1. Asia markets mostly slip as investors look to Trump-Takaichi meeting in Japan
Asia markets fell across the board on Tuesday as investors in the region look toward a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and newly minted Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Trump met Japan’s Emperor Naruhito after arriving in Tokyo on Monday and will be the first foreign leader to hold talks with Takaichi since she took office. Japan’s Nikkei 225 retreated from its record high on Tuesday, falling 0.15%, while the broad-based Topix was down 0.49%. Other Asia-Pacific markets also fell, despite gains on Wall Street that sent all three major U.S. indexes record closing highs. South Korea’s Kospi led losses in the region, dipping 1.15%, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.1%.
2. S&P 500 rallies 1% to notch first close ever above 6,800 on potential China trade truce
Stocks jumped to new records on Monday after U.S. and China officials cooled tensions over the weekend, laying the groundwork for President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping to clinch a trade deal this week. The S&P 500 climbed 1.23% to 6,875.16, its first close ever above the 6,800 level, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.86% to 23,637.46, bolstered by a rise in Nvidia and other chip stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 337.47 points, or 0.71% to 47,544.59. All three of the major averages closed at record highs, along with the Russell 2000 small-cap benchmark. “I think we have a very successful framework for the leaders to discuss on Thursday,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
3. Gold reclaims $4,000 level on softer U.S. dollar, rate-cut prospects
Gold prices regained some lost ground on Tuesday, rising above the $4,000-per-ounce level as a weaker dollar and expectations of further Federal Reserve rate cuts outweighed pressure from signs of a thaw in U.S.-China trade tensions. Spot gold was up 0.7% at $4,009.39 per ounce, as of 0141 GMT, after dropping more than 3% on Monday to its lowest level since October 10. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.1% to $4,022.10 per ounce. The dollar index was down 0.1% against its rivals, making gold less expensive for other currency holders. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are both broadly expected to hold rates steady later this week.
4. Oil dips as OPEC output plans offset U.S.-China trade optimism
Oil prices slipped on Tuesday, extending falls from the two previous sessions, as pressure from plans by OPEC to boost output offset optimism over a potential U.S.-China trade deal. Brent crude futures fell 4 cents to $65.58 a barrel by 0106 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 9 cents at $61.22. Last week, Brent and WTI registered their biggest weekly gains since June, after Trump imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft. Following the sanctions, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil said on Monday it would sell its international assets.
5. Global stocks rally as investors are upbeat on U.S.-China trade pact prospects
Global markets rallied at the start of the week as investors were buoyed by growing optimism that the U.S. and China are nearing an agreement on trade. The pan-European Stoxx 600 preliminarily closed Monday’s trading session 0.2% higher, which followed earlier solid gains across Asian markets, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 breaching the 50,000 mark for the first time to close up 2.46% and South Korea’s Kospi rising 2.57% on the day. Most major European bourses were positive, with the FTSE 100 up nearly 0.1%, as Spain’s Ibex 35 Index gained 0.87%, hitting a new 52-week high and beating its historic record as it reached 16,000.20. U.S. stocks also received a shot in the arm, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.5% as of 4:45 p.m. in London (12:45 p.m. in New York), the S&P 500 rising close to 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite advancing 1.6%. The three indexes reached new record highs through the session.
6. Rare earth stocks extend losses as U.S. expects China to delay export controls
Shares of several U.S.-listed rare earth miners fell sharply on Monday as U.S. officials said they expect China to delay introducing export controls on critical minerals as part of a broader trade deal. Critical Metals fell more than 17% in early deals, USA Rare Earth declined 12%, MP Materials was down 7.3% and Trilogy Metals lost 15%. Energy Fuels and NioCorp Developments, meanwhile, traded 14.7% and 9.5% lower, respectively. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Washington and Beijing were expected to reach a deal to avoid a new 100% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods, with Beijing set to defer on imposing strict rare earth export controls.
