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Wall Street stocks shrugged off early losses on Wednesday as the US government started to shut down after Democrats and President Donald Trump failed to break a deadlock over spending.The prospect of services in the United States being closed pushed safe-haven gold to another record high over $3,895.While Wall Street’s indices slid at the opening bell, they recovered during the morning session, with the Dow showing a small gain.”There have been previous shutdowns, and typically these have had little effect on financial markets. But much depends on how long the shutdown lasts,” said David Morrison, analyst at Trade Nation.”Given the current intransigence on both sides, there’s a possibility that federal services could be curtailed for some time,” he said.US government operations began grinding to a halt at 12:01 am (0401 GMT) Wednesday after Republicans and Democrats failed to break an impasse in Congress.The closure will see non-essential operations halted, leaving hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily unpaid, and many social safety net benefit payments potentially disrupted.Analysts say negative impacts from closures can be reversed once the government reopens.”Investors have been willing to ignore a lot of inconvenient facts for the past several months or even years,” said Steve Sosnick, of Interactive Brokers. “So they might do the same again.”Investors were also digesting data from payroll firm ADP showing the US private sector lost 32,000 jobs in September, despite analysts’ expectations of employment growth.”This is another sign that the US labour market is losing steam,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform.”This one is worrying, it is the third time in four months that the private sector has shed jobs, which comes after a boom in service sector jobs growth post Covid,” she said.Analysts said the weaker jobs market cement expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice more this year, after lowering borrowing costs last month for the first time since December.Investors are concerned the US government shutdown could prevent the release Friday of the key non-farm payrolls report — a crucial data point for the Fed on rate decisions.The dollar remained under pressure on concerns over the shutdown as well as the prospect of more interest-rate cuts, which make the currency less attractive to investors.European markets were lifted by pharmaceutical shares after Pfizer was granted reprieve from Trump’s tariffs by agreeing to lower drug prices in the United States.Shares in British pharma giant AstraZeneca rose more than eight percent and GSK was up over six percent in London.In Asia, Tokyo’s stock market sank, while Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for holidays.- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 46,486.21 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP less than 0.1 percent at 6,691.94New York – Nasdaq Composite: FLAT at 22,660.24London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 9,446.43 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 7,966.95 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.0 percent at 24,113.62 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 44,550.85 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1730 from $1.1739 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3478 from $1.3448Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.14 yen from 147.86 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 87.03 pence from 87.29 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.9 percent at $61.84 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.9 percent at $65.47 per barrelburs-rl/jhb

Wall Street stocks slid on Wednesday as the US government started to shut down after Democrats and President Donald Trump failed to break a deadlock over spending.The prospect of services in the United States being closed pushed gold to another record high over $3,895.The blue-chip Dow gave up 0.2 percent in opening deals, the broader S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.6 percent.”There have been previous shutdowns, and typically these have had little effect on financial markets. But much depends on how long the shutdown lasts,” said David Morrison, analyst at Trade Nation.”Given the current intransigence on both sides, there’s a possibility that federal services could be curtailed for some time,” he said.Government operations began grinding to a halt at 12:01 am (0401 GMT) Wednesday after Republicans and Democrats failed to break an impasse in Congress.The closure will see non-essential operations halted, leaving hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily unpaid, and many social safety net benefit payments potentially disrupted.Analysts say negative impacts from closures can be reversed once the government reopens.”Investors have been willing to ignore a lot of inconvenient facts for the past several months or even years,” said Steve Sosnick, of Interactive Brokers. “So they might do the same again.”Investors were also digesting data from payroll firm ADP showing the US private sector lost 32,000 jobs in September, despite analysts’ expectations of employment growth. “This is another sign that the US labour market is losing steam,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform.”This one is worrying, it is the third time in four months that the private sector has shed jobs, which comes after a boom in service sector jobs growth post Covid,” she said.Analysts said the weaker jobs market cement expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice more this year after lowering borrowing costs last month for the first time since December.Investors are concerned the US government shutdown could prevent the release Friday of the key non-farm payrolls report — a crucial data point for the Fed on rate decisions.The dollar remained under pressure on concerns over the shutdown as well as the prospect of more interest rate cuts, which make the currency less attractive to investors. European markets were lifted by pharmaceutical shares after Pfizer was granted reprieve from Trump’s tariffs by agreeing to lower drug prices in the United States. Shares in British pharma giant AstraZeneca rose more than eight percent and GSK was up over four percent in London. In Asia, Tokyo’s stock market sank, while Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for holidays.