1. Japan’s Nikkei 225 hits record high for second straight day after Wall Street gains on AMD rally
Japan’s Nikkei 225 hit a record high Tuesday for the second straight session, lifted by a tech rally on Wall Street after a massive deal between OpenAI and AMD — seen as one of the most direct challenges yet to chipmaker giant Nvidia. The Japanese yen weakened 0.11% to 150.49 against the greenback, falling for a fourth straight session. The currency plunged nearly 2% in the previous session. Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 fell 0.27%, extending losses from the previous session. Meanwhile, the Topix index rose 0.31%. Japanese Government Bond yields rose to all-time highs Tuesday.
2. S&P 500, Nasdaq close at fresh records to start week, helped by AMD gains
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at record highs on Monday, spurred by optimism about increased mergers and acquisitions activity after two major deals were announced. The broad market S&P 500 gained 0.36% to end the day at 6,740.28, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.71% to finish at 22,941.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, fell 63.31 points, or 0.14%, to close at 46,694.97, weighed down by a decline in shares of Sherwin-Williams and Home Depot. The Russell 2000 closed at a record high after crossing 2,500 for the first time. It settled up 0.4% at 2,486.36. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are coming off their fourth weekly advance in five weeks, rising 1.1% and 1.3%, respectively. The Dow rose for the third time in four weeks, advancing 1.1%.
3. Gold hits record high above $3,900/oz on Fed rate cut bets, global uncertainty
Gold surged to an all-time high above $3,900 per ounce on Monday, buoyed by growing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut this month, as well as economic and political uncertainty in the U.S., France and Japan. Spot gold was up 1.8% at $3,956.19 per ounce, after hitting a high of $3,969.91 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled 1.7% higher at $3,976.3 per ounce. Spot silver climbed 1.4% to $48.66 per ounce, hitting its highest level in more than 14 years. Platinum rose 1.4% to $1,626.75 and palladium gained 4.3% to $1,315.17. Investors are now pricing in a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed meeting this month, with an additional 25-bp cut anticipated in December.
4. Oil rises more than 1% after OPEC+ hikes output less than expected
Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday after OPEC+’s planned production increase for November was more modest than expected, tempering some concerns about supply additions, though a soft outlook for demand is likely to cap near-term gains. Brent crude futures climbed 94 cents, or 1.46%, to close at $65.47 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $61.69, up 81 cents, or about 1.33%. On Sunday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and some smaller producers said it would raise production from November by 137,000 barrels per day (bpd), matching October’s figure, amid persistent concern over a looming supply glut.
5. Japan’s bond vigilantes brace for looser fiscal stance after Sanae Takaichi wins party vote
Japan’s government bond market, long shielded by the Bank of Japan’s yield curve control and decades of deflation, faces a test of faith under Sanae Takaichi, who is set to be the country’s first female prime minister. Markets are betting that Takaichi, who won the race to lead Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Saturday, will blend a pro-growth, fiscally active agenda with a still-dovish central bank: a mix that threatens to push long-term yields higher and steepen the Japanese government bond curve. The parliament is expected to confirm the hardline conservative as prime minister on Oct. 15. Japan’s 30-year bond yield jumped over 13 basis points to 3.291% on Monday, hovering near the all-time high notched last month. Its yields surged more than 100 basis points this year, data showed.
6. French PM resigns after 27 days, sparking fresh political chaos
France’s new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has resigned just weeks after his appointment, plunging the country into a fresh political crisis. Lecornu, France’s fifth PM in less than two years, quit just hours after naming a new cabinet on Sunday. Speaking after the resignation, Lecornu said “each political party is behaving as if they have their own majority in parliament” and that the “conditions were not fulfilled” to stay in office. With the prospect of a state budget being passed now in doubt, French markets reacted strongly to the news. A former defence minister and longtime ally of French President Emmanuel Macron, Lecornu ultimately failed to unite a fractious and divided parliament enough to even hope to get a 2026 budget over the line. The country needs to close a budget deficit of 5.8% in 2024, and address a significant debt pile that amounted to 113% of GDP in 2024. Both levels are far above EU rules.
7. Funding bill falls short again in Senate, extending government shutdown
The Senate on Monday for a fifth time did not pass a House bill that would temporarily fund the U.S. government, deepening the government funding stalemate. Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, and Democrats remained at loggerheads over the terms of a funding deal as the government shutdown dragged on to its sixth day. The 52-42 vote fell largely along party lines, as was the case during the four previous votes on the same measure. The measure would have funded the government through Nov. 21. The Senate on Monday also rejected House Democrats’ plan to temporarily fund the government, as had been expected.
