Customers at a restaurant on Nanjing East Road in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
Shen Qilai | Bloomberg | Getty Images
This report comes from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open keeps investors updated on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
geopolitical uncertainty
Major U.S. stock indexes all closed slightly lower Wednesday is above the flat line. Oil prices continued to rise, helping energy stocks outperform the broader market. Nike down 6.8% Tesla down 3.5%. Asia-Pacific stock markets were mixed on Thursday. Japanese Nikkei 225 Index Hong Kong shares rise about 2% as yen weakens Hang Seng Index It fell about 1.4% after a strong rebound on Wednesday.
Yen slips on dovish comments from Ishiba
this yen USD/USD fell to a low of 147.15 during today's Asian trading session due to dovish remarks by Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. “I don't think we're in an environment that requires us to raise interest rates further,” Ishiba said. said wednesday. However, analysts believe the Bank of Japan will still raise interest rates in early 2025.
OpenAI valued at $157 billion
OpenAI raised $6.6 billion in its latest round of funding, valuing it at $157 billion. This round of financing is led by Thrive Capital and plans to invest US$1 billion. Participants include Microsoft, NVIDIA and SoftBank, a person familiar with the matter said.
Behind the booming Indian market
India Nifty 50 index It's up 18.7% year to date, hitting a record high. Several factors are driving its rise: public infrastructure investments by the government, companies shifting supply chains from China to India, a healthy economy, a growing population and lower Federal Reserve interest rates.
(PRO) Opportunities in Disruption
The strike by longshoremen at ports along the U.S. coast is just the latest in a series of supply chain disruptions we have experienced in recent years. While these disruptions typically increase shipping prices and delivery times and are detrimental to the global economy, Goldman Sachs Think certain stocks could benefit from such events.
bottom line
The nature of today's globalized world means that the manufacturing process of a smartphone may take it to more parts of the world than I've ever been to.
It might first design the blueprints in the United States, source minerals from China, manufacture semiconductors in Taiwan, assemble products in India and work with the European Union to meet standards.
But supply lines are intricately connected, and once one link in the chain breaks, the entire process is disrupted.
That's why recent tensions in the Middle East – which have been simmering for a year and are now more intense – have weighed on investor sentiment around the world. The impact of the conflict is amplified because the region is a center of oil production, which literally fuels the global economy.
Furthermore, producing oil is not like making smartphones, where a company can move assembly to another country. Either there is oil on the land or there is no oil. Oil suppliers must stay where they are.
You might expect markets to be shaken by threats to the global economy. But all major U.S. stock indexes ended just above flat levels. this S&P 500 Index Basically no changes, Dow Jones Industrial Average Barely up 0.09% Nasdaq Index up 0.08%.
Headwinds from the Middle East may be tempered by optimism in China.
Chinese stocks have been rising, buoyed by Beijing's recently announced economic stimulus measures. That led to gains in U.S. exchange-traded funds tracking Chinese stocks, helping to keep U.S. markets functioning amid concerns about an escalating conflict in the Middle East.
In fact, Strategas Securities strategist Ryan Grabinski said that whenever the Chinese government introduces economic stimulus measures and credit expansion, U.S. stocks tend to benefit.
This is the flip side of globalization: Negative developments in one part of the world may put pressure on others, but positive developments radiate optimism that transcends their origins.
–CNBC’s Hakyung Kim, Yun Li, Alex Harring and Samantha Subin contributed to this article.