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According to a client report from Goldman Sachs Prime Brokerage on Friday, hedge funds increased their holdings in technology stocks at the fastest pace in nearly three months last week, with buying activity concentrated in North America and emerging Asia markets. Europe was the only major region without net purchases of technology stocks.Capital inflows were highly concentrated in chipmakers and software developers, while hedge funds actively reduced their holdings in communications equipment manufacturers and IT consulting services during the same period.The current hedge fund exposure to technology stocks relative to their weighting in the MSCI Global Index has reached the highest level since Goldman Sachs began tracking this data in 2016.Investment managers adopted a dual strategy to build exposure to technology stocks: they closed out bearish short positions while simultaneously establishing new bullish long positions.Despite ongoing macro headwinds from the Iran conflict that continue to disrupt the market, technology stocks directly related to artificial intelligence have shown significant resilience. Chips and microprocessors, as the fundamental hardware for AI, remain the core allocation focus for hedge funds.

⑴ Russian agricultural consultancy Sovecon estimates that the country’s total exports of wheat, barley, and corn in May stand at 3.1 million tons, a significant decrease from 4.55 million tons in April. ⑵ Of these, wheat exports are estimated at 2.8 million tons, down from 4 million tons in April; barley exports are estimated at 1 million tons, down from 2.5 million tons in April; and corn exports are estimated at 2 million tons, down from 3 million tons in April. ⑶ Looking at a longer timeframe, after Russian grain exports peaked at around 5.4 million tons between last September and October, they have shown an overall declining trend, with this May’s 3.1 million tons at a relatively low level for the year.

Golden Ten Data reported on May 25 that Fitch Ratings stated in a report that Kioxia appears to be better positioned to withstand the inherent volatility of the NAND flash memory market, while maintaining financial flexibility and continuing investments in technology and capacity. Fitch noted that the Japanese chip manufacturer's balance sheet has been strengthened, mainly due to improved profitability, enhanced cash generation, lower financing costs after debt refinancing, and ongoing deleveraging efforts. Fitch also highlighted the strong demand for enterprise-level SSDs driven by artificial intelligence (AI); as demand for data centers continues to expand, the share of such products in the company's sales revenue is expected to keep rising. However, Fitch stated that given Kioxia's profitability is highly sensitive to changes in NAND flash memory pricing and supply-demand dynamics, subsequent rating actions will depend on whether there are signs that cyclical volatility in the memory chip market is easing. Fitch has upgraded Kioxia's Issuer Default Rating (IDR) from "BB+" to "BBB-", with a stable outlook.