8. Staffing issues cause delays at U.S. airports as shutdown persists
The Federal Aviation Administration said staffing issues were causing delays at several airports, including Newark and Denver, on Monday, just hours after the top U.S. transportation official said air traffic controllers calling in sick had risen slightly since the government shutdown began. Some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must still turn up for work during the shutdown. They are not being paid and controllers are set to miss their first pay check on October 14. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that at times, air traffic staffing has been cut by 50% in some areas since the shutdown started last week. The FAA said air traffic control staffing issues are impacting flights at numerous airports, including Newark, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas and Burbank.
9. AMD stock skyrockets 23% as OpenAI looks to take stake in AI chipmaker
OpenAI and Advanced Micro Devices have reached a deal that could see Sam Altman’s company take a 10% stake in the chipmaker. AMD stock skyrocketed 23.71% on Monday following the news. OpenAI will deploy 6 gigawatts of AMD’s Instinct graphics processing units over multiple years and across multiple generations of hardware, the companies said Monday. It will kick off with an initial 1-gigawatt rollout of chips in the second half of 2026. As part of the tie-up, AMD has issued OpenAI a warrant for up to 160 million shares of AMD common stock, with vesting milestones tied to both deployment volume and AMD’s share price. The first tranche vests with the first full gigawatt deployment, with additional tranches unlocking as OpenAI scales to 6 gigawatts and meets key technical and commercial milestones required for large-scale rollout.
10. Rio Tinto and partners to invest $733 million in Pilbara iron ore project
Rio Tinto said on Tuesday it along with its joint venture partners Mitsui Iron Ore and Nippon Steel will invest $733 million to develop new iron ore deposits at the West Angelas hub in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. Rio Tinto, which will contribute $389 million, said the West Angelas Sustaining project will maintain the hub’s annual production capacity at 35 million tonnes, extending mining operations for several years. The construction will create about 600 jobs, while around 950 full-time roles will be sustained once the project becomes operational. Autonomous trucking of ore is set to begin in 2027. Mining major Rio added the project forms part of a suite of replacement iron ore developments across Pilbara, supporting a total capacity of around 130 million tonnes per annum.
11. AstraZeneca signs up to $555 million AI deal with Algen to develop therapies
Algen Biotechnologies said on Monday it had agreed to grant AstraZeneca a license to develop therapies the U.S.-based biotech discover using its AI-driven gene-editing platform, in a deal worth up to $555 million. AstraZeneca will get exclusive rights to develop and sell approved therapies, if any, that target immune system-related disorders in exchange for upfront and milestone payments to Algen. AstraZeneca has been advancing its cell and gene therapy capabilities through acquisitions and partnerships as it works towards its target of $80 billion in sales by 2030. Globally too, drugmakers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence for drug development. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s respiratory and immunology portfolio generated $4.23 billion in sales, or around 15% of its total revenue, in the first half of 2025.
12. Tesla’s German car sales fall in September though wider EV sales jump
Tesla’s sales volume in Germany fell by 9.4% in September, the German road traffic agency KBA said on Monday, although overall sales of battery electric vehicles rose by 31.9% year on year. Registrations of new Tesla cars had risen in parts of Europe in September, lifted by its updated Model Y. But the U.S. electric vehicle maker continues to face pressure from growing competition, political backlash against CEO Elon Musk and an ageing lineup. KBA said Tesla sold 3,404 cars in Germany in September. The number of Teslas sold in the January-September period dropped 50.3% to 14,845 units compared with the same period last year. By contrast, the total number of newly registered electric vehicles rose 31.9% in September to 45,495 units, KBA added.
13. Saudi Arabia’s PIF wealth fund plans dual-tranche green bond sale
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has hired banks to manage the sale of its first euro-denominated green bond, according to a source and a document from one of the arranging banks. The Public Investment Fund and other state-linked firms are increasingly turning to the dollar and euro bond markets to fill funding gaps and sustain Saudi Arabia’s multibillion-dollar megaprojects while aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2060. PIF, which manages nearly $1 trillion in assets, has mandated Crédit Agricole CIB, JP Morgan and Societe Generale to organise investor calls starting on Monday, the document showed. PIF entered the green-debt market in 2022 and has since issued several U.S. dollar-denominated bonds under its Green Finance Framework, published on its website that same year.