Hassett acknowledges that inflation still needs to be addressed, and strong consumer demand continues to draw attention to the interest rate trajectory.
According to an interview conducted by CNBC on October 19th with Kevin Hasset, the Director of the National Economic Council of the United States, although prices for some commodities such as beef and eggs have fallen, September's consumer price data indicates that overall inflation still requires further attention. He stated that data from the previous three months suggested that inflation seemed to be under control, but this latest rebound could mean a disruption in the downward trend or it could just be a short-term fluctuation. Regarding monetary policy, Hasset emphasized respect for the independence of the Federal Reserve, saying that Chairman Powell will make what he believes to be the right decisions. He also mentioned that consumers are optimistic about the economic performance and are increasing their spending, which is also a factor that the central bank needs to take into consideration. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics previously announced that in September, CPI rose 0.6% on a month-on-month basis, the largest increase in five months; the core CPI, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3% on a month-on-month basis, remaining the same as in August.
U.S. Treasury yields rebound, but markets still bet the Fed will continue to raise rates in December
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on the 19th, as oil prices recovered from their morning declines, the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds rose by about 5 basis points to 5.148%. A Reuters report from New York in the afternoon cited interest rate futures pricing, indicating that traders expect the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged at its meeting on October 27-28, but the probability of a rate hike in December remains around 91%. Therefore, the pause in October does not mean that the market has shifted towards a more accommodative stance; inflation and energy costs continue to influence the subsequent tightening path.
Trump again denies Zelenskyy's negotiating qualifications: "It's time to change the person for negotiations"
According to CCTV News, on the afternoon of October 19th local time, U.S. President Donald Trump stated to the media at the White House that he believes someone other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should represent Ukraine in negotiations in order to seek an end to the conflict with Russia. Trump said, "Perhaps it's time for Zelenskyy to find someone else to negotiate." Trump has recently criticized Zelenskyy publicly on multiple occasions, claiming that Zelenskyy "may never have thought about ending the war" and calling for a change of president in Ukraine. Trump also added that the United States continues to share intelligence with Ukraine and will consider allowing Ukrainians to remain in the United States on a temporary protective basis until the war ends. At the same time, Trump revealed that he has held "negotiations" on the Ukrainian issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the two sides also discussing diesel supplies and the Iranian issue. Trump also commented that Russia has "performed fairly well" on the Ukrainian issue, saying, "They haven't done much."
U.S. strategic oil reserves drop to their lowest level since 1982, raising concerns about energy supply resilience again
According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy and a report by Reuters on October 19, the United States' strategic oil reserves fell to 282.7 million barrels last week, the lowest level since October 1982. This reduction in reserves is part of the U.S.'s previous commitment to release 172 million barrels of reserve oil, which is part of an international plan for member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to release a total of 400 million barrels of emergency reserves. On the 16th, the Department of Energy also announced a bidding process for up to 17 million barrels of crude oil, which is part of the final batch of 40 million barrels to be released under this plan. The Department of Energy previously stated that the exchange mechanism requires participating companies to return the borrowed crude oil within a specified period and to additionally return a certain quantity of crude oil. Strategic oil reserves are emergency crude oil stocks held by the U.S. government, mainly used to deal with supply disruptions and to fulfill obligations under international energy cooperation mechanisms.
OpenAI seeks to accelerate its financing efforts before listing on Anthropic
According to a report by Reuters on October 20th, OpenAI is competing to secure investor commitments before its rival Anthropic is expected to go public in mid-November. The rapid progress of this round of financing could result in the valuation of ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, exceeding $1.4 trillion. The fast-paced schedule reflects OpenAI's desire to get ahead of Anthropic, as both cutting-edge artificial intelligence labs are increasingly seeking the same group of investors; they also added that OpenAI hopes to leverage recent revenue growth to advance its financing efforts after launching a new model. A source familiar with the matter stated that SoftBank Group, MGX based in Abu Dhabi, and other existing investors of OpenAI are in talks about participating in this round of financing, which is valued at approximately $30 billion.
The central bank plans to establish a liquidity redemption tool for non-bank institutions and advance adjustments to the policy interest rate framework.