- Key figures at around 1330 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 46,309.42 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.4 percent at 6,659.34New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 22,526.38London – FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 9,422.24 Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,952.67Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 24,029.38Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 44,550.85 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1755 from $1.1739 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3518 from $1.3448Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.67 yen from 147.86 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.97 pence from 87.29 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.9 percent at $61.80 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.9 percent at $65.43 per barrelburs-rl/lth

European stocks and gold prices rose, while Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday as the US government shut down after lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal.The prospect of services in the United States being closed pushed gold to another record high over $3,895. In Asia, Tokyo’s stock market sank, while Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for holidays.European markets were lifted by pharmaceutical shares after Pfizer was granted reprieve from President Donald Trump’s tariffs by agreeing to lower drug prices in the United States. Trump also announced plans to unveil a website to allow consumers to directly purchase some medications from manufacturers at discounted rates. While details remain thin, shares in British pharma giant AstraZeneca rose more than six percent and GSK was up almost three percent in London. The dollar remained under pressure on concerns caused by the US government beginning to shut down Wednesday. Democrats and Republicans failed to break a budget impasse, with talks hinging on health care funding.”Historically shutdowns have been bad for the US dollar, bad for US equities, and bad for bonds too,” said Emma Wall, chief investment strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown.”Should the shutdown remain unresolved it is likely to drive money outside of the US to markets with more certainty,” she added.While most shutdowns end after a short period, investors were concerned it could prevent the release Friday of the key non-farm payrolls report — a crucial guide for the Fed on rate decisions.The closure will see non-essential operations halted, leaving hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily unpaid, and many social safety net benefit payments potentially disrupted.Trump threatened to punish Democrats during any stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.”Shutdowns have delivered bouts of volatility, but the precedent has been that weakness tends to be short-lived,” noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.Futures on all three main indexes in New York were in the red.India’s rupee also made small inroads as the country’s central bank decided against cutting interest rates, despite inflation remaining low, but the unit continued to hover around record lows against the greenback.The South Asian currency has been hit by concerns over stalled trade talks with Trump that will soften painful tariffs, while Washington’s strict immigration measures have added to worries.The two sides remain in talks despite sharp disagreements over agricultural trade and New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.In company news, Australian mining titan BHP fell 2.5 percent following reports China had told steelmakers to temporarily stop buying seagoing, dollar-denominated cargoes from the firm, as part of a pricing dispute.- Key figures at around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 9,413.05 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,924.93Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 24,003.37Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 44,550.85 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayNew York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 46,397.89 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1729 from $1.1739 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3478 from $1.3448Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.10 yen from 147.86 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 87.01 pence from 87.29 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $62.05 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $65.70 per barrel

Gold hit a record high and Wall Street futures fell with the dollar Wednesday as the US government shut down after lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal, though most Asian and European markets edged up.The prospect of services in the United States being closed overshadowed optimism the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again.Democrats and Republicans remain at loggerheads on funding the government beyond Tuesday — the end of the fiscal year — with both sides blaming each other.Senate Republicans tried to rubber-stamp a House-passed temporary funding patch, but could not get the handful of Democratic votes required to send it to President Donald Trump to sign off.Democrats want to see hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending for low-income households restored, which the Trump administration is likely to eliminate.The closure will see non-essential operations halted, leaving hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily unpaid, and many social safety net benefit payments potentially disrupted.Trump threatened to punish Democrats during any stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.”So we’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected,” he said.”And they’re Democrats, they’re going to be Democrats,” the president told an event at the White House, adding that he would use the pause to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things”.Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X that “Democrats have officially voted to CLOSE the government”.Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement their party remained “ready to find a bipartisan path forward to reopen the government in a way that lowers costs and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis”.While most shutdowns end after a short period with little effect on markets, investors remain concerned, particularly as it could prevent the release Friday of the key non-farm payrolls report — a crucial guide for the Fed on rate decisions.Still, Pepperstone’s Michael Brown wrote: “I remain strongly of the view that (investors) should continue to look through the political noise as, in the grand scheme of things, the expiration of federal funding doesn’t make especially much difference.”Chiefly, this is because we all know that, sooner or later, a deal will be cut, the government will re-open, and any economic data that was delayed… will be released in due course.”Safe-haven gold hit a new peak of $3,875.53 on worries about the shutdown as well as a weaker dollar and bets on lower borrowing costs.Futures on all three main indexes in New York were in the red — with the Dow coming off a record.However, Asian equities held up, with Singapore, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei, Manila, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta all in positive territory along with London.Tokyo sank with Paris and Frankfurt while Sydney was barely moved.Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for holidays.The dollar retreated against its peers owing to concerns caused by the shutdown.India’s rupee also made small inroads as the country’s central bank decided against cutting interest rates, despite inflation remaining low, but the unit continued to hover around record lows against the greenback.The South Asian currency has been hit by concerns over stalled trade talks with Trump that will soften painful tariffs, while Washington’s strict immigration measures have added to worries.The two sides remain in talks despite sharp disagreements over agricultural trade and New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.In company news, Australian mining titan BHP fell 2.5 percent following reports China had told steelmakers to temporarily stop buying seagoing, dollar-denominated cargoes from the firm, as part of a pricing dispute.- Key figures at around 0715 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 44,550.85 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 9,366.15 Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1768 from $1.1739 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3468 from $1.3448Dollar/yen: UP at 147.21 yen from 147.86 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.37 pence from 87.29 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $62.59 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $66.28 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 46,397.89 (close)

Taiwan “will not agree” to making 50 percent of its semiconductors in the United States, the island’s lead tariff negotiator said Wednesday, as Washington pressures Taipei to produce more chips on US soil.Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said he had proposed to Taiwan a 50-50 split in chip production.”I want to clarify that this is the US’s idea. Our negotiation team has never made a 50-50 commitment to a chip split,” Cheng told reporters in Taipei.”Please be rest assured that we did not discuss this issue this time, and we will not agree to such a condition,” she said.Cheng spoke after returning from Washington where she said negotiations over US tariffs on Taiwanese shipments “made some progress”.Taiwan is struggling to finalise a tariff deal with Washington, after President Donald Trump’s administration imposed a temporary 20 percent levy that has alarmed the island’s manufacturers.Trump has also threatened to put a “fairly substantial tariff” on semiconductors coming into the country. Soaring demand for AI-related technology has fuelled Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States — and put it in Trump’s crosshairs.More than 70 percent of the island’s exports to the United States are information and communications technology, which includes chips, the cabinet said in a statement Wednesday.In a bid to avoid the tariffs, Taipei has pledged to increase investment in the United States, buy more of its energy and increase its own defence spending to more than three percent of gross domestic product.Taiwan produces more than half of the world’s semiconductors and nearly all of the high-end ones.The concentration of chip manufacturing in Taiwan has long been seen as a “silicon shield” protecting it from an invasion or blockade by China, which claims it as part of its territory — and an incentive for the United States to defend it.In an interview with NewsNation broadcast over the weekend, Lutnick said having 50 percent of Taiwan’s chip production in the United States would ensure “we have the capacity to do what we need to do if we need to do it”.”That has been the conversation we’ve had with Taiwan, that you have to understand that it’s vital for you to have us produce 50 percent,” he said. “Our goal is to get to 40 percent market share, and maybe 50 percent market share, of producing the chips and the wafers, you know the semiconductors we need for American consumption, that’s our objective.”

