastructure segment remains relatively small, the company should be able to start gaining share in the high-end market, as deliveries of NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) GB300 began last quarter, and timely deliveries of NVIDIA Vera Rubin servers are expected in 2H26.

The broker largely lifted its TP by 72% from HKD21.75 to HKD37.4. It reiterated its Outperform rating and named the stock as a Marquee Buy idea.
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SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met with NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang in Taipei yesterday (1st), where the two exchanged views on cooperation in AI memory chips, South Korean media reported.

SK hynix posted on social media about the meeting between Chey and Huang and released photos from the event. The photos also showed SK hynix President Kwak Noh-jung and other senior executives from both companies attending the gathering.

The two sides reviewed their achievements in AI memory chips and reaffirmed their commitment to working together to open a new chapter in AI infrastructure development.

Huang later attended a dinner event hosted by South Korea, where he interacted with executives of South Korean enterprises.

In response to questions from South Korean media, Huang said the most critical elements of the HBM supply chain are performance, quality, reliability and supply capability, and therefore NVIDIA is working closely with SK.
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Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry signed a 10-year endorsement agreement with LI NING (02331.HK), ESPN reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The contract covers basketball products, casual apparel and golf product lines. Curry will also be able to sign other athletes to join the brand.

Curry confirmed the partnership on social media.
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SpaceX (SPCX.US) disclosed in a filing that it will reserve up to 5% of its Class A shares in the IPO for subscription by certain employees as well as relatives and friends of the company's senior executives. Subscribers included on the "friends and family" list will not be subject to any lock-up restrictions.

SpaceX is expected to raise USD75 billion and may start its roadshow as early as June 4, price the offering on June 11, and list on Nasdaq on June 12. Directed share programs are relatively common in IPOs, but subscribers are typically subject to lock-up periods.

Under an AI computing capacity agreement between SpaceX and Anthropic, the deal involves approximately 325,000 chips from NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US), the filing revealed. Under the agreement, Anthropic is required to pay USD1.25 billion per month for the related computing services, with the contract remaining effective until May 2029.
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Strategy Inc (MSTR.US), the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, sold approximately USD2.5 million worth of Bitcoin, marking the company's first reduction in its Bitcoin holdings since 2022. The news dragged its share price down 5.85% to USD149.78.

Michael Saylor, Co-founder of Strategy Inc, had already hinted at the possibility of selling bitcoin during last month's quarterly earnings conference call, representing a clear shift from his longstanding stance of repeatedly assuring shareholders that the company would not sell its Bitcoin holdings.

Strategy Inc currently still holds Bitcoin valued at approximately USD61 billion. The company stated that selling Bitcoin will form part of a more strategic approach to managing and accumulating its bitcoin assets.
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General Mills, Inc. (GIS.US) announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its Haagen-Dazs store operations in China to an investment consortium that includes mainland lemon tea chain brand Ningji. The proposed transaction is expected to be completed within this year, subject to necessary regulatory approvals.

Under the agreement, the buyer will obtain an exclusive license granted by General Mills, Inc. to use the Haagen-Dazs brand to operate ice cream shops and gift businesses in China, while General Mills, Inc. will continue to own and operate Haagen-Dazs retail and food service businesses in China.
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US President Donald Trump said he believes an agreement could be reached with Iran within the coming week, including extending the ceasefire deadline and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the current situation looks positive.

He said Iran was earlier dissatisfied with Israel's attack on Lebanon, which caused some minor disruptions in the negotiations, but the situation was quickly reversed. He has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon's Hezbollah, and both sides have agreed not to attack each other.

Trump added that reaching a peace agreement with Iran would be even better than a military victory, as striking a deal is not an easy task. However, he has not yet fully agreed to the memorandum of understanding on reopening the strait. Progress could be made within next week as several key points still need to be negotiated.
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ISM Manufacturing PMI for May in the United States is 54.0, higher than the previous value of 52.7. The forecast was 53.~



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As NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) is dabbling into the PC chip market, its CEO Jensen Huang said that the company's new RTX Spark super chip will first be geared in laptops and desktop computers of Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL.US) and LENOVO GROUP (00992.HK), among others, starting from this fall.

Investors are betting on multiple stocks related to the PC business. Dell added 1.5% pre-market. HP Inc. (HPQ.US) rallied 4% pre-market, while International Business Machines Corporation (IBM.US) advanced 9%. Arm Holdings plc (ARM.US) surged 16.2% pre-market to USD410.5. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW.US) also shot up 7.9% pre-market. Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS.US) spiked 6.7% pre-market as well.
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As markets are assessing developments in the situation in Iran, major European stock markets were disorienting in early trade today (1st). The pan-European STOXX 600 edged down 0.1% to 625.32. The UK's FTSE 100 fell 17 points or 0.2% to 10,391. France's CAC added 15 points or 0.2% to 8,198. Germany's DAX gained 75 points or 0.3% to 25,180.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France has secured EUR93 billion (approximately USD108 billion) in foreign investment, with the majority coming from SoftBank Group. SoftBank pledged to invest up to EUR75 billion in France to build 5 gigawatts of computing capacity. By 2031, the facilities will provide 3.1 gigawatts of computing capacity, marking SoftBank's largest investment in Europe.
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