According to a speech by Pan Gongsheng released by the People's Bank of China on the 19th, the central bank will work with relevant departments to establish liquidity support tools for large-scale redemptions by non-bank institutions. These tools will be activated in specific situations such as when asset management institutions face collective liquidity risks or when there is a negative cycle of redemptions and selling in the bond market. The operations must meet macro-prudential requirements and high-grade collateral must be provided. At the same time, the central bank plans to expand the scope of application of the Standing Lending Facility to promote interconnection between the interbank market and the exchange-traded bond market. In terms of the interest rate framework, the central bank will study the timing to switch the main operation period of the open market to overnight, adjust the main policy interest rates accordingly, and promote diversification of loan pricing benchmarks.
Related Reading: Pan Gongsheng speaks out, stating that support tools for large-scale liquidity redemptions by non-bank institutions will be introduced
South Korean President plans to study market stabilization measures; improving corporate governance becomes a policy focus
On that day, during a conversation with reporters at the Presidential Palace, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung stated that the South Korean stock market was still significantly undervalued. The government would review a comprehensive report and study necessary measures to take. He pointed out that corporate governance, market transparency, geopolitical risks, and uncertainties in industrial and economic policies were factors contributing to the discounted valuation of the South Korean market. While policy uncertainties had improved, trust in corporate governance had not yet fully recovered. Lee Jae-myung mentioned that the government was continuously examining the policies needed to normalize the stock market and still needed to address issues such as controlling shareholders' abuse of operational control rights, as well as to establish a culture that respects shareholders. He also emphasized that direct government intervention in the financial and securities markets was both difficult and not ideal. The focus of policy efforts should be on increasing market transparency and formulating and implementing industrial and economic policies in a predictable manner.
AI Concept rebounds with the index rising by over 1%; storage and chip sectors see a clear rebound
On Monday (October 19th), the three major U.S. stock indices showed mixed movements. After a sharp decline last week in stocks related to artificial intelligence ( AI ), funds returned to the market, with the Nasdaq rebounding by more than 1%. By the close of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.07% to 5,196.03 points; the S&P 500 Index rose 0.41% to 7,690.73 points; and the Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 1.11% to 26,430.89 points.
$Star tech stocks ($LIST2518.US)$ are mostly higher, with NVIDIA rising 1.38%, Apple falling 0.15%, Google C rising 0.96%, Microsoft rising 0.84%, Amazon rising 4.98%, SpaceX rising 1.32%, Meta falling 0.55%, and Tesla rising 3.76%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (. SOX.US ) rose by 1.61%, with only 4 of the 30 constituent stocks falling. SiTime rose by 5%, Lattice Semiconductor gained 4.9%. Intel increased by 2.43%, TSMC rose by 1.84%, Broadcom rose by 1.78%, and AMD rose by 1.76%.
$Storage Concepts ($LIST23925.US): The sector as a whole saw gains, with Western Data rising 6.09%, Sandisk up 5.53%, SK Hynix increasing by 4.67%, Seagate Technologies gaining 3.41%, Micron Technology rising 2.97%, and $Roundhill Memory ETF ($DRAM.US)$ climbing 4.05%.
$Optical Communications ( LIST23979.US )$ mostly strengthened, $ Roundhill Photonics & $ Optics ETF ( LYTE.US )$ rose by 0.96%. Micron Technology rose by 4.06%, $ AAOI rose by 3.48%, $ CRDO rose by 1.83%, $ Lumentum rose by 1.26%, $ Coherent fell by 0.38%.
$Hot Chinese concept stocks ( LIST2517.US )$ show mixed gains and losses: Hesai rose 4.03%, ZaiDing Medicine rose 3.75%, WanGuo Data fell 2.64%, and NIO fell 1.17%.
Individual Stock Information
NVIDIA completes 104-qubit fault-tolerant simulation, GPU advances in tandem with quantum computing
According to a announcement by $NVIDIA ($NVDA.US)$ on the 19th, researchers utilized 8,192 GH200 GPU from the Jülich JUPITER supercomputer in Germany to complete a fault-tolerant quantum computing simulation involving 104 physical quantum bits, and verified the “magic state cultivation” scheme under real noise conditions. The company stated that compared to existing methods, this scheme requires about 90% fewer physical quantum bits, and the research and development process has compressed what would normally be weeks of simulation tasks into just a few days. The project used cuQuantum software and the CUDA-Q platform, with preliminary tests conducted on the GB200 NVL72 system. This progress reflects the foundational role of GPU in quantum hardware development, error correction verification, and system design; reducing by 90% the number of specific technical solutions does not mean that the overall requirements for quantum computer hardware have been lowered, nor does it indicate that practical quantum computing has been commercialized.
