1. Asia markets mixed amid Wall Street declines after U.S. Fed chair suggests stocks are overvalued
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday amid Wall Street’s declines after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that “equity prices are fairly highly valued.” Powell also signalled that the rate-cutting path wasn’t clear and that the central bank faces a “challenging situation.” Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 lost 0.92% to close at 8,764.5. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.3% to end the trading day at 45,630.31, while the Topix climbed 0.23% to 3,170.45. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced Tuesday that Anna Breman would be the new governor of the central bank, marking the first time a woman has held the role. She will commence her five-year term on December 1.
2. Stocks closed lower for second day as investors continue selling AI plays Nvidia and Oracle
The S&P 500 fell on Wednesday as artificial intelligence giants Nvidia and Oracle came under pressure for a second day. The broad market index dropped 0.28% to end at 6,637.97, while the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 0.34% to settle at 22,497.86. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 171.50 points, or 0.37%, to finish at 46,121.28. Nvidia slid almost 1%, continuing its declines from Tuesday as heightened fears about the potentially circular nature of the AI industry drew investor scepticism. Earlier this week, the chipmaker announced a $100 billion partnership with OpenAI. Fellow leading AI player Oracle also fell for a second straight day, losing nearly 2% Wednesday.
3. Gold hovers near record high on rate cut bets, geopolitical tensions
Gold prices steadied on Wednesday, trading near the record high hit the day before, as expectations of further U.S. interest rate cuts and geopolitical uncertainty boosted demand for the safe-haven metal. Spot gold was steady at $3,762.73 per ounce, as of 1103 GMT, after hitting a record high of $3,790.82 on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures for December delivery edged down 0.5% to $3,795.80. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, rose about 0.5%, making dollar-priced bullion more expensive for other currency holders. Powell said that the Fed would continue to balance concerns over labour market weakness with worries about inflation, while central bank officials took stances on both sides of the monetary policy path divide.
4. Oil rises more than 2% to 7-week high as surprise US stockpile draw adds to supply worries
Oil prices climbed more than 2% to a seven-week high on Wednesday as a surprise drop in U.S. weekly crude inventories added to a sense in the market of tightening supplies amid export issues in Iraq, Venezuela and Russia. Brent futures rose $1.68, or 2.48%, to close at $69.31 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) rose $1.58, or 2.49%, to settle at $64.99. That put Brent on track for its highest close since August 1 and WTI on track for its highest close since September 2. U.S. crude inventories fell by a surprise 607,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said. to resume exports of about 230,000 barrels per day of oil from Kurdistan to the global market via Turkey, halted since March 2023.
5. Defence stocks rally as Trump, in a major shift, says Ukraine can win back territory from Russia
Global defence stocks moved higher on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump, in a major rhetorical shift, said Ukraine could retake territory currently occupied by Russia. In a post published overnight on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that Kyiv, with the support of the European Union and the NATO military coalition, “is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.” The EU and NATO have offered military and humanitarian support to Ukraine — which is not currently a member of either organization — since the start of Russia’s invasion in 2022. Trump said his view came after “getting to know and fully understand” Russia and Ukraine’s military and economic situation, noting what he described as the “economic trouble” that the conflict is causing in Moscow.
6. Ukrainian drones’ stage new attack on major Russian petrochemical complex
Ukrainian drones attacked one of Russia’s largest petrochemical complexes, Salavat in the southern Bashkortostan region, for the second time in less than a week, the local governor said, and two sources said a major unit caught fire. Ukraine has attacked more than 10 Russian refineries and export terminals over the past two months, some more than 1,000 km (620 miles) from the border, dealing the biggest blow to the Russian economy since the start of the war. “Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat has been subjected to another terrorist drone attack. We are assessing the extent of the damage. All emergency services are on scene, and firefighting measures are underway,” governor Radiy Khabirov said on Telegram on Wednesday.
7. New home sales soar 20% in August to a three-year high
Sales of newly built homes rose a much larger-than-expected 20.5% in August compared with July to the highest level since January 2022, according to the U.S. Census. It is also the largest one-month gain since August 2022. Sales were 15.4% higher than August 2024. This count is based on people out shopping in August and signing deals, when the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was higher than it is today. That rate started August at 6.63%, according to Mortgage News Daily, and didn’t really move much during the month. The sharp decline in rates began in September, when it fell to a three-year low of 6.13% the day before the Federal Reserve cut its lending rate, and then moved higher to where it is now at 6.37%.
8. Trump will sign TikTok executive order on Thursday, source says
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday that declares a deal being negotiated by the White House to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations will meet requirements set out in a 2024 law, a White House source with knowledge of the matter said. Earlier this week, the White House said Trump will declare that a deal to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations from its Chinese owner ByteDance will meet requirements set out in a law passed by Congress that bans the short video app unless its Chinese owner is ended. Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win re-election last year and has 15 million followers on his personal account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month. Trump has delayed enforcement of the law through mid-December amid efforts to extract TikTok’s U.S. assets from the global platform, line up American investors and ensure that the new ownership qualifies as a full divestiture needed under the 2024 law. A further extension is expected in the executive order on Thursday.
9. US implements EU trade deal, 15% autos tariffs retroactive to Aug 1
President Donald Trump’s administration said on Wednesday it was formally implementing the U.S. trade agreement with the European Union, confirming that a 15% duty rate for EU autos and auto parts began on August 1 and listing tariff exemptions for generic pharmaceuticals, aircraft and aircraft parts. In a Federal Register notice, the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said they have amended the tariff schedule to implement the framework agreement reached with the EU in July that lowers the Republican president’s tariffs to 15% on most imports from the EU, including autos. The deal was subsequently modified to make the duty rate retroactive to August 1, but European automakers have been waiting for weeks for the formal U.S. notice.
10. Intel seeks investment from Apple, reports
Intel has approached Apple about securing an investment in the struggling chipmaker, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The iPhone maker and Intel have also discussed how to work more closely together, the report said, adding that the talks are at an early stage and may not lead to an agreement. Shares of Intel closed 6% higher after the news. Intel declined to comment, while Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The report comes days after Nvidia announced it would invest $5 billion in Intel for a roughly 4% stake in the company. Nvidia’s pact with Intel includes a plan for the two companies to jointly develop PC and data centre chips, but crucially, will not involve Intel’s contract manufacturing business making computing chips for Nvidia.
11. Baidu stock jumps after Apollo Go secures Dubai autonomous driving permits
Baidu Inc stock surged 6.3% on Wednesday after the company announced its autonomous ride-hailing platform, Apollo Go, received Dubai’s first autonomous driving trial permit along with 50 test licenses. The permits, granted by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in July, allow Apollo Go to deploy a 50-vehicle fleet in designated areas of urban Dubai. The company has already begun trials on open roads since August, making it the only platform currently permitted to conduct self-driving trials in the city. This development follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Apollo Go and the RTA earlier this year. Looking ahead, the companies plan to expand the autonomous fleet to more than 1,000 fully driverless vehicles by 2028, supporting Dubai’s vision for autonomous mobility adoption.
12. Marvell stock rises over 7% after announcing $5 billion buyback plan
Marvell Technology, stock rose over 7%% Wednesday after the company announced a new $5 billion stock repurchase authorization and a $1 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR) program. The semiconductor solutions provider said the new authorization builds upon its ongoing commitment to return capital to stockholders. As of August 2, 2025, Marvell had approximately $2.0 billion remaining under its prior repurchase authorization and has already repurchased $300 million of common stock in the current quarter. The Santa Clara, California-based company has entered into an ASR agreement with a financial institution to repurchase $1 billion of its common stock, demonstrating confidence in its business outlook.