As the US government remained in a shutdown, US bourse started higher but closed lower on Thursday. The DJIA slid as much as 330 points, and eventually closed down 243 points or 0.5% at 46,358. The S&P 500 closed down 18 points or 0.3% at 6,735. The Nasdaq closed down 18 points or 0.1% at 23,024.

Major techs were in a mixed bag. Nvidia (NVDA.US) sustained its uptrend, adding 1.8% to US$192.5 against the market, marking a new record closing high. Oracle (ORCL.US) shot up 3.1%. Amazon (AMZN.US) also increased by 1.1%. Tesla (TSLA.US) dipped 0.7%. Apple (AAPL.US) dropped 1.6%.
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The US government and Saudi Arabia are nearing the completion of an agreement that will allow American chip manufacturers to export semiconductor chips to Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources.

These chips will be used in data centers for training artificial intelligence (AI) models, as part of the government's global technology strategy.
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China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and other departments adjusted the technical requirements for new energy vehicles (NEVs) eligible for purchase tax reduction in 2026-27.

This includes stipulating that the energy consumption per 100 kilometers for passenger BEVs should not exceed the corresponding model's energy consumption limit as specified in “Electric Vehicle Energy Consumption Limits Part 1: Passenger Cars” (GB 36980.1-2025).

Also, the energy consumption limit for passenger BEVs with a maximum design total mass exceeding 3,500KG will follow the limit set for passenger BEVs with a maximum design total mass of 3,500KG in GB 36980.1-2025.

For PHEVs (including extended-range), the range should meet the conditional equivalent all-electric range of not less than 100 kilometers. The fuel consumption in the battery maintenance mode test for passenger PHEVs (excluding fuel consumption converted from electric energy) should be less than 70% for passenger cars with a curb weight below 2,510KG, and less than 75% for those with a curb weight of 2,510KG and above, compared to the fuel consumption limit specified in “Passenger Car Fuel Consumption Limits” (GB 19578-2024).

Also, the fuel consumption limit for passenger PHEVs with a maximum design total mass exceeding 3,500KG will follow the limit set for passenger cars with a maximum design total mass of 3,500KG in GB 19578-2024. There are no requirements for fuel consumption for non-gasoline/diesel passenger PHEVs.

Additionally, starting next year, models listed in the “NEV Models Directory for Purchase Tax Reduction” must meet the requirements, including: models listed in the “Tax Reduction Directory” before December 31, 2025, and meeting the technical requirements of this announcement will automatically be transferred to the first issue of the “Tax Reduction Directory” in 2026.

Models that do not meet the requirements will be removed from the “Tax Reduction Directory”. Models that do not meet this announcement's requirements and are intended to be listed in the first issue of the “Tax Reduction Directory” in 2026 should complete the application by December 12, 2025. Removed models can reapply for inclusion in the “Tax Reduction Directory”. After the publication of the “Tax Reduction Directory” effective from 2026 and onwards, NEVs listed in the directory can enjoy the vehicle purchase tax reduction policy according to regulations.
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TSMC (TSM.US) logged a 30% leap in sales for the third quarter, reaching NT$989.9 billion (approximately US$32.5 billion), surpassing the analysts' average expectation of NT$962.8 billion, on the ride of the ongoing AI boom.

TSMC's revenue for September was NT$330.98 billion, down 1.4% MoM and up 31.4% YoY, setting a new high for the same period and marking the third highest in history.

Currently, American tech companies such as Nvidia (NVDA.US) and OpenAI are investing billions of US dollars to build cloud computing capabilities.

Although there are market concerns that AI investments are creating a large bubble, TSMC's latest sales data indicated that AI demand remains strong.
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The equity bull market and the continued rise in leading technology firms have led many to worry about being in a bubble, according to Goldman Sachs' research report.

History suggests that bubbles are usually driven by enthusiasm surrounding transformative technologies, attracting investors, capital and new entrants. Typical bubble characteristics include rapid asset price hike, extreme valuations and significant systemic risks triggered by increased leverage.

The median forward 24-month PE ratio for the Magnificent 7, including Apple (AAPL.US), Microsoft (MSFT.US), Alphabet (GOOGL.US), Tesla (TSLA.US), Meta (META.US), Nvidia (NVDA.US) and Amazon.com (AMZN.US), is 27x, or 26x if Tesla, which has a valuation much higher than others, is excluded, Goldman Sachs said.