NVIDIA GTC The Berlin Conference has kicked off today, and Jensen Huang will deliver a speech at 17:00 Beijing time tomorrow.
According to the official website of $NVIDIA ( NVDA.US )$, GTC Berlin 2026 will be held in Berlin, Germany from October 20th to 22nd local time. Today, technical workshops have already begun, with the conference and exhibition scheduled for October 21st and 22nd. Jensen Huang, the company's founder and CEO, will deliver a keynote speech from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM on October 21st, which corresponds to 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM on October 21st Beijing time. This year's conference features over 100 sessions covering topics such as AI infrastructure, CUDA and accelerated computing, AI intelligent agents, open models, physical AI, and robotics. The live discussion before the speeches will focus on European sovereignty and corporate AI, AI factories, security, and industrial applications. Guests include representatives from companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Mistral AI, Nebius, Schneider Electric, and Mercedes-Benz. The conference will also provide AI training and certification related to reasoning, robotics, and infrastructure.
Related Reading: Jensen Huang makes a grand appearance on Wednesday! NVIDIA GTC Five highlights revealed, can the AI market trend reverse its decline?
SpaceX will announce results after the market closes on Tuesday in the Eastern United States. AI revenue realization and Starlink cash flow will be in the spotlight.
According to the company's announcement, $ SpaceX ( SPCX.US )$ will release its third-quarter financial results after the market closes on October 20th in the Eastern United States, and will hold a live earnings broadcast at 04:30 on October 21st Beijing time. Reuters cited data from LSEG on the 19th, stating that the market expects revenue for this quarter to be around $12.74 billion, with earnings per share of about $0.14. In the previous second quarter, the company reported revenue of $7.8 billion and a net loss of $541 million, with AI capital expenditures amounting to $15.8 billion. The key points of this financial report include: whether the growth in Starlink revenue can continue, whether the leasing of computing power can be accelerated into revenue, as well as the alignment of capital expenditures, financing arrangements, and free cash flow. Against the backdrop of the market re-evaluating the return on AI infrastructure investments, management's guidance on new computing power deliveries, expenditure peaks, and funding needs will be important criteria for assessing the quality of growth.
Related Reading: SpaceX Financial Reports Hit After the Market on October 20th, AI Contract Fulfillment and Capital Expenditure Rhythm Become Key Highlights
Apple confirms new product event on October 28th; touchscreen MacBook becomes the focus of its product line
According to the event information released by $Apple ( AAPL.US )$ on the 19th and reports by Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, Apple will hold a new product event in Los Angeles on October 28th with the theme of “ Pro and tell”. The report predicts that the products will include the first MacBook Pro equipped with a OLED touchscreen, an entry-level MacBook Pro powered by a M6 chip, updated versions of the iMac and iPad mini; the touchscreen MacBook is expected to use M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and will feature a Dynamic Island interface similar to that of the iPhone. The event date has been confirmed, but the specific product configurations and sales arrangements are still subject to the report's predictions and will be subject to the official release.
British AI infrastructure company Nscale reportedly in talks for another $45 billion deal for computing power; demand from NVIDIA Rubin is of concern.
According to a report by Reuters on the 19th, Nscale (unlisted) is in talks with Anthropic (unlisted) regarding a new computing power supply agreement worth approximately $45 billion. The deal involves the second facility in the Monarch campus in West Virginia, USA, with a planned capacity of 460 megawatts, and it is intended to use $NVIDIA ( NVDA.US )$ Vera Rubin chips. The negotiations are still ongoing, and the details may change, so it cannot yet be considered a signed order. Trade insights indicate that leading model companies are still striving for long-term computing power, but the value to suppliers depends on whether the project can be completed and delivered. For the GPU and data center power and network equipment sectors, it is also important to pay attention to the source of customer funds, power supply access, construction schedules, and contract fulfillment conditions. Large contracts can enhance revenue visibility, but the time lag between actual cash recovery and initial capital investment remains a key focus in financing assessments.
