Economy, AI, Finance & markets
294 storiesNvidia sets second straight record close; Korean AI supply chain shares rally
Nvidia closed 2.1% higher at $238.90 on October 5 in New York, a second consecutive record close, lifting its market capitalisation to about $5.76 trillion and putting the first $6 trillion valuation within reach. Korean outlets also report…
Kospi slips below 7,000 after holiday open; Kosdaq gains about 2%
South Korea's Kospi opened at 7,044.67 on Oct. 6, up 40.93 points (0.58%), the first session after the Gaecheonjeol holiday, and the Kosdaq opened at 902.16, up 8.87 points (0.99%). The Kospi gave back the gain within minutes and was at 6,9…
Nasdaq closes at record high as AI stocks rally despite rising Treasury yields
US stocks rose on October 5 local time, with the Nasdaq Composite closing at a record high as technology and AI-related shares gained despite rising Treasury yields. Yonhap reported the Dow rose 0.18% to 51,267.90 and the S&P 500 gained 0.6…
Hong Kong stocks open higher; Hang Seng up 1%, Alibaba gains about 2.9%
Hong Kong shares opened higher on 6 October, with the Hang Seng Index up 1% and the Hang Seng Tech Index up 1.02%, according to CLS, Yicai and 36Kr. Alibaba rose about 2.9% at the open, while Baidu and Meituan gained nearly 2%, 36Kr reporte…
Hong Kong stocks open marginally lower; Hang Seng slips 0.04%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened 0.04% lower on 5 October 2026, while the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.47%. Yicai and Jiemian both reported that Meituan dropped more than 1% at the open, and 36Kr said home-appliance and software-services s…
Korean court suspends market-cap delisting decisions; exchange halts two more exits
Seoul Southern District Court Civil Division 51 granted injunctions on Oct 2 suspending the Korea Exchange's delisting decisions against KOSPI-listed Joo Yeon Tech and KOSDAQ-listed KM Pharma until a main ruling. The court questioned the 45…
Nikkei average recovers 70,000 level for first time in about three months
Tokyo's Nikkei average rose above 70,000 during trading on 5 October, the first time in about three months, as buying concentrated on semiconductor and AI-related shares. Nikkei reported the morning close at 70,037.61, up 1,728.15 points or…
Abu Dhabi's AI Everything opens with 400 exhibitors alongside Global Food Week
AI Everything 2026 opened on 6 October at the ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi and runs to 7 October, with WAM reporting 400 exhibitors and 180 speakers, and Economy Middle East reporting more than 400 companies, 200-plus investors managing about $10…
Ark's Cathie Wood Repeats $1.5 Million Bitcoin Forecast for 2030
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood has reiterated a forecast that bitcoin will reach $1.5 million by 2030, about 1665% above the roughly $85,000 level where the reports say it was trading. Wood points to institutional inflows, a more favourable US …
S&P 500 closes above 7,800 for first time; Nasdaq also at record
New York's three main indices closed higher on Oct 6, with the S&P 500 ending above 7,800 for the first time at 7,818.93 and the Nasdaq Composite at a record 27,599.79. Korean outlets attributed the gains to third-quarter earnings expectati…
Trump announces “Super Intelligence Force” AI task force led by Jay Clayton
President Donald Trump announced Sunday the creation of a “Super Intelligence Force,” a federal task force he said will coordinate government efforts to keep the United States leading in artificial intelligence, which he has directed the fe…
US stocks close higher; Nasdaq sets record close with 1.05% gain
On Oct 5 local time, the three main US stock indices closed higher, with the Nasdaq up 1.05% to a record close, the Dow up 0.18% and the S&P 500 up 0.67%. Large technology shares rose broadly, and cryptocurrencies, oil and gas and pharmaceu…
Japan August real wages rise 1.5% year on year, eighth straight monthly gain
Japan's real wages rose 1.5% in August from a year earlier, the eighth consecutive monthly increase and the first streak of that length in about 10 years, the health ministry's preliminary monthly labour survey showed. Nominal total cash ea…
OpenAI CEO Altman says some AI risks must be accepted, drawing line with Anthropic
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said in an interview with Politico’s technology podcast “Decoded” that society must accept some negative outcomes to secure the benefits of artificial intelligence and keep humans in control. He described O…
US August trade deficit rises 13.7% to $105.6bn, largest since March 2025
The US goods and services trade deficit widened 13.7% in August from the previous month to $105.6bn, the largest gap since March 2025 and above the $102bn Dow Jones consensus, according to the Commerce Department. Imports reached a record $…
Hong Kong again rated world's freest economy by Fraser Institute
Canada's Fraser Institute released its Economic Freedom of the World 2026 report on October 6, rating Hong Kong again as the world's freest economy. Among five assessment categories, Hong Kong kept first place in freedom of international tr…
IMF warns rapid hedge fund growth could amplify market risk
The IMF said in the second chapter of its Global Financial Stability Report, released on 6 October, that hedge fund risks to macro-financial stability need close attention, because fast asset growth can amplify price dislocations and liquid…
New York comptroller projects Wall Street profits above $90bn, record bonuses
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli estimated the state's securities industry will earn more than $90 billion (about 120 trillion won) this year, up from $65.1 billion last year, and that Wall Street bonuses will rise again to a reco…
US August trade deficit widens 13.7% to $105.6 billion, second straight monthly increase
The US trade deficit in goods and services rose 13.7% in August from the previous month to $105.6 billion, the second consecutive monthly expansion, the US Commerce Department said. Exports increased 1.4% to $315.2 billion and imports rose …
Nvidia-backed Reflection AI unveils Beam, open-weight model to rival Chinese models
Reflection AI unveiled Beam, a 501-billion-parameter open-weight AI model that the New York-based startup says matches leading Chinese open models like Z.ai’s GLM-5.2 at lower compute cost. The Nvidia-backed company says Beam is in final sa…