Leading tech giants of the 2020s are likely to continue dominating their respective fields, but rapid innovation, especially around machine learning and AI, is expected to spawn a new wave of tech superstars, launching new products and services on the back of the current capital expenditure boom.
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The US has approved the export of Nvidia (NVDA.US) chips worth billions of US dollars to the UAE, potentially becoming part of the US AI development blueprint, Bloomberg, citing people with the knowledge of the matter, reported.

The UAE has formulated specific plans for investment within the US, and the US Department of Commerce (DOC) recently issued an export license to Nvidia under the terms of the bilateral AI agreement reached between the US and UAE in May.

The US DOC did not directly respond to the report, only stating its commitment to promoting this revolutionary AI cooperation plan.
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As the U.S. government shutdown entered its second week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched new intraday and closing highs on Wednesday. The Nasdaq pioneered the three major stock indices by soaring 255 points or 1.1% to 23,043 at conclusion. The S&P 500 closed up 39 points or 0.6% to 6,753, with the IT, utilities, and industrials all hitting new closing highs. The DJIA opened higher but closed faintly down by 1 point at 46,601.

NVIDIA (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang affirmed that computing demand has risen in recent months, and the company is also involved in funding Elon Musk's AI startup xAI, leading to a 2% elevation in its stock price. Huang expressed surprise at AMD (AMD.US) selling a 10% stake to OpenAI, after which AMD's stock surged 11.4%, making it the best-performing constituent in the Nasdaq 100.

Tesla (TSLA.US) launched an affordable version of the Model Y yesterday, but its price of US$39,990 was higher than expected, shoring its stock up by 1.3%.
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After AMD (AMD.US) announced a partnership with OpenAI, Jefferies released a research report deciding to upgrade AMD from Hold to Buy, and elevating its target price from US$170 to US$300, based on a 32x EPS for FY2027.

On Monday (6th), AMD announced an agreement to provide 6 GW of power for OpenAI's next-generation AI infrastructure using multiple generations of AMD GPUs, Jefferies noted.

This collaboration has the potential to generate over US$100 billion from OAI, new customers and existing clients over the next 4 years.

OpenAI has been making substantial expenditures, signing deals with Nvidia (NVDA.US), Oracle (ORCL.US) and Hynix (HXSCF.US)/Samsung, the broker added. Although these deals are non-binding, they highlight OpenAI's enormous demand for AI computing.
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AMD (AMD.US) announced a long-term partnership with OpenAI, BofA Securities issued a research report saying. Starting from the end of 2026, AMD will gradually supply chips with a computing capacity of 6GW, while OpenAI will acquire up to a 10% stake in AMD, with the estimated scale of the collaboration exceeding US$100 billion.

Calculating with each GW bringing incremental revenue of approx. US$17.5 billion and an EBIT margin of 30-35%, BofA Securities predicted that the deal will increase AMD's annualized EPS by 9-35% by the end of 2026/ 2027. By 2030, with the full deployment of 6GW and an EBIT margin of 35%, its EPS could rise to over US$15.

Therefore, the broker kept rating at Buy on AMD, and raised its target price from US$200 to US$250. Furthermore, BofA Securities also kept ratings at Buy for Nvidia (NVDA.US) and Broadcom (AVGO.US), and listed them as AI beneficiaries.
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AMD (AMD.US) announced an agreement with AI company OpenAI, receiving a share investment from OpenAI, with shareholding expected to be as high as 10%, Morgan Stanley published a research report saying.

The two parties will also embark on a long-term AI chip collaboration, deploying 6GW of AI computing capacity over the coming years, with an investment scale exceeding US$100 billion.

Morgan Stanley estimated that the share investment from OpenAI will drive the development of AMD's ecosystem. The first phase of the 1GW deployment plan is set to launch in 2H26, utilizing AMD Instinct MI450 GPUs. The cooperation is anticipated to be potentially transformative.

However, the broker cautioned that AMD still needs to prove to the market that its return on investment is competitive compared to Nvidia (NVDA.US). Therefore, Morgan Stanley still kept rating at Equalweight, and elevated its target price from US$168 to US$246.
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