1.Asia-Pacific markets fall, tracking Wall Street declines on tech losses and AI jitters
Asia-Pacific markets fell Tuesday, following a tech-led slide on Wall Street. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slid 0.92%, while the Topix declined 0.6%. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.64% lower while the small-cap Kosdaq slid 0.58%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.86%, while mainland CSI 300 was flat. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.76%. Yields on Japan’s 20-year government bond rose almost 4 basis points to 2.78%, the highest since July 1999, data from LSEG showed. Yields on the 10-year government bond rose around 2 basis points to 1.751%. Overnight in the U.S., stocks pulled back, plagued once again by declines in tech, as Wall Street awaited key releases this week, including Nvidia earnings and the September jobs report.
2. Dow closes down more than 550 points, dragged down by Nvidia, tech shares
Stocks pulled back on Monday, plagued once again by declines in tech, as Wall Street awaited key releases this week, including Nvidia earnings and the September jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 557.24 points, or 1.18%, to close at 46,590.24, as losses in the artificial intelligence chip darling along with Salesforce and Apple pushed the blue-chip index lower. The S&P 500 sank 0.92% to end the day at 6,672.41, while the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 0.84% to settle at 22,708.07. Nvidia dropped almost 2% ahead of the company’s third-quarter results, which are scheduled for after the bell on Wednesday. The chipmaker and other names in the AI trade were a source of recent pressure as investors have grown anxious about stretched valuations.
3. Gold prices fell to around $4,010 per ounce on Tuesday
Gold prices fell to around $4,010 per ounce on Tuesday, marking a fourth consecutive session of losses amid dwindling expectations for a US interest rate cut as investors await the release of delayed US economic reports this week. The lack of US data over the past six weeks, coupled with hawkish remarks from several Fed officials, has diminished hopes for a rate cut in December. On Monday, Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson noted that downside risks to employment have risen relative to upside risks to inflation but said that the Fed should proceed “slowly” with further rate reductions. Traders will closely watch Thursday’s September jobs report for insights into the health of the US economy, while the release of the Fed’s latest meeting minutes on Wednesday will provide additional rate guidance. Markets currently imply a 43% probability of a 25bps rate cut in December, down from over 60% earlier this month.
4. WTI crude oil futures dropped on Tuesday, extending the previous session’s losses
WTI crude oil futures dropped to $59.4 per barrel on Tuesday, extending the previous session’s losses as concerns about excess supply outweighed the upcoming sanctions on Russian oil. The market outlook remains bearish, with expectations of a supply glut later this year and into 2026 as both OPEC and non-OPEC producers boost output amid slowing demand growth. Prices also declined following reports that Russia’s Novorossiysk port resumed oil loadings on Sunday after a two-day shutdown caused by a Ukrainian attack.
5.India’s goods trade deficit in October shatters records, beating estimates, as gold imports surge 200%
India’s goods trade deficit hit an all-time high of $41.7 billion in October as gold imports surged on festive season demand, while exports to U.S. bore the brunt of steep tariffs. The deficit, which was sharply wider than Reuters poll estimates of $28.8 billion, topped the previous all-time high of $37.8 billion in November 2024, according to LSEG data. During October, India imported gold worth of $14.7 billion, up nearly 200% from a year earlier, data from the country’s commerce ministry released Monday showed. Indian consumers are estimated to have bought gold worth $11 billion during the 5-day festival period in October. The impact of tariffs was also visible in trade data as India’s exports to the U.S. fell for a second consecutive month since the 50% tariffs came into effect in August end.
6. India deepens energy trade with U.S. to mend trade relations amid tariff strain
India is ramping up its energy imports from the U.S. in a bid to reduce its trade surplus with Washington — a key demand of the Trump administration during trade negotiations with New Delhi. On Monday, Hardeep Singh Puri, Indian union minister of petroleum and natural gas, announced a deal that will see the United States supply nearly 10% of New Delhi’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports. Indian state-owned oil companies have signed a 1-year deal to import around 2.2 million tonnes per annum of LPG, from the U.S. Gulf Coast, he said in a post on X, calling it “a historic first.” This would be the “first structured contract of U.S. LPG for the Indian market” and the purchases would be based on “Mount Belvieu as the benchmark for LPG purchases,” he said.
