Author: Bao Yilong, Wall Street News
The dual impact of France's financial difficulties and the sudden change in Spain's political situation put pressure on risk appetite, and the euro fell to a 17-month low against the dollar. S&P 500 futures were little changed. The Nasdaq 100 is just below last week's all-time high.
On Monday, the Nikkei Index rose 2.4%, and Japan's Topix Index strengthened 1.3% simultaneously. The three major Hong Kong stock indexes gradually recovered their lost ground after opening lower. The AI computing hardware industry chain became the most distinctive structural main line of the day. The PCB and optical communications sectors led the gains, and traditional sectors such as real estate continued to be under pressure.
At the same time, the results of the first round of the Brazilian election came out, and the right-wing senator unexpectedly led the current President Lula. Brazilian assets jumped. Brazilian stock index futures rose by 8.3%, and the Brazilian real rose by 4.6%.
Before the U.S. stock market opens, the specific asset performance is as follows:
S&P 500 futures fell 0.01% to 7776.5 points, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.12% to 31023.75 points, and Dow futures rose 0.04% to 51498 points.
In terms of popular stocks, industrial software company PTC rose more than 34% before the market opened. Schneider Electric confirmed its acquisition of PTC for US$22.6 billion. TSMC rose nearly 2% before the market opened, saying it is exploring cooperation with Musk's Terafab wafer fab. Chinese concept stock NIO rose more than 1% before the market opened. The National Day self-driving peak drove its single-day battery swap service volume to a record high.
In terms of precious metals, spot gold is now up 0.36% at $4,157.62 per ounce, and spot silver is up 2.08% at $61.71 per ounce.
In terms of foreign exchange, the U.S. dollar index rose 0.29% to 102.23, the euro fell 0.41% to 1.1206 against the U.S. dollar, the U.S. dollar rose 0.21% to 158.19 against the Japanese yen, the pound fell 0.10% to 1.3226 against the U.S. dollar, and the Australian dollar rose 0.05% to 0.6960.
In terms of international oil prices, Brent crude oil futures rose 0.25% to US$102.51/barrel, while U.S. oil futures fell 1.2% to US$90.02/barrel.
Euro falls to 17-month low as risks rise in Europe
The situation in Europe has become the core variable for the opening of the market this week.
Wall Street News mentioned that the policy deadlock in France continues to ferment, and high-risk bonds are sold off; Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an early election due to large-scale social protests caused by domestic housing problems, and the market is worried about the further spread of fiscal pressure in the euro zone.
The euro fell 0.5% to 1.1204 against the dollar, its lowest level since May 2025. The U.S. dollar index strengthened slightly by 0.1%.
XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks said:
Europe is losing favor with investors, and bond market vigilantes are closely watching developments in the euro zone. The question now is, will Spain be next?
The performance of European stock markets was divided. The Stoxx 600 index fell after rising, with an increase of 0.14%. However, the French CAC 40 became the weakest index in Europe, falling by more than 1% during the day.
S&P 500 futures fell nearly 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were slightly lower in premarket after hitting a record high on Friday.
Asia-Pacific technology stocks generally rose as pressure to raise interest rates eased
Asia-Pacific stock markets were supported by another logical thread - the number of new jobs in the United States in September was lower than expected, wage growth slowed, and the money market immediately lowered the probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates in October to less than 25%. The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose 1.2%, following Friday's gains in U.S. stocks.
The Japanese market was among the top gainers, with the Nikkei 225 index rising by more than 2.5% during the session, once returning to above 70,000 points. Technology stocks performed particularly well.
China's Taiwan Weighted Index once rose 2.7% to 49770.66 points, and TSMC rose 3% intraday, setting a new historical high. The markets in South Korea and mainland China were closed due to holidays and did not participate in this round of market activity.
