Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday amid growing concerns about massive AI spending. Asia’s factory growth continued to expand in October, but growth slowed in major chip exporters, private surveys showed earlier on Monday.
Following the nearly 29% plunge of US chipmaker Intel on Friday, its worst one-day drop in decades, investors looked ahead to upcoming earnings from US technology company Apple, US chipmaker AMD and US data analytics company Palantir for further direction.
The US dollar struggled for direction ahead of this week’s US midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
The euro languished near a 17-month low after credit rating agency Fitch lowered France’s sovereign rating outlook from “stable” to “negative.”
Gold traded up nearly 1% at $3,904 an ounce after plummeting 3.7% in the previous session to hit a one-year low.
The precious metal slumped 6.8% last month, marking its worst October performance since 2008.
Brent crude futures fell nearly 3% toward $110 a barrel after climbing 13.6% in October.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa, US President Donald Trump has renewed his threat to strike Iran but claimed that US military action had destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities and the conflict would end soon.
In a report published on November 1, Radio Free Europe quoted Trump as saying that the United States still needed to deal with one or two Iranian targets.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Trump prefers a diplomatic resolution to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, raising hopes of a settlement and easing concerns about further energy supply disruptions.
Ongoing discussions involving Iranian officials and Qatari mediators have also raised hopes of a possible breakthrough that could ease supply concerns and improve the outlook for global energy markets.
China’s Shanghai Composite index surged 1.08% to 3,638.03 after state-owned banks reported their fastest quarterly profit growth in several years.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.42% to 23,393.32 as traders waited for earnings from Apple to provide some relief from AI capex concerns.
Investors shrugged off the results of a private survey that showed China’s factory activity expanded at a slower pace for the first time since July. According to the official gauge, manufacturing activity returned to contraction in October.
Japanese markets ended slightly lower following Wall Street’s technology sell-off on Friday. The Nikkei average dropped 0.33% to 63,081.66 while the broader Topix index settled 0.88% lower at 3,930.38.