American power company AEP collaborates with Amazon and X-energy to develop a 960-megawatt advanced nuclear power project
American Electric Power Company ($American Electric Power ($AEP.US)$) announced that it has reached a joint development agreement with Amazon ($AMZN.US)$ and Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies Corporation ($X-Energy ($XE.US)$) to explore the construction of a nuclear power project with a capacity of 960 megawatts in Indiana. Amazon plans to purchase electricity from this project through a long-term power purchase contract, and the contract revenue will cover the costs of the facility. The project will utilize advanced nuclear energy technology and is aimed at meeting the growing electricity demands in areas such as data centers.
CoreWeave rebounds and pulls back; Goldman Sachs is optimistic about the economics of computing power leasing contracts
According to a report by Reuters on the 19th, Goldman Sachs raised its rating of $ CoreWeave ( CRWV.US )$ from “neutral” to “buy,” citing the tight supply of computing power and the company’s relative competitive advantages, which are expected to support an increase in annual recurring revenue per megawatt over the next two years. Tradeweb data showed that the yield on its bonds maturing in 2031 fell by about 19.5 basis points to 15.13% at that time; the stock ultimately gave back some of its morning gains and closed down about 0.4%. This continues to make the spread between financing costs and computing power rental income a key indicator for monitoring this stock. The upgraded rating reflects analysts’ assessment of valuation and business prospects, but it does not eliminate the requirements for execution under high leverage. Subsequent financial reports need to verify order conversion, equipment utilization rates, and cash flows, while also paying attention to new financing terms and customer concentration, to determine whether the differences between the equity and credit markets can narrow.
Samsung Electronics plans to fully enter the field of silicon photonics by 2027, according to the news.
South Korean media MTN reported on the 16th local time that $Samsung Electronics (005930. KR)$ plans to fully enter the field of silicon photonics ($SiPh)$ by 2027. Initially, it will use 12-inch technology to manufacture photonic integrated circuits ($PIC)$ for customers, and later it will expand into the fields of PIC-EIC integration and optical packaging. TSMC currently holds a dominant position in the field of silicon photonics wafer foundry and has achieved a series of development results. insiders at Samsung Electronics believe that the gap between the company and TSMC in silicon photonics lies in market share rather than the technology itself. Samsung Electronics will compete with TSMC with its full-stack solutions ranging from storage to logic to packaging. Samsung Electronics is also considering mergers and acquisitions of companies related to silicon photonics to advance its own technological development.
Micron Technology will host a technical webinar on October 21st, focusing on innovations in DRAM, HBM, and NAND.
$Micron Technology ( MU.US )$ announced that it will host a technical webinar at 8 a.m. local time on October 21st, to be presented by the company's President and Chief Technology and Product Officer Scott DeBoer. The webinar will discuss technological innovations in the fields of DRAM, HBM, and NAND. Micron stated that the next generation of AI infrastructure will require higher bandwidth, capacity, as well as more efficient data transmission, storage, and access. This webinar will introduce the company's future multi-generation technology roadmap, customer collaboration in design, and long-term research plans, with the goal of further consolidating its technological leadership over the next decade.
Trading volume TOP20 | Amazon soars 5%, launches open-source tool TorchNeuron; CoreWeave receives bullish forecasts from Goldman Sachs, but stock price still closes slightly lower; NVIDIA completes verification of quantum error-correction technology; Apple will launch its first touchscreen MacBook
Hong Kong Stock Market Outlook
Northbound investors reduced their holdings in Hong Kong stocks by nearly HK$3.6 billion, with AIA Insurance and Tencent Holdings seeing net purchases of nearly HK$800 million and HK$400 million respectively.
On October 16th (last Friday), funds moving south sold HK$3.568 billion worth of Hong Kong stocks net.
$AIA Group (01299. HK)$, $Tencent Holdings (00700. HK)$, and $China Hongqiao (01378. HK)$ received net purchases of HK$764 million, HK$388 million, and HK$66.46 million respectively;
$WuXi AppTec (02269. HK)$, $Xiaomi Group-W (01810. HK)$, and $Jiantao Circuit Board (01888. HK)$ were each net sold for HK$668 million, HK$506 million, and HK$305 million respectively.
