【US Pre-Market】Strait of Hormuz Risks Lift Oil Prices, Salesforce Leads Gains, Memory Chip Stocks Under Pressure as Micron Falls Over 2%

TradingKey - On Monday (October 12) US Eastern Time, futures tied to the three major US stock indexes were mixed in pre-market trading. The Columbus Day holiday made market trading relatively light, with investors awaiting earnings reports from major banks this week and US September CPI data; meanwhile, tensions in the Middle East and shipping risks in the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices higher again, capping risk appetite for tech stocks.

As of press time, Dow futures were up 0.15%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.06%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.17%.

Source: Investing

In commodities, international oil prices moved higher again after early volatility. WTI (USOIL) crude rose about 1.1% to near $92.9; Brent crude rose about 1.1%, trading near $105.8. Iran is still reviewing the US response to the proposal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, while attacks on tankers and aviation facilities in the Middle East further heightened supply risks. Gold (XAUUSD) fell about 0.55%, pulling back to near $4,171 per ounce, as a stronger US dollar offset part of the geopolitical safe-haven demand.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) fell about 0.5%, trading near $83,300, down about 2.6% over the past seven days, continuing to underperform major US stock indexes.

Market Moves

Salesforce (CRM) rose over 4% in pre-market trading. Bank of America upgraded Salesforce directly from "Underperform" to "Buy" and sharply raised its price target from $160 to $285. The bank believes enterprise customers will not easily abandon core platforms that house data, workflows, and compliance systems, while Salesforce's own AI products are expected to drive incremental spending.

Micron Technology (MU) fell over 2% in pre-market trading. Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies announced that its fifth-generation DRAM manufacturing platform has entered mass production and plans to launch DDR5 server memory products by the end of the year, raising market concerns over intensifying global DRAM competition.

Intel (INTC) fell about 1.6% in pre-market trading. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said on Monday that cutting-edge Chinese AI models such as DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM have lower costs and "good enough" performance, with market adoption moving very fast; he also expects quantum computing could enter mainstream applications in the next three to five years.

Amazon (AMZN) rose slightly by about 0.2% in pre-market trading. Amazon is in talks to acquire AI startup Decart for about $7 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The discussions have not yet yielded a formal agreement, and the deal remains subject to change.

Market News

Iran continues to review the U.S. response to the Strait of Hormuz proposal. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that Tehran will respond to Washington through intermediaries once its internal review is complete, with no specific timeline announced yet.

Shipping and aviation security risks in the Middle East continue to rise. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, has not yet resumed normal operations; India's Ministry of External Affairs stated that two Indian crew members went missing after a commercial tanker was hit by a drone in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, while another tanker also caught fire after being attacked by an unidentified object.

A ceasefire on energy infrastructure between Russia and Ukraine has yet to be unanimously confirmed by all parties. Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop attacking each other's energy facilities, but Russia has not officially confirmed it; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Russian forces are still attacking Ukrainian energy targets.

Broadcom (AVGO) CEO Hock Tan stated that as wafer and memory chip shortages gradually ease, capital will become the biggest constraint facing the AI industry's continued expansion. He also noted that Anthropic and OpenAI have proven that the latest AI models can generate substantial revenue.

Key Data and Events Preview

At 12:10 p.m. ET on October 12, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack delivered a speech.