Tonight’s Highlights | Spot Gold Reclaims $4,300, U.S. Rare Earth Stocks Surge
On Monday, pre-market U.S. investor sentiment showed slight improvement, with the three major index futures modestly higher ahead of a pivotal phase in the earnings season.
As of this report, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.63%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.50%, and Dow futures increased 0.39%. Spot gold, after pulling back last Friday, regained momentum, with bulls pushing prices back above $4,320 per ounce in the last two hours.
(Spot Gold Minute Chart, Source: TradingView)
For investors, amid geopolitical tensions, the U.S. earnings season will hit its peak over the next two weeks. Tesla will be the first of the “Magnificent Seven” to report Q3 results after market close on Wednesday, with Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet set to release earnings next week.
On the market movers front, the VanEck Vietnam ETF fell nearly 6% pre-market, driven by a sharp late-session plunge in Vietnam’s stock market on Monday.
Since hitting a yearly low in April due to tariff shocks, Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Index has surged over 60% in six months. However, after losing key round-number levels, profit-taking triggered a stampede, with bond issuance violations by Vietnamese real estate firms further unsettling market sentiment.
U.S. Antimony soared over 15% pre-market, planning an all-stock acquisition of Australian miner Larvotto to bolster its critical minerals portfolio, reigniting enthusiasm for U.S. rare earth stocks. Critical Metals rose nearly 10%, and USA Rare Earth gained over 7%.
Australian Prime Minister Albanese will visit the White House on Monday, with markets widely expecting critical minerals to be a key topic in his discussions with Trump.
BNP Paribas fell over 7% in European markets after a New York jury’s ruling on its past Sudan operations, which could lead to hefty settlement costs.
Other Market News
Amazon AWS Outage Disrupts Half of U.S. Internet
Numerous U.S. internet applications went offline simultaneously. AWS confirmed a major service outage impacting Amazon’s e-commerce platform, trading platforms like Robinhood and Coinbase, AI platform Perplexity, Lyft, United Airlines, Disney, McDonald’s, and more.
Reports also noted access issues with the UK government website and several UK banks’ online banking services.
Six AI Models Battle in Live Trading, DeepSeek Leads as Trading King
Starting Saturday (October 18), U.S. AI research lab nof1.ai launched an event on its “Alpha Arena” platform, giving six top AI models $10,000 each for real-money trading—not simulations.
DeepSeek’s portfolio reached a total value of nearly $14,000, with a ~40% return, peaking close to $15,000, making it the top performer.
Microsoft’s Next-Gen AI Chip May Be Manufactured by Intel
Industry sources revealed that Microsoft has placed orders with Intel for its next-generation AI chip, Maia 2, using Intel’s 18A or 18A-P process.
German Submarine Maker Soars on IPO Debut
German submarine manufacturer Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) saw its stock surge on its listing debut. On Monday, during early European trading, TKMS rose to €97.63 per share, up over 62% from its €60 opening price, hitting an intraday high of €106.58.
The company’s market cap exceeded €6.2 billion, far above analysts’ estimates of €2.7-€4 billion.
iPhone 17 Early Sales in U.S. and China Outpace Predecessor by 14%
A Counterpoint report on Monday noted strong early sales for Apple’s iPhone 17 series in China and the U.S., outperforming the iPhone 16 series.
In the first 10 days after launch, iPhone 17 sales were 14% higher than the iPhone 16, with the base iPhone 17 nearly doubling iPhone 16 sales in China, and average sales growth of 31% across both markets.
Apple AI Faces New Concerns
Tech insider Mark Gurman reported on October 19 that testers of iOS 26.4 (set to feature an upgraded Siri) have raised concerns about the AI voice assistant’s performance.