Gold hit a record high and Wall Street futures fell Wednesday as the US government went into shutdown after lawmakers in Washington failed to reach a deal to keep it funded, though most Asia markets held gains.The prospect of federal services being closed overshadowed optimism the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again, with the crisis possibly causing the postponement of key data used by the bank to decide on policy.Democrats and Republicans have been unable to bridge their differences on funding the government beyond Tuesday — the end of the fiscal year — with both sides blaming each other.Senate Republicans tried to rubber-stamp a House-passed temporary funding patch — but could not get the handful of Democratic votes required to send it to Donald Trump to sign off.Democrats want to see hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending for low-income households restored, which the Trump administration is likely to eliminate.”We’ll probably have a shutdown,” the Republican president told reporters before the vote. The closure will see non-essential operations grind to a halt, leaving hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily without pay, and payment of many social safety net benefits potentially disrupted.Trump threatened to punish Democrats and their voters during any stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.”So we’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected,” he said”And they’re Democrats, they’re going to be Democrats,” he told an event at the White House, adding that he would use the pause to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things”.While most shutdowns end after a short period with little effect on markets, investors remain concerned, particularly as it could prevent the release Friday of the key non-farm payrolls report — a crucial guide for the Fed on rate decisions.”Without (the report), the Fed would be forced to navigate October’s decision by starlight rather than compass, relying on smaller surveys and anecdotal signals,” wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The October cut looks assured… but beyond that, the path becomes guesswork. Traders hate nothing more than an information vacuum. In its absence, every tick of secondary data looms larger than it should, amplifying volatility.”Gold, a go-to in times of turmoil and uncertainty, hit a new peak of $3,875.53 amid worries about the impact of the shutdown as well as a weaker dollar and bets on lower borrowing costs.Futures on all three main indexes in New York were in the red — with the Dow coming off a record.However, Asian equities held up, with Singapore, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei, Manila, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta all up.Tokyo and Sydney were the only losers.Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for holidays.In company news, Australian mining titan BHP fell around 1.8 percent following reports that China’s state-run iron ore buyer told steelmakers to temporarily stop buying seagoing, dollar-denominated cargoes from the firm, as part of a pricing dispute.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the move “disappointing”.- Key figures at around 0415 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 44,498.06Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1741 from $1.1739 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3444 from $1.3448Dollar/yen: UP at 147.95 yen from 147.86 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.33 pence from 87.29 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $62.52 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $66.20 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 46,397.89 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 9,350.43 (close)

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared India’s “late entry” into the global semiconductor race, he pinned hopes on pioneers such as Vellayan Subbiah to create a chip innovation hub.The chairman of CG Power, who oversees a newly commissioned semiconductor facility in western India, is seen as one of the early domestic champions of this strategic sector in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.”There has been more alignment between the government, policymakers, and business than I’ve ever seen in my working history,” Subbiah, 56, told AFP.”There’s an understanding of where India needs to go, and the importance of having our own manufacturing.”As US President Donald Trump shakes global trade with tariffs and hard-nosed transactionalism, Modi has doubled down on self-reliance in critical technologies.New Delhi, which flagged its push in 2021, has this year approved 10 semiconductor projects worth about $18 billion in total, including two 3-nanometre design plants, among the most advanced.Commercial production is slated to begin by the end of the year, with the market forecast to jump from $38 billion in 2023 to nearly $100 billion by 2030.Subbiah, whose CG Power is one of India’s leading conglomerates, predicts “over $100 billion, if not more”, will flow into the industry across the value chain in the next five to seven years.He said “symbiotic” public-private partnerships were “very exciting”.