Lee Jae-myung Elected as South Korea's President, Trump Signs Order to Raise Steel and Aluminum Tariffs | Global Markets

Overnight Stock Market

Major global indices generally rose on Tuesday, with all three major US stock indices closing higher.

Chip stocks surged across the board, with Nvidia rising nearly 3%, extending gains from Monday, surpassing Microsoft in market capitalization, and once again becoming the world's most valuable company.

Commodity Markets

WTI crude oil futures closed at $63.41 per barrel, up $0.89, or 1.42%. Brent crude oil futures closed at $65.63 per barrel, up $1, or 1.55%.

COMEX gold futures closed down 0.6% at $3,376.9 per ounce. COMEX silver futures closed down 0.05% at $34.675 per ounce.

Market News

[South Korea's Presidential Election Voting Results Bill Passes, Lee Jae-myung's Presidency Officially Begins]

At 6 a.m. local time on June 4, the National Election Commission of South Korea held a plenary session and passed the bill on the presidential election voting results, officially marking the beginning of Lee Jae-myung's presidency.

Around 5:03 a.m. local time on June 4, the vote counting for South Korea's 21st presidential election concluded. According to the results, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea received 49.42% of the votes, Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party received 41.15%, and Lee Jun-seok of the Reform and Innovation Party received 8.34%.

[White House Says Trump Signed Order to Raise Steel and Aluminum Tariffs, Effective from Early Morning of June 4]

The US White House issued a statement saying that President Trump had signed an order to raise tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and their derivatives from 25% to 50%, effective from 00:01 a.m. Eastern Time on the 4th. The statement indicated that tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the UK would remain at 25%.

[US Government Proposes First Spending Cut Plan, Requests Recall of $9.4 Billion]

The US White House submitted a request to Congress on the same day to recall $9.4 billion in approved spending, most of which was for foreign aid. Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, stated that he had officially received the White House's request to recall $9.4 billion in wasteful foreign aid spending for organizations such as the US Agency for International Development and the Public Broadcasting Service. Mike Johnson said the House would act swiftly. It is understood that after the submission of the plan, Congress will have 45 days to process it.

[Details of US-Iran Nuclear Negotiations Revealed: US Proposes Temporary Permission for Iran to Continue Uranium Enrichment]

According to anonymous Iranian and European officials, the US proposed temporary measures during the US-Iran nuclear negotiations to allow Iran to continue low-enriched uranium enrichment activities while the US and other countries develop more detailed plans.

The New York Times reported on the 3rd that the US and other countries will formulate a more detailed plan aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons while allowing it to obtain the fuel needed for new nuclear power plants. According to the plan, the US will assist Iran in building nuclear reactors and negotiate the construction of a uranium enrichment facility managed by a coalition of regional countries. Once Iran begins to receive the promised benefits, it must cease all uranium enrichment activities within its borders. Iranian and European officials revealed that the plan has been submitted to Iran.

[Zelensky: Opposes Unilateral Restart of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant]

Ukrainian President Zelensky held talks with IAEA Director General Grossi on the 3rd. Zelensky stated that the two sides discussed the safety of Ukraine's nuclear facilities, as well as the completion of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, uranium mining, and the restoration of the damaged sarcophagus at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Zelensky expressed that any Russian idea of restarting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant without Ukraine's involvement is absurd and dangerous. He emphasized that the IAEA should be stationed at the nuclear power plant for this purpose.

[US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Will Correct "Minor Errors" in April Employment Data on Friday]

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that it will correct "minor errors" in April's employment data while releasing May's data on Friday, adding that the relevant adjustments will not affect key indicators such as the unemployment rate. In a statement on Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said, "Due to minor errors in weights resulting from the introduction of a redesigned Current Population Survey (CPS) sample, some estimates for April 2025 will be corrected on June 6, 2025." "Major labor force indicators such as the unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, and employment-to-population ratio were not affected. Although many estimates will be corrected, the impact will be negligible."

[Musk Criticizes Tax Reform Bill as "Absurd"; White House: Does Not Affect Trump's Position]

US White House Press Secretary Levitt stated on the 3rd that Elon Musk's criticism "will not change" US President Trump's support for the massive tax and spending bill. It is reported that Musk posted a message on a social media platform on the same day, calling the massive bill "absurd and riddled with political manipulation." Musk claimed that the bill would significantly increase the budget deficit to $2.5 trillion, imposing an unbearable debt burden on US citizens.

[White House Confirms Authenticity of Letter "Urging" Trade Negotiation Partners to "Submit Proposals"]

The US White House Press Secretary stated on the 3rd that she could confirm the authenticity of the content of the letter regarding the deadline for trade negotiations. She said that the Office of the US Trade Representative sent the letter to trading partners merely to remind them of the approaching deadline, and that US President Trump was looking forward to reaching a good agreement.

[Meta Reportedly Focused on Developing "Ultra-thin Open-type Headset"]

Meta was reported to be adjusting its development plans: it intends to scrap the upgrade projects for its current VR products and accelerate the launch of an "ultra-thin open-type headset" before the end of next year.

According to overseas tech media citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, the two alternative upgrade plans for the VR glasses Quest 4, "Pismo Low" and "Pismo High," have been canceled. Therefore, Meta's next Quest headset with a traditional design will not be launched until at least 2027. At the end of last year, Meta also confirmed that an alternative project for its high-end VR headset Quest Pro 2 had been scrapped.

Meanwhile, Meta is accelerating the R&D project for its ultra-thin open-type headset, code-named "Puffin," with the goal of launching it before the end of 2026. In terms of form factor, the device will connect an independent computing module and a battery via cables. Sources familiar with the matter said that Meta is exploring display system solutions at different price points for this product, and the final mass-produced version has not yet been determined.

[US eVTOL Company and Saudi Enterprise Explore Cooperation Opportunities, with Potential Delivery of 200 Electric Aircraft in the Future]

On Tuesday (June 3) local time, Abdul Latif Jameel, a well-known Saudi enterprise, announced on its official website that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Joby Aviation, a US company, to explore opportunities for establishing a distribution agreement for Joby's eVTOLs in Saudi Arabia.

The press release stated that the two parties are expected to deliver up to 200 Joby Aviation aircraft and related services in the coming years, with the total transaction value potentially approaching $1 billion. "In the long run, both Abdul Latif Jameel and Joby see potential revenue opportunities in the Middle East region," it said.

[Broadcom Announces Delivery of Switch Chips, Setting an Industry Record for Capacity]

On June 3, Broadcom announced the official delivery of its Tomahawk® 6-series switch chips, setting an industry record with a switching capacity of 102.4 Tbps per single chip, which doubles the bandwidth of existing Ethernet switch products.

[Meta and Constellation Sign 20-Year Power Supply Agreement]

On Tuesday local time, tech giant Meta reached a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy, the largest owner of nuclear power plants in the US, to meet the power demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

According to the released statement, starting from June 2027, Meta will purchase approximately 1.1 gigawatts of electricity from Constellation's Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois, which represents the full power generation capacity of one of the center's nuclear reactors.