Finance Morning | October 6, 2026 — Global Stocks Mostly Higher; Nikkei Tops 70,000; Oil Falls

📊 Today's Asian Markets

Note: Mainland China markets were closed for the National Day holiday; A-share figures reflect the last close before the holiday.

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Global Stocks Mostly Higher; Nikkei Tops 70,000 and Oil Slips

Source: Yahoo Finance (AP)

US stocks closed broadly higher overnight. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, closing near its previous record high; the Dow added 0.2%; and the Nasdaq gained 1.1% to a record closing high. Technology giants led the way, with Nvidia up 2.1% and Broadcom also up 2.1%. Helped by that, Asian and European shares mostly advanced on Tuesday and US futures rose.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.1% to 70,683.98, climbing above the 70,000 mark this week for the first time since early July. South Korea's KOSPI lost 0.9% to 6,941.39, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1% to 24,280.56, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 8,735.70, Taiwan's weighted index edged up 0.2% and India's Sensex added 0.7%. Technology shares in Japan and South Korea were volatile: Japanese chip-testing equipment maker Advantest rose 3.9%, while OpenAI backer SoftBank Group fell 3.1% after its CEO Masayoshi Son warned of potential risks tied to artificial intelligence. Markets in mainland China were closed for the National Day holiday.

In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to 10,584.38, France's CAC 40 rose 0.8% to 7,892.78 and Germany's DAX rose 0.8% to 25,465.56; S&P 500 and Dow futures were up 0.3% and 0.6% respectively. Oil prices fell more than 1%: Brent crude lost 1.3% to $99.07 a barrel, back below $100, while benchmark US crude fell 1.7% to $87.91 a barrel. Analysts said upward pressure on oil has eased as more crude moves through the Strait of Hormuz and flows through Saudi Arabia's key East-West pipeline recover, though US-Iran tensions remain high. In bonds, the 10-year US Treasury yield eased to about 5.27%, after briefly topping 5.35%, its highest since 2002.

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World Bank Raises East Asia-Pacific 2026 Growth Forecast to 4.5%

Source: Eastmoney

The World Bank Group released its update on East Asia and the Pacific on Tuesday, raising its 2026 growth forecast for the region to 4.5%, 0.3 percentage points above its April projection. It said the upgrade largely reflected strong high-tech investment and exports in countries tied to the AI value chain, and that the drag from high energy prices was less severe than expected thanks to market forces, greater use of renewables, inventory drawdowns and consumer subsidies.

Driven by high-tech manufacturing and exports, several economies in the region grew faster this year than previously expected. Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand had their 2026 growth forecasts raised by 1.1, 0.7 and 0.7 percentage points respectively, while Pacific island nations — vulnerable to high energy prices and with limited buffers against external shocks — had their forecast cut by 0.5 percentage points. The report projects China's economy to grow 4.5% this year, 0.3 percentage points above the April forecast.

Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, the World Bank's vice president for East Asia and the Pacific, said the region's deep integration with global value chains and economic dynamism has let it benefit from the surge in global AI-related activity; the challenge now is to turn the region's edge in producing AI-related goods into broad AI adoption that lifts productivity and creates more and better jobs. The report recommends bold action to spur AI adoption, adapting AI locally to create better jobs, and leveraging government's key role as both an AI user and regulator.

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Zhipu Shares Surge in Hong Kong as GLM-5.3 Lands on Amazon Bedrock

Source: Sina Finance

Zhipu shares surged after the open in Hong Kong on October 6. At the time of writing they were quoted at HK$700.5 apiece, up more than 5%, with turnover of HK$880 million.

The move followed an announcement that Amazon Bedrock, the large-model platform under Amazon Web Services (AWS), has added Zhipu's GLM-5.3, with AWS sharing revenue with Zhipu based on model usage. Besides AWS, Zhipu has recently struck revenue-sharing deals with several overseas cloud providers. Zhipu has said it plans to add a scalable commercial path through revenue sharing on overseas cloud platforms. Domestically, Zhipu has signed similar deals with leading cloud providers including Alibaba Cloud's Bailian platform, while Huawei Cloud has listed GLM-5.3 and reached intent on a similar partnership — forming a revenue-sharing system spanning China and overseas.

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Gold Retreats; Shenzhen's Shuibei Gold Market Booms

Source: 21st Century Business Herald

"Falling gold prices plus the holiday effect have quickly lifted sentiment — foot traffic these past few days is nearly three to four times normal," said Manager Huang, who has run a gold jewelry business in Shenzhen's Shuibei district for years, as he served customers and watched the crowds.

At the time of writing, spot London gold was trading narrowly above the $4,120-per-ounce mark, having fallen more than $200 from its intraday high on September 22. As of October 6, the per-gram price of gold jewelry from several domestic brands had slipped to around 1,250 yuan, and Shuibei's per-gram price had fallen to about 1,061 yuan.

Huang said purchases of gold by shoppers had risen noticeably since the Mid-Autumn Festival. "Compared with late September, sales in the first few days of October were up about 20% year on year, mainly because of the drop in gold prices. I believe business in October will be much better."

