International Early Morning News | Bifid: US stock valuations lack attractiveness, Berkshire Hathaway holds a large amount of cash waiting for buying opportunities

Berkshire’s U.S. Stock Valuations Lack Attraction; Warren Buffett Holds Large Cash Reserves Waiting for Buying Opportunities

“Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffett, in an interview with CNBC, stated that current stock market valuations are unappealing. Berkshire Hathaway will continue to hold substantial cash reserves while waiting for genuinely favorable buying opportunities.

Middle East Situation | 18 Companies Including Apple and Google Are Targeted by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that it has designated 18 U.S. high-tech and AI-related companies in the Middle East as targets for strikes, including Boeing, Apple, Google, Intel, Tesla, Microsoft, and others.

AI | OpenAI Completes $122 Billion Fundraising; Valuation Reaches $852 Billion

OpenAI announced the completion of a new funding round totaling $122 billion, with a corporate valuation of $852 billion.

Iran Situation | Pezeshkian: Willing to End the War if Attacks Cease

Iranian President Pezeshkian said Tehran has no intention of initiating war but is willing to end the conflict as long as it can be assured that it will no longer be attacked. However, according to secret remarks by Pezeshkian cited by Israeli media, he admitted that he has been completely excluded from military and strategic decision-making, hinting at internal disagreements within the top leadership. Additionally, the U.S. Navy’s fleet command stated that the USS Bush aircraft carrier is deploying to the Middle East, and reports indicate it will join the “Lincoln” and “Ford” carrier strike groups, suggesting the U.S. may deploy three aircraft carriers in the region simultaneously.

U.S. Stock Market Performance | Dow Jumps Over 1,100 Points as U.S.-Iran Signals Ceasefire

Reportedly, Trump intends to end military actions against Iran without the Strait of Hormuz reopening. Pezeshkian also signaled a ceasefire. The market anticipates both sides may halt hostilities. Oil prices declined from their highs, U.S. Treasury yields eased, and the Dow rose by 1,167 points to 46,383, before closing up 1,125 points or 2.49%. The S&P 500 increased by 2.91%, the Nasdaq surged 3.83%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index jumped 2.8%. Meta rose 6.7%, Microsoft and Amazon gained over 3%, Tesla climbed 4.6%, Nvidia surged over 5%, and the group invested $2 billion in chipmaker Marvell.

Overseas Market Highlights

￭ Trump: The U.S. is not considering reopening the Strait of Hormuz at this time and remains focused on preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
￭ Trump: For countries unable to obtain aviation fuel due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz—including the UK, which refused to participate in strikes against Iran—I suggest they buy oil from the U.S. or muster the courage to go there and seize it at the Strait of Hormuz.
￭ Iran Foreign Minister Araqchi: The current situation is not about negotiations but about information exchange through direct channels or regional allies. Tehran is prepared to respond to any ground confrontation.
￭ Musavi, commander of Iran’s IRGC Aerospace Force, stated that the IRGC used drones and missiles to strike the residences of U.S. military pilots at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia; during the attack, about 200 U.S. personnel were gathered at the base.
￭ Russia’s ambassador to Iran, Zhedov, said that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mujtaba is currently in Iran and not in Russia receiving treatment, contrary to some rumors.
￭ A report from the British Financial Times indicated that U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth, in February, via a securities broker at Morgan Stanley, proactively contacted asset management giant BlackRock, intending to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a BlackRock-issued actively managed defense ETF. The deal ultimately did not go through, but Hegseth is viewed as a key player behind the Iran conflict, raising suspicion of insider trading profiting from war.
￭ A federal judge in Washington, D.C., temporarily halted the construction of the White House’s new banquet hall, heavily promoted by Trump.
￭ Oracle announced a new round of layoffs, with reports indicating thousands of employees will be required to leave.
￭ The U.S. Department of Labor reported 6.882 million job openings in February’s JOLTS, slightly below expectations of 6.89 million, indicating the labor market had already cooled before the Iran war outbreak. In March, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index unexpectedly rose to 91.8. The S&P Case-Shiller home price index showed that in January, home prices in the top 20 U.S. cities increased 1.18% year-over-year, below expectations.
￭ The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell up to 6 basis points to 4.282%, while 2-year Treasuries declined 5.13 basis points to 3.7766%.
￭ The U.S. dollar index briefly dropped 0.7% to 99.81, with the yen rising 0.67% and the euro gaining 0.9%.
￭ At 3:00 a.m. Hong Kong time on Wednesday, the onshore renminbi against the U.S. dollar closed at 6.8881, up 246 pips from Monday’s close.
￭ Bitcoin fluctuated and rose 3.9% to $68,495.
￭ Spot gold prices increased up to 3.9%, reaching $4,686.9 per ounce; for March, it declined over 11%, but in the first quarter, it gained more than 8%. June gold futures in New York closed at $4,678.6, up approximately 2.7%.
￭ U.S. crude oil futures rose as much as 3.87%, reaching $106.86 per barrel, but closed down 1.46% at $101.38.
￭ Pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 0.41%. UK, France, and Germany stocks rose 0.48%, 0.57%, and 0.52%, respectively.
￭ The UK government announced plans to bolster Gulf region air defenses, including extending the deployment of “Typhoon” fighters in Qatar and deploying the “Sky Sword” missile system to Saudi Arabia.
￭ Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks in Beijing with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Dar El Djin, urging both sides to immediately cease hostilities in the Middle East and restore normal navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.
￭ The Iran conflict caused a significant market correction in March. Japan’s TOPIX and Nikkei indices fell 11.2% and 13.2%, respectively—the worst since October 2008. South Korea’s KOSPI declined 4.3%, nearly 20% below its February high, approaching a bear market.
￭ Japan’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that domestically produced long-range missiles deployed at two Ground Self-Defense Force bases in Kumamoto and Shizuoka are operational, marking a formal shift to a “counterattack capability” against enemy bases.