MiniMax releases M3.1 and Flash; the usage cost of Agent is said to have decreased by 70%.
According to the official technical blog published on the 19th by $ MINIMAX-W (00100. HK ), the company has launched M3.1 Flash and confirmed that the previously anonymous Space Bunny model, which processed over 200 trillion tokens, was an earlier version of this model. The company stated that the new model's online inference speed is nearly three times faster than the previous one, and the overall cost of using Agent tasks has decreased by 70% compared to the previous generation, with a daily output speed of over 200 tokens per second. The price for every million tokens inputs is 0.15 US dollars, and the output price is 0.60 US dollars. This model has already been integrated into API, M Plan, and MiniMax Code. The model weights will be released later. Although these performance figures have been disclosed by the company, they still need to be tested in actual tasks. In the Hong Kong stock market's large-model sector, the focus of competition is shifting towards task completion rates, inference efficiency, and payment conversion rates. It will be interesting to observe whether the growth in usage scale can cover the cost reductions and the investment in computing power.
CATL will announce its third-quarter results for 2026 today.
CATL (03750. HK) will announce its third-quarter results for 2026 on October 20th. The market's focus for this report will be on the structural increases in energy storage and overseas shipments, as well as the impact of fluctuations in raw material prices such as lithium carbonate on profitability. JPMorgan Chase has issued a research report, continuing to list CATL as one of the top choices in the global energy storage sector, noting its leading market share and strong overseas presence. After recent adjustments, its valuation is considered attractive, with a target price of HKD 725 set. Citibank's report indicates that the global battery industry chain may enter a new downward cycle, but there is no need to be overly pessimistic. Chinese battery companies are accelerating their penetration into the European market, and CATL's production capacity layout in Europe is also ongoing.
Zijin Gold International's parent company's profit increased by 123% in the first three quarters, with both production and cash flow improving simultaneously.
According to the unaudited financial information disclosed by $Zijin Gold International (02259. HK)$ on the 19th at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the revenue for the first three quarters was approximately $5.809 billion, a year-on-year increase of 70%; the profit attributable to the owners of the parent company was about $2.015 billion, an increase of 123%; the net operating cash flow was approximately $2.778 billion, a growth of 157%. The cumulative production of mined gold was about 41 tons, a year-on-year increase of about 28%; the full maintenance cost was $1,649 per ounce, up 5% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in gold prices driving up royalties and the prices of some raw materials and auxiliary materials. The company stated that the technological improvements and equipment upgrades carried out in the third quarter are expected to support capacity expansion in the fourth quarter and throughout 2027. For gold stocks, key considerations include the combined effects of gold prices, production volume, and costs. It will still be necessary to monitor mine operations, recovery rates, and the implementation of capacity expansions in the future, as the relevant data has not yet been audited.
Today's Focus
Keywords: NVIDIA GTC, SpaceX, CATL financial report
In terms of economic data, at 09:00, China will release its LPR for October; at 14:00, the UK will announce its ILO unemployment rate for August over three months, as well as the unemployment rate and the number of people claiming unemployment benefits for September; at 17:00, Germany and the Eurozone will release their ZEW economic sentiment index for October; at 20:30, the US will release the annualized total number of new home starts and the total number of building permits for September; at 22:00, attention will be on the US's index of existing home sales signings for September.
In terms of financial events, the NVIDIA GTC AI conference opened in Berlin and will last until October 22nd. The 33rd APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting was held in Hong Kong, China. At 12:15, Lian En, the Chief Economist of the European Central Bank, delivered a speech in Shanghai.
In terms of financial performance, $ GE Aerospace & Aviation ($ GE.US )$, $ Raytheon Technologies ($ RTX.US )$, $ 3M ($ MMM.US )$, and $ General Motors ($ GM.US )$ released their financial reports before the opening of trading in the U.S. stock market; $ SpaceX ($ SPCX.US )$ plans to announce its second financial report after going public after the market closes in the U.S.; Netflix ($ NFLX.US ) will also release its financial report after the market closes. In the Hong Kong stock market, $ CATL (03750. HK )$, $ Tianyue Advanced (02631. HK ), and $ Great Wall CNC (03200. HK )$ will release their financial reports after the market closes, while $ China Mobile (00941. HK )$ disclosed its performance for the first three quarters.
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