Shane Oliver, chief economist and head of investment strategy at AMP Ltd., said in a research report that September's employment data was "tepid" and "in line with the 'Goldilocks' scenario, further strengthening the market's expectations that the Federal Reserve will not be in a hurry to raise interest rates again this month."
PCB sector leads the gains, AI computing power chain resonates with volume and price
In terms of Hong Kong stocks, the Hang Seng Index closed up 0.28% at 24040.34 points on Monday, and the Hang Seng Technology Index rose 0.62% at 4183.68 points. Kingboard Laminated Board rose nearly 12% in a single day, Jingwang Electronics H shares rose more than 9%, Zhipu rose 6.2%, leading the gains in Hang Seng Technology components; in the Hong Kong optical communications sector, Comba Communications surged more than 25%.
The PCB sector became the most eye-catching main line that day: Kingboard Laminated Board rose 11.94% to HK$55.3, with a turnover of HK$3.209 billion; Kingboard Group rose 8.36%; Jingwang Electronics H shares rose more than 9%, Guanghe Technology H shares rose more than 6%, and Shenghong Technology H shares rose more than 5%.
Price increase signals continue to run through the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. On the upstream side, Kingboard Laminated Board has issued seven rounds of price increase notices this year. Nanya Plastics has raised its product prices by 20% since September; fiberglass leader China Jushi raised prices for electronic cloth thick cloth and thin cloth by 15% and 20% respectively in September; Jiangxi Hongruixing Technology announced a 10% increase in the ex-factory price of copper clad laminates.
Large-model enterprise Zhipu rose 6.2% that day to close at HK$665, leading the gains in Hang Seng Technology constituent stocks and becoming an important highlight at the AI software level. Goldman Sachs raised the rating of Zhipu from "neutral" to "buy" and set the target price at HK$1,560. It believes that its path to realization is clearer and the current valuation is attractive.
Optical communications and semiconductor sectors strengthened simultaneously. Comba Communications rose more than 25%, Cambridge Technology rose more than 10%, Montage Technology rose more than 6%, Zhongji InnoLight rose more than 3%, and SMIC rose more than 1%. Lenovo Group rose 4.7%. Lyon reiterated that it is the preferred Chinese technology stock. Its AI business is growing rapidly and there are abundant orders, with a turnover of HK$1.707 billion.
Saudi Arabia's east-west oil pipeline is rumored to have been attacked again, oil prices fell after confirming normal operations
The safety status of Saudi Arabia's core cross-border oil pipeline experienced an "own-go" shock in just a few minutes, reflecting the current high sensitivity of geopolitical risks in the Middle East to global oil prices.
According to Bloomberg sources, the Saudi East-West oil pipeline is currently operating normally. Previous reports that the pipeline has been suspended due to another attack have not been confirmed.
After the news was announced, the price of Brent crude oil fell back to 0.36%, to US$102.62/barrel. It had previously risen sharply to US$103.08/barrel due to rumors of outage, and the intraday increase once expanded to more than 1.2%.
The CEO of Saudi Aramco publicly stated on the same day that the company continues to export through Yanbu, Sidi Kril and Port Said, and emphasized that there is sufficient inventory in the system to supply customers. He also warned that without the east-west oil pipeline, Brent crude oil prices could hit US$200 per barrel, highlighting the strategic significance of the pipeline to global supply stability.
Gold rebounded slightly by 0.46% to $4,158 an ounce, after the metal had just ended its biggest weekly decline since June.
Copper futures on the London Metal Exchange once rose 0.9%, and then the increase fell back to 0.6%. Copper prices posted their largest weekly decline since March on Friday. Tin prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.2%, while aluminum prices were flat.
The threat of U.S. tariffs has led traders to dump hundreds of thousands of tons of metal into the United States, potentially squeezing supplies elsewhere. At the same time, consumer demand for data centers and renewable energy has boosted prices. Analysts believe that China is still in the Golden Week holiday, which has inhibited the liquidity of the metal market to a certain extent.