7. China seeks more cooperation with Russia in energy, agriculture
China is ready to deepen cooperation with Russia in energy, agriculture and other investments, Premier Li Qiang said during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on Monday. Li told Mishustin that China welcomes more agricultural and food products from Russia, according to the official news agency Xinhua. China also hopes Russia will make it easier for Chinese enterprises to invest and operate there, Xinhua said in its report, citing Li. Mishustin told Li that the cooperation between the two sides has repeatedly proven its resilience to external challenges. “Our cooperation in the energy sphere is of a special, strategic nature and spans the oil, gas, coal and nuclear sectors,” Mishustin told Li, according to a transcript from the meeting published on Russia’s government website.
8.Fed Governor Waller backs December rate cut as support for weakening labour market
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Monday voiced support for another interest rate cut at the central bank’s December meeting, saying he’s grown concerned over the labour market and the sharp slowdown in hiring. In an increasingly divided Fed, Waller’s comments put him squarely in the camp of those looking to ease monetary policy to head off further danger in the jobs picture. “I am not worried about inflation accelerating or inflation expectations rising significantly,” Waller said in prepared remarks delivered to a group of economists in London. “My focus is on the labour market, and after months of weakening, it is unlikely that the September jobs report later this week or any other data in the next few weeks would change my view that another cut is in order.”
9. Xpeng shares slump as disappointing Q4 guidance offsets positive earnings
Xpeng Inc’s Hong Kong shares fell sharply on Tuesday after the electric vehicle maker presented a disappointing outlook for the fourth quarter, which largely offset a strong performance in the third quarter. Xpeng Inc (HK:9868) slid 8.5% to HK$87.85, lagging a 1.3% drop in the Hang Seng index. The company’s U.S. shares (NYSE:XPEV) slid more than 10% overnight. The EV maker clocked a much narrower-than-expected third-quarter loss– at 0.16 yuan per share against expectations of 0.566 yuan per share. Its revenue doubled from last year to 20.38 billion yuan, and was just below estimates of 20.63 billion yuan. But the company’s fourth-quarter guidance largely underwhelmed, at between 21.5 billion yuan and 23.0 billion yuan and well below consensus estimates of 25.09 billion yuan.
10. Amazon to raise $15 billion in first US bond sale in three years to fund AI push
Amazon will raise $15 billion from its first U.S. dollar bond offering in three years, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, as big tech firms ramp up investments in AI infrastructure. Big technology firms are turning to debt sales worth tens of billions of dollars to fund infrastructure expansions as demand for artificial intelligence workloads surges. The e-commerce giant filed for a six-part bond sale earlier on Monday. Proceeds may be used for everything, from acquisitions and capital expenditures to share buybacks. At the peak, the bond attracted about $80 billion of demand, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the development. Pricing discussions for the longest portion of the deal, a 40-year bond, tightened to 0.85 percentage point above Treasuries, from 1.15 percentage point initially, the report said.
11. Trump buys at least $82 million in bonds since late August, disclosures show
U.S. President Donald Trump bought at least $82 million in corporate and municipal bonds from late August to early October including new investments in sectors benefiting from his policies, financial disclosures made public on Saturday showed. According to the forms released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Trump carried out more than 175 financial purchases from August 28 through October 2. The disclosures, made under a 1978 transparency law called the Ethics in Government Act, do not list exact amounts for each purchase, only providing a broad range. The maximum total value of the bond purchases exceeded $337 million, according to the filings. Most of the assets listed in Saturday’s disclosures consist of bonds issued by municipalities, states, counties, school districts and other entities with ties to public agencies.
12. J&J expands cancer portfolio with $3.05 billion Halda buy
Johnson & Johnson said on Monday it would buy privately held Halda Therapeutics for $3.05 billion in cash, aiming to expand its presence in treatments targeting solid tumors and prostate cancer. This marks the Medtech conglomerate’s second major deal this year, after its $14.6 billion acquisition of neurological drug maker Intra-Cellular Therapies in January, reinforcing its push in higher-growth healthcare segments as it navigates the loss of exclusivity for its blockbuster immune disease treatment Stelara. J&J has also pursued multiple deals in recent years to strengthen its pharmaceuticals and medical devices units, including a $13.1 billion purchase of Shockwave Medical in 2024. Halda’s lead drug candidate, HLD-0915, is in early to mid-stage development for the treatment of prostate cancer. It also has several experimental treatments for breast, lung and other types of tumors.