7. Largest federal worker union urges end to government shutdown
The largest union representing federal workers on Monday called for Democrats in Congress to end the ongoing government shutdown by voting for the stopgap funding measure that Republicans have proposed. “It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today,” Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, wrote. “No half measures, and no gamesmanship. Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today,” said Kelley, whose union represents more than 800,000 federal and District of Columbia government workers. “Because when the folks who serve this country are standing in line for food banks after missing a second pay check because of this shutdown, they aren’t looking for partisan spin,” Kelley said.
8. Chicago Fed puts October unemployment rate at 4.35%, little changed from last official report
The U.S. unemployment rate remained stable at around 4.3% in October according to a Chicago Federal Reserve bank economic model that uses private data to estimate the jobless rate even in the absence of government statistics that have been unavailable since the start of an ongoing federal shutdown. The last official unemployment report was for August and also showed the jobless rate at 4.3%. A Chicago Fed estimate for September put the number, unrounded, at 4.34%, and at an unrounded 4.35% for August. The Chicago Fed noted that the government shutdown would over time make its own model less reliable since it uses the official unemployment rate as a baseline, then estimates the change in the jobless rate each month using a variety of private-sector sources that line up well with different aspects of the job market.
9. NextEra Energy partners with Google to restart Iowa nuclear plant
NextEra Energy and Google have reached an agreement to restart an Iowa nuclear power plant shut five years ago, the companies said on Monday, in another sign that data-centre power demand is renewing interest in U.S. nuclear energy. The technology industry’s quest for massive amounts of electricity for artificial-intelligence processing has renewed interest in the country’s nuclear reactors, which generate large amounts of around-the-clock power that is virtually carbon free. Under NextEra’s deal with Google, the Duane Arnold Energy Centre near Cedar Rapids is scheduled to resume operations in early 2029. The restart is backed by a 25-year agreement for Google to buy electricity from the 615-megawatt plant. Shares of NextEra Energy rose over 1% to $87.24 after the bell.
10. Amazon to announce largest layoffs in company history, source says
Amazon is preparing to announce sweeping job cuts beginning Tuesday, according to sources. The layoffs will amount to the largest cuts to Amazon’s corporate workforce in the company’s history, spanning almost every business, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the details are confidential. Amazon is expected to begin informing employees of the layoffs via email Tuesday morning, the person said. The company plans to lay off as many as 30,000 staffers across its corporate workforce. The company has conducted rolling layoffs across the company since 2022, which has resulted in more than 27,000 employees being let go. Job reductions have continued this year, though at a smaller scale.
11. Qualcomm announces AI chips to compete with AMD and Nvidia — stock soars 11%
Qualcomm announced Monday that it will release new artificial intelligence accelerator chips, marking new competition for Nvidia, which has so far dominated the market for AI semiconductors. The stock soared 11% following the news. The AI chips are a shift from Qualcomm, which has thus far focused on semiconductors for wireless connectivity and mobile devices, not massive data centres. Qualcomm said that both the AI200, which will go on sale in 2026, and the AI250, planned for 2027, can come in a system that fills up a full, liquid-cooled server rack. Qualcomm is matching Nvidia and AMD, which offer their graphics processing units, or GPUs, in full-rack systems that allow as many as 72 chips to act as one computer. Qualcomm said its chips are focusing on inference, or running AI models, instead of training, which is how labs such as OpenAI create new AI capabilities by processing terabytes of data.
12. XPENG boosts Middle East presence with cutting-edge Dubai spare parts warehouse
This major strategic investment is designed to set a new industry benchmark for customer service excellence in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), reinforcing XPENG’s commitment to building a comprehensive, efficient, and reliable service ecosystem that matches the innovation of its vehicles. The newly established spare parts warehouse in Dubai, developed in collaboration with JD Logistics, will serve as the central hub for after-sales parts and accessories in the region. Utilizing advanced, digitalized warehouse management systems, the facility ensures high efficiency and accuracy, offering a fast and reliable delivery experience. The market, valued at $2.2 billion in 2024, is expected to reach $16.3 billion by 2030, making it the fastest-growing EV market in the Middle East and Africa.
