SG Morning Brief｜Chips Power Records as Memory Melts Up
Wall Street hit new highs post holiday, led by a sharp rally across semiconductors. Micron and AMD surged on AI-driven chip demand, while crypto-related stocks declined. SG STI traded flat near record levels. US futures steadied, with oil edging lower and gold holding firm. Investors await Salesforce and Marvell earnings, plus Thursday’s US Core PCE and GDP data, which will shape Fed rate expectations.
US Overnight
Wall Street reopened after the Memorial Day holiday with a chip-led surge. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.19% to a fresh high of 26,656.18, while the S&P 500 rose 0.61% to 7,519.12. The Dow lagged, slipping 0.23% to 50,461.68 as the rotation favored semiconductors over old-economy names. Tuesday's session (vs. Friday's close, with Monday shut) was all about silicon.
Key Movers
Micron (MU) +19.3% — The standout of the day. Micron exploded from $751.00 to $895.88 as memory and storage names caught a powerful bid, with the Street pricing in a full-blown DRAM/HBM "super cycle" driven by AI server demand. The move dragged the entire storage complex higher and set the tone for the semiconductor tape.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) +7.8% — AMD ripped from $467.51 to $503.89, with analysts arguing Wall Street is "only just beginning" to price in the company's agentic-AI upside. News that infrastructure players are deploying AMD Instinct GPUs and planning Helios rack-scale systems added fuel. The broad chip rally also lifted Broadcom (+1.9%) and pulled the SOX index along, though Nvidia (-0.2%) sat out the party as money rotated toward AMD and memory.
Coinbase (COIN) -2.7% — The one weak spot in the megacap-tech tape. Coinbase fell from $184.99 to $180.01 as roughly $1.47B bled out of crypto funds (Bitcoin alone saw $1.3B of outflows) and digital assets struggled for direction. The slide came despite a fresh Coinbase–Standard Chartered custody partnership.
SGX Preview
The Straits Times Index closed essentially flat on Tuesday at 5,068.45, down a marginal 2.10 points (-0.04%) as the local market took a breather near record territory. The big three banks remain the story: DBS and OCBC continue to trade close to all-time highs (DBS in the S$60 region, OCBC around S$22.3), while UOB (~S$37) keeps lagging its peers through 2026. With the AI-chip euphoria overnight, watch whether SGX's tech-adjacent and REIT names get any sympathy bid, though the index's bank-heavy composition means direction still hinges on the lenders. No fresh bank catalysts today — the trio already cleared Q1 results earlier this month.
Asia Pre-Market
US futures are steady after the record close, signaling a calm handoff into the Asian session. WTI crude eased 0.84% to $89.85/bbl, holding above the $89 mark. Gold sits firm near $4,542/oz, while Bitcoin is soft around $77,300 amid the fund outflows noted above. The risk-on equity tone alongside a slightly softer oil print is a benign mix for SGX's open — the chip rally is the offshore signal to watch, even if Singapore's index has limited direct semiconductor exposure.
Today's US Earnings & Economic Calendar
| Company | Ticker | Timing | Consensus EPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce | CRM | post-mkt | $3.13 |
| Marvell | MRVL | post-mkt | ~$0.79 |
| Dell (Thu) | DELL | post-mkt | — |
Earnings Spotlight — Salesforce (CRM): The enterprise-software bellwether reports Q1 FY27 after the close today (4:00 PM ET / 4:00 AM SGT Thursday). Consensus sits at $3.13 non-GAAP EPS on ~$11.06B revenue, implying roughly 12.5% YoY growth. The whole story is Agentforce: investors want proof that Salesforce's AI-agent platform is converting into durable subscription growth and margin expansion, not just hype. A strong read could validate the "enterprise AI monetization" trade that's already powering chip names. Chip peer Marvell also reports post-close (guidance ~$2.40B revenue), giving the AI-silicon thesis a second test tonight.
Looking to Thursday May 28, the macro double-header lands: April Core PCE (the Fed's preferred inflation gauge) and Q1 GDP both print, a key test for the rate-cut narrative heading into June.
One More Thing
Today's tape is a clean read on where conviction lives: memory and AI silicon, not the broad market. When a name like Micron adds nearly 20% in a session, it's the market betting the AI buildout has a longer and steeper runway than consensus models — but it also raises the bar for tonight's Salesforce and Marvell prints. If software and silicon both confirm the demand story after the close, Thursday's PCE becomes the only thing standing between this rally and another leg higher.
This briefing is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