-‘Ability to accelerate’-Chips are viewed as key to growth and a source of geopolitical clout.India says it wants to build a “complete ecosystem”, and break the global supply chain dominance by a few regions.The government has courted homegrown giants such as Tata, alongside foreign players like Micron, to push design, manufacturing and packaging in joint ventures.CG Semi, a joint venture with CG Power, plans to invest nearly $900 million in two assembly and test plants, as well as to push its design company.”We are looking to design chips, so that we can own the (intellectual property) too — which is very important for India,” said Subbiah, a civil engineer by training with an MBA from the University of Michigan.Still, critics say India is decades late starting, and remains far behind chip leaders in Taiwan, the Netherlands, Japan and China.”First we have to recognise there is a gap,” Subbiah said, noting Taiwan’s TSMC has a 35-year head start. But he insists India’s scale and talent pool — the world’s most populous nation with 1.4 billion people — gives it “a significant ability to accelerate” production.- ‘More complicated’-Modi this month said that “20 percent of the global talent in semiconductor design comes from India”.But wooing talent who sought opportunities abroad back to India remains a challenge, even after Trump’s restrictions on the H-1B skilled worker visa programme, heavily used by Indians.India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, still struggles with bureaucratic inertia and a lack of cutting-edge opportunities.Subbiah acknowledged that his own venture employs about 75 expatriates.”That’s not the way we want to grow. We want to grow with Indians,” he said, calling for policies to lure back overseas talent. “How do we bring these people back?”But the path is tougher than in 2021, when New Delhi first pushed for chip self-sufficiency.While India has secured semiconductor and AI investment pledges from partners such as Japan — which pledged $68 billion in August — Trump is expected to be less willing than past US leaders to back ventures that build Indian capacity.”The geopolitical situation overall has become more complicated,” Subbiah said.Yet he remains upbeat for the long run.”There are only going to be two really low-cost ecosystems in the world: one is China, and the other is going to be India,” he said.”You’re going to see the centre of gravity move towards these ecosystems, if you start thinking about a 25-30 year vision”. 

Asian markets stuttered, US futures fell and gold hovered near record highs Wednesday after lawmakers in Washington failed to reach a deal to avert a government shutdown.The prospect of federal services being closed overshadowed optimism the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again, with the crisis possibly causing the postponement of key data used by the bank to decide on policy.Democrats and Republicans have been unable to bridge their differences on funding the government beyond Tuesday — the end of the fiscal year — with both sides blaming each other.Senate Republicans tried to rubber-stamp a House-passed temporary funding patch — but could not get the handful of Democratic votes required to send it to President Donald Trump’s desk.Democrats want to see hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending for low-income households restored, which the Trump administration is likely to eliminate.”We’ll probably have a shutdown,” the Republican president told reporters before the vote. Such a scenario would see non-essential operations grind to a halt, leaving hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily without pay, and payment of many social safety net benefits potentially disrupted.Trump threatened to punish Democrats and their voters during any stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.”So we’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected,” he said”And they’re Democrats, they’re going to be Democrats,” he told an event at the White House, adding that he would use the pause to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things”.While most shutdowns end after a short period with little effect on markets, investors remain concerned, particularly as it could prevent the release Friday of the key non-farm payrolls report — a crucial guide for the Fed on rate decisions.”Without (the report), the Fed would be forced to navigate October’s decision by starlight rather than compass, relying on smaller surveys and anecdotal signals,” wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The October cut looks assured… but beyond that, the path becomes guesswork. Traders hate nothing more than an information vacuum. In its absence, every tick of secondary data looms larger than it should, amplifying volatility.”Futures on all three main indexes in New York were in the red — with the Dow coming off a record — and Asian equities were mixed.Tokyo, Sydney and Manila fell, while Singapore, Seoul and Taipei rose.Gold, a go-to in times of turmoil and uncertainty, was hovering just below its record high of $3,871.72 owing to a weaker dollar, bets on lower borrowing costs and worries about the impact of the shutdown.In company news, Australian mining titan BHP fell more than one percent following reports that China’s state-run iron ore buyer told steelmakers to temporarily stop buying seagoing, dollar-denominated cargoes from the firm, as part of a pricing dispute.