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Hong Kong Stocks Extend Gains; Hang Seng Up 1% as AI, Biotech and Consumer Electronics Shine

Source: Sina Finance

Hong Kong stocks continued to climb. The Hang Seng Index rose 1.00% and the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.94%, a marked acceleration from the previous session's +0.28%.

Three themes stood out. In AI, Zhipu led with a 7.59% gain and Baidu rose 3.30%. In innovative drugs, WuXi Biologics gained 4.51% and Sino Biopharmaceutical 4.32%. In consumer electronics, BYD Electronic rose 5.01% and Sunny Optical 3.47%. The rally in the WuXi group echoed the nine recommendations WuXi AppTec received in October's top-picks list.

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Nikkei 225 Climbs Back Above 70,000 After About Three Months

Source: Kyodo News

Tokyo's Nikkei index continued to rise on October 6, closing at 70,683.98 — back above the 70,000 mark for the first time in about three months, Kyodo News reported. The index gained 737.12 points, or 1.05%, from the previous session, with buying dominating on the back of overnight US gains and falling oil prices.

The broader TOPIX index rose 38.34 points, or 0.92%, to 4,183.56, with full-day volume of 2.137 billion shares. After overnight US stocks rose broadly, led by high-tech names, Tokyo followed suit, with semiconductor testing equipment giant Advantest and electronic components maker TDK rising and lifting the market. As supply-side concerns eased, US crude futures declined, drawing buying into a range of sectors.

In the currency market the yen weakened and the dollar strengthened, fueling expectations of improved earnings for exporters such as automakers, whose shares were in demand. Still, because the Nikkei had also briefly topped 70,000 during the previous session, some investors took profits, and the index traded below the prior close early in the day.

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Korean Stocks Turn Lower; Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Slip

Source: National Business Daily

Japanese and Korean markets opened higher on October 6. South Korea's KOSPI opened up 0.58% at 7,044.67, while Japan's Nikkei 225 opened 0.01% higher at 69,954.61. The KOSPI then dived into negative territory; at the time of writing it was down 0.16%, with Samsung Electronics off 0.18% and SK Hynix down 1.36%.

Overnight in the US, the three main indexes closed higher, with the Nasdaq up 1.05% to a record close. Most large-cap tech names rose: SpaceX gained more than 7% and Nvidia rose more than 2% to a record close with a market value near $5.76 trillion. Chip stocks pulled back in part, optical-communications names were mixed, and memory-chip shares diverged, with Western Digital up more than 6% and Seagate up more than 4%, while SanDisk and SK Hynix fell.

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French Debt Worries Drag Down Eurozone Investor Confidence in October

Source: Xinhua Finance

A report released on October 5 by German research institute Sentix showed that the eurozone investor confidence index fell to 2.7 in October from 5.1 in September, a drop of 2.4 points. Among components, the current-situation index stood at -3.3, unchanged from the prior month, while the expectations index fell to 8.8 from 13.8, down 5 points — the main drag on overall confidence.

Sentix noted that the market's focus is shifting toward the French economy, especially the sharp rise in French government bond yields. It said the French 10-year yield rose about 70 basis points over the month, with its spread over German bunds widening markedly. Compared with other regions, the eurozone economy is more vulnerable to rising interest rates, and the resulting economic pressure is unlikely to ease in the near term.

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White House Moves to Ease the Cost of Diesel Use

Source: Xinhua Finance

A notice posted on the White House website on October 5 showed that US President Donald Trump signed a pending executive order that day aimed at temporarily easing the burden of diesel use in transportation. The order directs the Treasury Secretary to determine within five days whether current law authorizes delaying the excise tax owed on dyed diesel fuel used for road transportation; if such authority exists, the Secretary should postpone, without penalty, taxpayers' payment of the relevant excise tax between October 5 and December 31.

Under US rules, unlike regular diesel, dyed diesel may only be supplied for farm machinery, construction equipment, generators and other heavy machinery, and may not be used for road transportation. Because dyed diesel is exempt from federal and local excise taxes, its retail price is typically $0.3 to $0.5 per liter lower than regular diesel. Recently, as US retail diesel prices hit record highs, and with the busy farming season and midterm elections approaching, Texas, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina have all introduced temporary measures lifting restrictions on dyed diesel use or exempting state-level diesel excise taxes. Analysts said that with the midterm elections in early November approaching, lowering diesel prices has become an important policy goal for the Trump administration; the planned measures, however, will not directly increase total diesel supply and will do limited to ease the current supply tightness.

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London Stocks Rise; FTSE 100 Gains 0.34%

Source: Xinhua Finance

Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 index of 100 leading shares closed at 10,497.94 on October 5, up 35.99 points, or 0.34%, from the previous session. Europe's three main indexes were mixed that day.

Among London constituents, the top five gainers were Standard Chartered, up 2.56%; Ithaca Energy, up 2.18%; Melten Energy & Metals, up 2.10%; Anglo American, up 2.03%; and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, up 1.92%. The five biggest fallers were 3i Group, down 5.60%; Barratt Developments, down 2.92%; Balfour Beatty, down 2.83%; Halma, down 2.00%; and International Consolidated Airlines Group, down 1.63%.

Elsewhere in Europe, France's CAC 40 closed at 7,834.10, down 63.09 points, or 0.80%, while Germany's DAX closed at 25,254.21, up 23.01 points, or 0.09%.

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