Bitget UEX Daily Report | US-Iran negotiations hit a deadlock; Trump calls for an extension of the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire; Intel's earnings report exceeds expectations (April 24, 2026)

# 1. Hot News

Federal Reserve Dynamics

Federal Reserve Pressures Wall Street to Support New Capital Rules

• Federal Reserve Vice Chair Bowman met with CEOs of major banks such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs in early April, explicitly requiring the industry to assess the impact of new capital proposals from a holistic perspective, rather than continuing to seek additional exemptions.
• The proposal overall lowers bank capital requirements, with the feedback period expected to focus on constructive opinions in mid-June, and the probability of significant revisions is low.
• Market Impact: This move is expected to ease tensions between regulators and banks, boosting confidence in the financial sector in the short term, but if the final capital requirements remain binding, it will still test the profitability of major banks in the long term.

International Commodities

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran Push Up Oil Prices, Gold Pressured to Decline

• Trump stated that he has "completely blocked" the Strait of Hormuz until Iran reaches an agreement and ordered the sinking of any breaching vessels; Iran activated its Tehran air defense system to intercept "hostile targets," leading to a deadlock in negotiations.
• Crude oil rose more than 5% during the day, closing up over 3%, with Brent crude reaching a new high in over two weeks; gold refreshed its daily low, falling over 1%.
• Market Impact: Geopolitical risks support energy prices in the short term, but if the deadlock continues, it may further increase inflationary pressures and constrain global economic growth expectations.

Macroeconomic Policy

U.S. April Manufacturing PMI Preliminary Value Hits Nearly Four-Year High, Inflation Rebound Complicates Federal Reserve's Dilemma

• The number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. for the week ending April 18 was 214,000, expected at 210,000, with the previous value revised from 207,000 to 208,000.
• The manufacturing PMI recorded 54, the composite PMI rose to 52, and the services PMI was 51.3, indicating moderate economic expansion overall.
• Growth was mainly driven by precautionary stockpiling due to tariffs, not real demand; the price increase for goods and services was the largest since July 2022.
• Market Impact: Weak demand coexists with rising inflation, significantly raising the threshold for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, and the market needs to continuously monitor subsequent data to validate economic resilience.

# 2. Market Review

Commodity & Forex Performance

• Spot Gold: Slightly up 0.27%, reported at about $4,700;
• Spot Silver: Slightly up 0.14%, reported at about $75;
• WTI Crude Oil: Up 0.98%, reported at $96.75;
• Brent Crude Oil: Up 1.09%, reported at about $106.22;
• U.S. Dollar Index: Accelerated to 98.81, reaching a nearly two-week high.

Cryptocurrency Performance

• BTC: Slightly down 0.04%, reported at about $78,378;
• ETH: Down 1.67%, reported at about $2,333;
• Total Cryptocurrency Market Cap: Slightly down 0.2% to $2.7 trillion;
• Market Liquidation Situation: Total liquidation in 24 hours was about $204 million, with long positions liquidated at $126 million;
• Bitget BTC/USDT Liquidation Map: Current price is around 78,364, with a large amount of long liquidation (red) digested below 77k, while there is a dense accumulation of short liquidations in the range of 78.5k--80k, providing upward "squeezing" momentum in the short term. High leverage (50x/100x) is concentrated around 78k--79k, indicating extremely high volatility risk in this range; once broken, it could amplify the market, but the reverse could also lead to rapid liquidation.

• Spot ETF Net Inflow/Outflow: BTC spot ETF had a slight net inflow of $55.8 million yesterday; ETH spot ETF had a net outflow of $54.9 million yesterday;
• BTC Spot Inflow/Outflow: Yesterday, inflow was $2.355 billion, outflow was $2.395 billion, with a net outflow of $40 million.

U.S. Stock Index Performance

• Dow Jones: Down 0.36%, reported at 49,310.32 points, with continuous performance dragged down by software stocks;
• S&P 500: Down 0.41%, reported at 7,108.40 points, far from recent record highs;
• Nasdaq: Down 0.89%, reported at 24,438.50 points, with sector drivers being the divergence of tech stocks under geopolitical tensions.

Tech Giants Dynamics

• Intel (INTC): +2.31% (reported at $66.78), surged nearly 20% after hours, Q1 revenue and guidance significantly exceeded expectations
• Tesla (TSLA): -3.56% (reported at $373.72), raised full-year capital expenditure expectations leading to short-term profit-taking
• Microsoft (MSFT): -3.97% (reported at $415.75), dragged down by the overall software sector
• Apple (AAPL): +0.30% (reported at $273.99), limited impact from geopolitical risks
• Amazon (AMZN): -0.11% (reported at $255.08), adjusting with the market
• Nvidia (NVDA): -1.41% (reported at $199.64), overall strength in the chip sector
• Alphabet (GOOGL): +0.37% (reported at $340.59), intensified AI competition; the core reason: the semiconductor sector continues to rise, with strong earnings from Intel, Texas Instruments, etc.; software stocks are collectively under pressure due to concerns over the transformation of AI business models.

