Real-time News

According to Iran's Tasnim News Agency, the air defense system on Qeshm Island has been activated after a micro-drone was detected.

On May 19th, it was reported that the air defense system on Iran's Qeshm Island was activated on the night of May 18th, local time. Officials have not yet explained the reason for the activation of the island's air defense system.

Hang Seng Index futures closed down 0.21% at 25,558 points in overnight trading, a discount of 117 points.

Market news: Internal documents show that Meta Platforms (META.O) North American employees have been told to work from home on Wednesday. Meta will move 7,000 employees to a new project related to AI workflows and eliminate management positions.

Market sources indicate that Meta Platforms (META.O) plans to conduct layoffs globally in three phases starting May 20, with each phase taking place at 4:00 AM local time.

Market news: The White House is reviewing whether to ban stock trading through the "best price mechanism".

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: We need to ensure the supply chain is ready.

As of the 2:30 closing bell, the main Shanghai gold futures contract rose 0.04% to 998 yuan/gram, the main Shanghai silver futures contract rose 1.02% to 18,840 yuan/kilogram, and the main SC crude oil futures contract rose 2.17% to 687 yuan/barrel.

The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of AGM-184 Joint Strike Missiles and related equipment to Belgium, with an estimated cost of approximately $236 million.

The U.S. Treasury Department website announced that it has added the Cuban Minister of Energy and the Cuban intelligence agency to its sanctions list.

U.S. Treasury Department website: The United States imposes new sanctions on Cuba.

On May 19th, local time, after receiving Iran's latest draft agreement aimed at ending the conflict on May 18th, US President Trump stated that he was "not considering" making any concessions to Tehran. Trump also warned that Iran already knew "what was coming." Trump stated that he was not "frustrated" by Tehran's response. He also pointed out that Iran was fully aware of the US's ability to inflict even greater damage. Trump said, "I can tell you, they are more eager for a deal now than ever before because they know what's coming next."

On May 19th, it was learned on the 18th local time that a US official stated that reports from Iran claiming that the US had agreed to lift sanctions on Iranian oil during negotiations were "false." Earlier that day, Iranian sources, citing sources within the negotiating team, claimed that the US had agreed to temporary waivers of sanctions on Iranian oil during the negotiations in the latest negotiating text.

According to US media reports on the 18th, a recent locally transmitted Hantavirus death in Colorado was unrelated to the outbreak on the "Hundius" cruise ship.

On May 19th, Dell Technologies announced that it added 1,000 customers to its main artificial intelligence product line in the past quarter, highlighting the company's accelerated efforts to meet the needs of large traditional enterprises in adopting AI workloads. Dell CEO Michael Dell stated in an interview that the company's "AI Factory" customer base has now reached 5,000, up from 4,000 when the company announced its earnings in February. This product line primarily provides servers powered by NVIDIA chips, software, and services to support AI computing. Customers using this system include Eli Lilly, Honeywell, and Samsung Electronics, with applications ranging from drug discovery to the construction of AI-optimized semiconductor factories.

On May 19, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessant announced on social media that the U.S. Treasury Department is offering a 30-day exemption for the expired sanctions on Russian seaborne oil.