Real-time News

May 7th - Hopes for a US-Iran peace agreement persisted, causing oil prices to fall and the US dollar to weaken. An analyst at ANZ Bank Research stated, "The situation remains highly volatile, and intraday volatility is likely to remain high until more substantial progress is seen." Lloyd Chan, senior foreign exchange analyst at MUFG, said, "All indications continue to suggest that the parties have limited willingness to further escalate the situation in the Middle East." He added that with the US midterm elections approaching and gasoline prices soaring, the US government appears motivated to resolve the conflict.

On May 7, the Dutch Ministry of Health announced that a Dutch woman exhibiting suspected symptoms of Hantavirus infection had been admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam for treatment. The woman, reportedly a flight attendant for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, had reportedly been in contact with a woman who died in Johannesburg, South Africa, from Hantavirus infection.

The Dutch Ministry of Health: A Dutch woman who may have been infected with Hantavirus has been admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam.

ECB Governing Council member Villeroy: Don't speculate on the timing of potential interest rate hikes.

ECB Governing Council member Villeroy: The next steps should be based on data, not dates.

According to Al Jazeera: Pakistani sources say Iran may submit its response to the US proposal to Pakistan today.

International Energy Agency gas analyst: Tightness in the liquefied natural gas market may persist longer than previously expected.

The Swedish central bank stated that the current policy interest rate level provides a good starting point for adjusting monetary policy if necessary.

International Energy Agency gas analyst: The Middle East conflict has already resulted in a loss of approximately 120 billion cubic meters of global liquefied natural gas supply between 2026 and 2030.

The Swedish central bank announced that its executive committee decided to maintain the policy rate at 1.75%.

Sweden's central bank benchmark interest rate was 1.75% as of May 7, in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous value.

Germany's construction PMI for April was 42.1, down from 48 in the previous month.

On May 7th, Politico reported that a Luxembourgish right-wing European politician is leading an effort to organize a visit to Russia for his colleagues in the European Parliament. In the letter, MEP Fernand Kartheiser invites any interested EU members to contact his office directly for details of the trip. The itinerary includes a "face-to-face" meeting with members of the Russian State Duma on June 3rd. This meeting is scheduled to take place during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual event frequently attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although Putin has recently reduced his public appearances, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, stated that Putin will still attend the forum this year. Kartheiser's actions are controversial due to restrictions on cooperation between the European Parliament and its Russian counterparts. The European Parliament formally suspended official dialogue with Russian parliamentary bodies in 2014, and since shortly after the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Russian and Belarusian officials have been banned from entering the European Parliament.

On May 7th, it was reported that with Hunan, Jiangxi, Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Beijing, Heilongjiang, and other regions successively announcing their implementation dates, the sixth batch of national centralized procurement of high-value medical consumables has officially entered its intensive implementation phase, covering the national market for 12 types of consumables in two major categories: drug-coated balloons and urological interventional devices. The bidding for this centralized procurement was completed earlier this year, involving a market size of approximately 11 billion yuan. A total of 496 products from 227 companies submitted bids, and ultimately 440 products from 202 companies were selected. With the official announcements from various regions, the previously not fully disclosed proposed winning prices have also officially surfaced: the winning price range for drug-coated balloon products is 1677-6015 yuan, and the winning price range for urological interventional consumables is 60-1537 yuan.

Futures News, May 7th: Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) Energy and Chemical Warehouse Receipts and Changes on May 7th: 1. Pulp futures warehouse receipts: 198,043 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 2. Pulp futures mill warehouse receipts: 15,000 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 3. Offset paper futures warehouse receipts: 957 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 4. Offset paper futures mill warehouse receipts: 5,360 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 5. Fuel oil futures warehouse receipts: 118,350 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day. 6. Petroleum asphalt futures warehouse receipts: 26,000 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 7. Petroleum asphalt futures factory warehouse receipts: 24,230 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 8. Medium-sulfur crude oil futures warehouse receipts: 3,511,000 barrels, unchanged from the previous trading day; 9. Low-sulfur fuel oil futures warehouse receipts: 31,570 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 10. Low-sulfur fuel oil futures factory warehouse receipts: 0 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day.

On May 7th, AMD shares surged to a record high as a strong outlook boosted investor confidence in continued demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure, driving a general rise in global semiconductor stocks. Analysts and investors believe AMD is a leader challenging Nvidia's dominance in the AI chip field, and that the company is also benefiting from its focus on the CPU business. CPUs have become increasingly important as companies move towards agent-based AI—systems capable of performing autonomous functions—which expands demand beyond GPUs used to train large models. "Nvidia held a monopoly in the AI chip market for two years, but other companies are now catching up. Meanwhile, the expanding market size leaves room for future growth," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at Jones Trading. Matt Blitzman, senior equity analyst at Hargravesson Lansdowne, said, "AMD's story is no longer just about competing with Nvidia on GPUs…it's increasingly moving towards a broader computing landscape, as both CPUs and GPUs will play their respective roles as demand for AI workloads increases."

May 7th - Diesel fuel is a primary fuel for businesses in Macau, a necessity for industrial and commercial activities, and most of these activities are directly related to people's livelihoods. Therefore, the Macau SAR government has launched a "Diesel Price Subsidy Scheme" to provide short-term relief, stabilize prices, and protect people's livelihoods, effectively alleviating the cost pressures on commercial diesel users and preventing the cost of diesel fuel from being passed on to consumers. The "Diesel Price Subsidy Scheme" will be implemented for two months, from 00:00 on May 11, 2026 to 11:59 on July 10, 2026. The subsidy is available to local diesel users who will receive a subsidy of MOP 3.3 per liter when purchasing diesel fuel.

On Thursday, May 7th, the German DAX 30 index opened down 0.25 points, or 0.00%, at 24949.00; the UK FTSE 100 index opened down 1.96 points, or 0.02%, at 10436.70; the French CAC 40 index opened up 4.80 points, or 0.06%, at 8304.22; the Euro Stoxx 50 index opened up 10.23 points, or 0.17%, at 6037.36; the Spanish IBEX 35 index opened up 15.00 points, or 0.08%, at 18119.30; and the Italian FTSE MIB index opened up 104.75 points, or 0.21%, at 49801.50.