1. Asia markets track gains on Wall Street as investors look past government shutdown
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.11%, led by gains in Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, which rose nearly 8%. The company announced late Thursday a partnership with OpenAI to build artificial-intelligence infrastructure and data centres globally. The Topix index was up 1.01%. Japan’s unemployment rate rose to 2.6% in August, government data showed Friday, higher than the 2.4% expected by economists polled by Reuters and the 2.3% rate in the prior month. The S&P Global Japan services purchasing managers’ index climbed to 53.3 in September from 53.1 in August, driven by stronger domestic demand amid falling new export business.
2. Stocks close at record highs as investors shake off shutdown concerns
The three leading U.S. indexes closed at record highs on Thursday as investors shrugged off concerns tied to a U.S. government shutdown that had entered its second day. The S&P 500 inched up 0.06% to close at 6,715.35. It was up 0.3% at the day’s peak, reaching a fresh all-time intraday high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 78.62 points, or 0.17%, to finish the day at 46,519.72, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.39% to finish at 22,844.05. The tech heavy index also hit a new intraday record as well, supported by a gain in Nvidia shares, which also reached an all-time high, as investors continued to pile into the artificial intelligence giant. Weighing on sentiment, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Thursday that gross domestic product may “see a hit” as a result of the current government shutdown.
3. Gold slips from record peak on caution from Fed’s Logan
Gold prices fell nearly 1% on Thursday, retreating from a record high hit earlier in the session, after Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan urged caution on further interest rate cuts. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $3,845.78 per ounce by 2:15 p.m. ET (1815 GMT). U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled 0.8% lower at $3,868.1. The U.S. dollar index inched lower to hover near one-week lows reached on Wednesday. Data showed on Wednesday that U.S. private payrolls fell by 32,000 jobs in September after a downwardly revised 3,000 declines in August. Traders are pricing in a near-certain 25-bp interest rate cut this month, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
4. Oil falls 2% to four-month lows on oversupply concerns
Oil prices fell about 2% to their lowest in four months on Thursday, extending a run of declines into a fourth day, due to concerns about oversupply in the market ahead of a meeting of the OPEC+ group over the weekend. Brent crude futures fell $1.24, or 1.9%, to close at $64.11, the lowest since June. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $1.30, or 2.1%, to settle at $60.48 a barrel, the lowest since May 30. OPEC+ could agree to raise oil production by up to 500,000 barrels per day in November, triple the increase for October, as Saudi Arabia seeks to reclaim market share, three sources familiar with the talks said. The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week as refining activity and demand softened.
5. Trump touts shutdown as ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to cut more Democratic priorities
President Donald Trump on Thursday said Democrats have given him an “unprecedented opportunity” to slash federal agencies, signalling plans to harm his political opponents during the 2-day-old government shutdown while blaming them for causing it. Trump’s warning came a day after his administration froze about $18 billion for two major infrastructure projects in New York City and cancelled roughly $8 billion more for climate-related projects in Democratic-leaning states. The top Democrats leading the shutdown fight, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, both represent New York. Both of the funding halts were first announced by Russell Vought, the director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, not by the departments that have oversight of the projects.
6. Hundreds of ‘green’ projects axed by Energy Dept. across U.S. concentrated in ‘blue states’
The Energy Department’s cancellation of more than 300 funding awards to projects in 16 states won by Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election slammed the brakes on efforts to reduce carbon emissions, air and water pollution and strengthen electrical grids. The cancellations of nearly $8 billion in funding were announced on Wednesday, the first day of a federal government shutdown, and on the same day that the administration froze a whopping $18 billion in funding for two massive infrastructure projects in New York City — the home of Congress’s two top Democrats. While some of the cancellations were new, others had been previously announced in May. “There would have been significant emissions reductions from these projected,” said Ian Wells, a senior advocate at the National Resources Defence Council, an advocacy group.
7. Treasury Secretary Bessent says U.S. GDP could take a hit from the government shutdown
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that U.S. economic growth could be hurt by the government shutdown. “This isn’t the way to have a discussion, shutting down the government and lowering the GDP,” Bessent said during an interview. “We could see a hit to the GDP, a hit to growth and a hit to working America.” The Cabinet official spoke on the second day of the government closure as the two warring sides in Washington, D.C., have yet to come to an agreement on a continuing resolution that would allow spending and operations to proceed. Growth in the U.S. has been on upward trajectory over the past two quarters after the economy slogged through the early part of the year.