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the move “disappointing”.- Key figures at around 0215 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 44,480.02Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1736 from $1.1739 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3439 from $1.3448Dollar/yen: UP at 148.00 yen from 147.86 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.33 pence from 87.29 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $62.50 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $66.18 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 46,397.89 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 9,350.43 (close)

South Korea recorded its highest ever semiconductor exports in September, official data showed Wednesday, despite growing pressure from US tariffs and other restrictions on the crucial sector.Seoul logged more than $16.6 billion in exports of semiconductors last month, up by more than a fifth from September 2024, according to data from the country’s industry ministry.The surge was driven by high demand for high-value memory such as HBM chips used in AI servers, the industry ministry said.Cars, the country’s other key export, also performed strongly, with auto shipments climbing to $6.4 billion, the highest ever recorded for the month of September.Driven by these strong figures, overall exports reached $65.9 billion, — the highest in more than 42 months.Exports rose to all major regions except the United States, which fell 1.4 percent from a year earlier to $10.27 billion, weighed down by tariffs on steel, automobiles and machinery.Asia’s fourth-largest economy was initially hit with a 25 percent across-the-board tariff by the United States but managed to secure a last-minute agreement for a reduced 15 percent rate.South Korea is one of Washington’s biggest trade partners, with automobiles leading the pack in exports.The country has yet to secure a deal, with auto tariffs reduced from 25 to 15 percent but not yet in effect, unlike in neighbouring Japan.Tariffs of 50 percent also remain in place on some key exports such as steel and aluminium.The new record is a “valuable achievement made by our companies, who swiftly diversified their export markets despite the unfavourable conditions of weakened exports to the US caused by tariff measures,” industry minister Kim Jung-kwan said in a statement.”Uncertainty surrounding our exports remains high due to ongoing US tariff negotiations, and we must remain vigilant and respond swiftly,” said Kim. He added that “the government will strengthen policy support to ensure that our companies can maintain export competitiveness.”

Nike reported a surprise increase in quarterly sales Tuesday, pointing to progress on a turnaround as it forecast a bigger cost hit from US tariffs.Shares of the sports giant jumped in after hours-trading as Nike executives said their strategic pivot — branded as “Win Now” — was beginning to see greater success.”I’m encouraged by the momentum we generated in the quarter, but progress will not be linear as dimensions of our business recover on different timelines,” said Chief Financial Officer Matthew Friend.Profits were $727 million in Nike’s first quarter of fiscal 2026, down 31 percent from the year-ago level. Revenues inched one percent higher to $11.7 billion.Sales rose in every region except Greater China.The results topped analyst estimates in both earnings and revenues. But Friend lifted the company’s estimate of the total cost from US tariffs under President Donald Trump’s administration to an annual hit of $1.5 billion from the prior $1 billion.Friend also lowered the forecast for profit margins in the coming quarter.The sports giant in recent years has struggled with an oversupply of merchandise that fell flat with consumers, necessitating heavy promotions and raising doubts about innovation.Nike’s heavy emphasis on direct selling to consumers under prior management meant scaling back relationships with wholesalers that company leaders are now working to rebuild.In September 2024, Nike announced the return of company veteran Elliot Hill as CEO. Hill said Tuesday the company was working to deepen promotional efforts by sport and through the company’s brands of Jordan and Converse, in addition to namesake Nike.Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail described the results as a partial victory.”All in all, we think Nike is making progress. But there is a lot more work to be done in resetting the brand at a macro level and to gain ground among different pockets and tribes of consumers that now form the sportswear market,” Saunders said in a note.Shares of Nike rose 3.6 percent in after-hours trading.