Sector Movement Observation

Software Sector Declines Most

• Representative Stocks: ServiceNow down nearly 18%, Salesforce down nearly 9%
• Driving Factors: Large orders affected by Middle Eastern conflicts combined with AI's impact on traditional software models, leading to investor concerns about long-term growth narratives

Semiconductor Sector Rises Nearly 2%

• Representative Stocks: Texas Instruments up 19%, Intel up over 20% after hours
• Driving Factors: Strong quarterly performance and guidance, robust demand in data centers continuing the record of consecutive increases

# 3. In-Depth Stock Analysis

1. Salesforce (CRM) - Concerns Over AI Impacting Software Business Models Resurface

Event Overview: Salesforce's stock price plummeted nearly 9%, despite expected revenue growth being the fastest in recent years, but the market is concerned that the continuous evolution of AI tools will reshape traditional software sales models from "functional seats" to "productivity units." Goldman Sachs research shows that software companies are trying to penetrate a larger labor budget market, but short-term transformation pains are evident. Market Interpretation: Institutions generally believe this transition provides positive support for long-term SaaS valuations, but current investors are still focused on short-term execution risks. Investment Insight: AI is reshaping the software industry landscape, and companies with clear productivity transformation paths are likely to gain an advantage in the transition.

2. Intel (INTC) - Q1 Earnings and Guidance Both Exceed Expectations

Event Overview: Intel surged nearly 20% after hours, with Q1 revenue of $13.6 billion exceeding expectations, and strong guidance for Q2, with data center business growth of 22%. The semiconductor index has set a record for the longest consecutive increase at 17. Market Interpretation: Institutions are optimistic about the continued recovery in chip demand, and Intel's layout in the AI server field is gradually paying off. Investment Insight: Highlights during earnings season are frequent, with strong fundamentals supporting the semiconductor sector, making it worth continuously monitoring valuation recovery opportunities.

3. Tesla (TSLA) - Raises Full-Year Capital Expenditure Expectations

Event Overview: Tesla fell over 3%, as the company raised its capital expenditure guidance for 2026, indicating positive investment in future growth. Market Interpretation: Institutions believe this move, while increasing short-term expenditure pressure, is beneficial for the long-term expansion of autonomous driving and energy businesses. Investment Insight: Increased capital expenditure reflects management confidence, and investors need to pay attention to the effectiveness of execution.

4. Texas Instruments (TXN) - Q1 Performance Significantly Exceeds Expectations

Event Overview: Texas Instruments reported Q1 revenue of $4.83 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19%; earnings per share of $1.68, a year-on-year increase of 31%, significantly exceeding analyst expectations. Strong demand for analog chips and data centers drove growth, with the stock price soaring nearly 19% on the day. Market Interpretation: Institutions believe the semiconductor cycle recovery continues, and TXN's solid position in industrial and analog chips allows it to benefit fully. Investment Insight: The trend of recovering semiconductor demand is clear, and companies with diversified application scenarios have strong fundamental support.

# 4. Cryptocurrency Project Dynamics

1. Ben Slavin, Global ETF Head of Asset Services at BNY Mellon, stated that annual fund flows for Bitcoin ETFs have turned positive. Twelve spot Bitcoin ETFs had a cumulative net inflow of over $335 million in a single day, with monthly net inflows exceeding $2.1 billion, and year-to-date and three-month net inflows of about $1.8 billion.

2. JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou stated that ongoing security vulnerabilities in decentralized finance and sluggish growth continue to limit institutional interest in the DeFi space. Attacks related to Kelp DAO have led to a total locked value in DeFi evaporating by about $20 billion within days, with attackers minting $292 million in unsecured rsETH tokens and borrowing real ETH on Aave, resulting in about $230 million in bad debts.

3. The vault protocol 3F, built on Morpho, announced the completion of a $4 million financing, with $750,000 in the Pre-Seed round starting in July 2025 and completed in November, and $3.3 million in the Seed round starting in November 2025 and completed in March 2026. The Seed round was led by Maven 11.

4. Chun Wang, co-founder of F2Pool, tweeted that over the past year, he received 83.7 million SPK from Spark as rewards, which he has exchanged for 663 ETH and about $1.4 million in cash through CoWSwap, currently expressing regret over selling all of it.

5. According to Iranian media Fars News: Reports about Iran charging tolls in the Strait of Hormuz in cryptocurrency are inaccurate.

# 5. Today's Market Calendar

Data Release Schedule

|-------|----|-----------------|-----| | 21:00 | U.S. | University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Final Value | ⭐⭐⭐ |

Important Event Preview

• Event: U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index - Focus on inflation expectations and consumption resilience

Institutional Views:

Well-known investment bank analysts generally believe that U.S. stocks slightly retreated yesterday due to the stalemate in U.S.-Iran negotiations, with the software sector's adjustment reflecting the pains of AI business model transformation, but the semiconductor sector's 17 consecutive increases demonstrate fundamental resilience. Oil prices strengthened in the short term due to geopolitical risks, while gold faced pressure; risk assets like Bitcoin fluctuated with U.S. stocks. Institutions pointed out that April PMI data shows that growth driven by stockpiling cannot conceal weak demand, and the inflation rebound further delays the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut expectations, with the market needing to focus on next week's consumer sentiment data to validate economic resilience. Overall, the peak of geopolitical uncertainty may have passed, but fluctuations in energy prices will still impact corporate profits and inflation paths. Investors are advised to seek structural opportunities in the long-term trends of AI and semiconductors while closely tracking the situation in the Middle East.

Disclaimer: The above content is compiled by AI search, with human verification for publication, and does not constitute any investment advice.