8. Report shows hiring at lowest since 2009 as economists turn to alternative data during shutdown blackout
Unemployment changed little in September, while layoff and hiring rates both slowed, according to separate labor market reports Thursday. The jobless level barely moved at 4.34%, according to a relatively new set of data indicators compiled by the Chicago Federal Reserve. That represented little change from August, though was just 0.01 percentage point away from moving up to 4.4%, the highest level since October 2021. In September, the central bank district announced it would be releasing its own dashboard of labour market indicators that also includes the layoff rate, which was little changed monthly at 2.1%, and the hiring rate, which moved lower to 45.2%, down 0.4 percentage point from August. The reports, from the Chicago Fed and Challenger, Gray & Christmas, substitute for data that normally comes from the government but won’t this week because of the shutdown.
9. US banks expect victory in capital requirements as Trump regulators revamp rules
As President Donald Trump’s regulators revamp bank rules, big lenders expect their capital requirements could fall, in a stunning victory for the industry which faced a big hike under former President Joe Biden, according to senior industry executives. Aiming to cut red tape that Trump’s agency picks say is hurting the U.S. economy, they are working on the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. capital rules since the global financial crisis of 2008. In addition to narrowing the “Basel Endgame” capital hikes which sparked unprecedented pushback from Wall Street banks, the Fed plans to reduce a capital surcharge levied on risky global banks, shrink a key leverage constraint, and overhaul annual tests that gauge whether lenders can withstand an economic shock.
10. India’s SEBI weighs oversight of family offices as billionaires expand
India’s markets regulator is in talks to bring family offices under its oversight as the country’s billionaires wield growing influence in stock markets, media reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has discussed requiring family offices to disclose entities, assets, and returns for the first time, as well as creating a separate regulatory category for such vehicles, the report said. Officials have sought written submissions from some of India’s largest family offices after meetings earlier this year, though the scope and timing of new rules remain unclear. Family offices tied to tycoons such as Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, and Wipro founder Azim Premji have become major investors in equities, private equity, and IPOs.
11. Tesla deliveries rise 7% before EV tax credits expire
Tesla reported quarterly vehicle deliveries up 7% over the year prior for the period ended Tuesday, the same day that a key tax credit for buyers of electric vehicles in the U.S. expired. Shares dipped by more than 3% Thursday following the report. Tesla plans to update investors on its third-quarter financial results on Oct. 22. The company reported 462,890 total deliveries in the third quarter of 2024. Tesla saw a decline in production this quarter compared to the 469,796 vehicles produced last year. The Elon Musk-led company was expected to report around 447,600 deliveries, according to estimates compiled by FactSet. Tesla distributed a company-compiled consensus on Sept. 26, which said analysts were expecting 443,079 deliveries. The company doesn’t break out sales and production by model or region. However, Tesla said it produced 435,826of its most popular Model 3 and Model Y cars.
12. AST Spacemobile stock soars over 16% after successful space-based cell test
AST Spacemobile stock surged 16% Thursday following the company’s announcement of a successful space-based direct-to-cell test in partnership with Canadian telecommunications provider Bell. The companies revealed they had completed groundbreaking tests in New Brunswick over the summer, demonstrating 4G voice over LTE calls, video calls, broadband data connectivity, and video streaming to standard smartphones using AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites. The tests also successfully demonstrated SMS messaging and emergency alerts using Bell’s low-band spectrum. This milestone represents a significant advancement for AST SpaceMobile’s technology, which aims to provide cellular broadband connectivity to remote areas without requiring specialized equipment.
13. Rivian lowers annual deliveries forecast as tax credit expiry fans industry gloom
Rivian Automotive lowered the midpoint of its annual deliveries forecast range on Thursday as the EV-maker braces for an uncertain few quarters due to the lapse of federal tax credits, sending its shares down more than 7% by the end of the day. Despite reporting a nearly 32% jump in deliveries, Rivian and the electric-vehicle industry face a cloudy outlook after the U.S. Congress, through sweeping legislation, moved to abolish a $7,500 tax credit on leasing that EV makers had long relied on to bolster sales. The tax credit expired on Tuesday. Analysts and experts had predicted that EV sales and leasing would plummet after it ended, but that a rush to purchase EVs from buyers looking to beat the deadline would precede the fall.
14. Oracle says hackers are trying to extort its customers
Oracle said on Thursday that customers of its E-Business Suite of products “have received extortion emails,” confirming a warning first issued on Wednesday by Alphabet’s Google. In a blog post, the California-based tech company said its investigation found that hackers had made potential use of previously identified software vulnerabilities and urged customers to upgrade their products. Oracle did not immediately respond when asked how many clients were affected. Google has described the hacking campaign as “high volume,” but declined to go into detail.