Local Market Highlights

￭ The ADR Hong Kong ratio index closed at 25,362, up 574 points from Hong Kong. Alibaba (09988) and Meituan (03690) rose 3.3%. HSBC (00005), AIA (01299), Hong Kong Exchanges (00388), and Xiaomi (01810) gained over 1%.
￭ The Hang Seng Index night futures closed at 25,191, with a premium of 403 points.
￭ During this year’s Easter and Qingming holidays, the Immigration Department expects about 6.44 million entries and exits, with approximately 5.43 million passing through land border checkpoints.
￭ A former administrative officer at Ma On Shan’s Ying Kee Yuen Chau Sai International Kindergarten accepted bribes from 13 parents and an intermediary to help their children secure admission. All 14 defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery and sentenced to 8 to 14 months in prison.
￭ The market is watching whether the licensing process for the first batch of stablecoin issuers will be delayed. The HKMA said it is actively pushing forward with licensing.
￭ In February, new residential mortgage approvals decreased by 7.5% month-over-month to 8,125 cases; the total approved mortgage amount fell 10.8% to RMB 29 billion.
￭ Linklog Group launched the “Lenders Data Connect” platform to support the Hong Kong government’s enhanced regulation of licensed money lenders announced in mid-March.
￭ Starting April 20, residents of Block 7 in Hung Fok Court can return in batches to collect belongings, limited to 3 hours per household. Secretary for Labour and Youth Affairs Mak Mei-jan said residents can report if the time is insufficient, and authorities will consider arranging additional visits.
￭ The Executive Council approved the Kai Tak Smart Green Transport System railway project, which will have six stations and is expected to start service in 2031.
￭ Cathay Pacific CEO Lin Shaobo said Middle East conflicts have driven up fuel prices. The group’s short-term priority is maintaining flight capacity, and any flight reductions are a last resort.
￭ Fubiao (03625) closed at HK$80 on its first day, doubling the IPO price.
￭ Copper Master (00664) closed at HK$30.5, down 49.17% from the IPO price.
￭ Bloomberg reported that mainland China is intensifying tax collection on offshore trusts holding shares of Hong Kong-listed companies, targeting ultra-rich individuals’ overseas investments worth billions of dollars.
￭ Huawei announced its net profit for 2025 was RMB 68.036 billion, up 8.73% year-over-year.
￭ Zhipu (02513) reported a widened loss of RMB 4.698 billion last year.
￭ Vanke (02202) reported a net loss of RMB 88.556 billion last year and will not pay a final dividend.
￭ Vanke Overseas (01036) recorded a loss of RMB 92.39 million last year and will pay a final dividend of HK$0.2.
￭ Agile Group (03383) reported a loss of RMB 22.569 billion last year and will not pay a final dividend.
￭ R&F Properties (02777) narrowed its loss to RMB 16.425 billion and will not pay a final dividend.
￭ Jiamei (01638) turned from loss to profit of RMB 52.555 billion last year and will not pay a final dividend.
￭ Longyuan Power (00916) saw profit decline 27.41% last year and will pay a final dividend of 6.25 cents RMB.
￭ Gome Retail (00493) narrowed its loss to RMB 5.944 billion and will not pay a final dividend.
￭ Melco International (00200) turned from loss to profit of RMB 1.058 billion last year and will not pay a final dividend.
￭ Miniso (09896) experienced a 53.96% drop in profit last year.
￭ OSL (00863), which holds a license for a virtual asset trading platform in Hong Kong, announced that its revenue from digital assets and blockchain platform operations increased significantly last year, though staff costs and other expenses surged, resulting in a full-year loss of RMB 388 million.
￭ Sun Hung Kai Properties (00083) announced the first public offering of 254 units at The East Coast—Hai Yue Bay I, which sold out on the same day.