Shares gained in Japan and Australia after the S&P 500 closed 0.6% higher Wednesday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 advanced 1.2%. An index of US-listed Chinese stocks rose 0.9% as investors prepared for the reopening of mainland Chinese markets after the Golden Week break. The yen was little changed after touching its weakest level against the dollar since February, raising speculation about official intervention.
Gold fell early Thursday, but still traded above $4,000, as traders took some profit after a scorching rally and on reduced demand for haven assets. Oil too retreated after President Donald Trump said Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first phase of a peace plan. US equity-index futures rose 0.1%.
The US stock gains suggest traders are looking past worries of a potential bubble in high-profile tech names that have driven the rally, instead focusing on corporate resilience and the restart of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. The optimism that’s powered equities since their April slump now faces a key test as earnings season begins.
“With price-to-earnings ratios for today’s tech giants still well below those of the tech firms at the peak of the dotcom bubble, we think the bull market remains intact,” said Mark Haefele at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Nvidia Corp. led the advance in US mega-caps as chief Jensen Huang said demand for Blackwell chips is “really, really” high.Attention in Asia is firmly on China’s reopening after the Golden Week break, with investors weighing whether renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence can outweigh signs of soft consumer spending.Holiday data showed households remained cautious. Spending was restrained, with cheaper road trips replacing flights and box office sales missing expectations.
The weakness in consumption comes alongside an artificial intelligence frenzy that sent global tech stocks to fresh highs while China was shut, fueled by firms touting OpenAI ties.
The CSI 300 Index has climbed for five straight months through September, its longest winning streak since 2017, led by enthusiasm over chip stocks after DeepSeek’s unveiling of an updated AI model and Huawei Technologies Co.’s plan to double output of its top AI chips. The gauge is up 18% this year.
In geopolitical news, Trump said both Israel and Hamas had agreed to terms for the release of all hostages held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza, a major breakthrough in the US-brokered negotiations to end their two-year war.
With a slim economic calendar amid the US government shutdown, investors on Wednesday scoured the minutes of the latest Fed meeting, with officials showing a willingness to lower rates further this year, but many expressing caution driven by concerns over inflation. Bloomberg’s dollar index rose to the highest level since August.
The Fed is clearly not on a preset path and data dependency is now more necessary than before, especially as officials attempt to calibrate between conflicting goals, said Luis Alvarado at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
“We still expect two more quarter-point rate cuts by the end of this year, and two more next year,” he noted.
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