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Wall Street’s pullback carried into Asia as expensive oil and massive AI financing plans kept borrowing costs in focus. Gold recovered modestly, while Bitcoin struggled near $83,300.

📉 Dow leads Wall Street’s retreat

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 341.41 points, or 0.7%, to 51,179.87 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each slipped 0.2%, retreating from record closes.
• Stocks recovered some earlier losses after strong demand at a Treasury auction helped ease bond-market pressure.
• Thursday’s early trading remained cautious. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were little changed, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.9% and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.6%. European stock futures edged higher, offering a tentative recovery after Wednesday’s losses.

💵 FX board gets a reshuffling

• The US 10-year Treasury yield hovered around 5.3%, near its highest levels since 2002. Higher yields increase financing costs and make bonds more competitive with stocks. September’s Fed minutes kept further tightening in view, although traders assigned only about 19% odds to an October hike.
• The dollar index held near an 18-month high around 102.23. traded near $1.1200 as concerns about France’s finances weighed on the euro and neighbouring bond markets.
• eased toward 157.80 after Japan reported a stronger-than-expected current-account surplus. Currency moves reflected both US rate expectations and local developments.

🖥️ AI demand is strong. Financing deserves attention too

• Broadcom is seeking more than $50 billion in financing for custom OpenAI chips[, while Oracle is exploring funding and SpaceX is discussing a $40 billion package for Nvidia purchases. SpaceX shares fell 2.5% Wednesday. These proposed deals underline how heavily AI expansion increasingly depends on outside capital.
• Samsung forecast a massive 783% increase in quarterly operating profit to 107.4 trillion won ($72 billion), supported by booming AI memory demand. Revenue is expected to reach 195 trillion won.
• Its shares nevertheless edged lower: extraordinary earnings can still disappoint investors looking for evidence that growth will remain sustainable.
• Micron climbed 4.1% Wednesday following a bullish analyst price-target revision, providing a notable exception to the broader retreat. Elsewhere, Wells Fargo fell 1.5% amid scrutiny of its homeownership commitments, while Levi Strauss slipped about 2% after hours following a quarterly revenue miss.
• Applied Digital reported quarterly revenue of $341.9 million, up 322%, well above expectations. Its net loss also widened to $221 million. The results illustrate the distinction traders should watch across AI infrastructure: rapid revenue growth needs to translate into cash generation after construction costs, debt servicing and operating expenses.

🌍 Oil, gold and Bitcoin reflect the pressure

• Brent crude gained 1.3% to $101.53 a barrel, with WTI rising to $89.39, as attacks on Gulf shipping renewed supply concerns. The rebound followed Wednesday’s decline after the IEA backed faster reserve releases.
• Spot gold recovered 0.5% to around $4,130 after touching a two-month low. Silver edged up to $60.36. A slightly softer dollar offered relief, but elevated yields remain a headwind for non-interest-bearing metals. Traders still priced roughly 80% odds of a December Fed hike.
• Bitcoin steadied near $83,300 after losing approximately 2.6% Wednesday. The session’s low around $82,800 provides a recent downside reference, while recovering the selloff would require a return toward $85,500.
• Today’s checkpoints are Fed Governor Christopher Waller’s remarks, PepsiCo earnings and US jobless claims. PepsiCo reports at 6 a.m. ET, with claims due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• Watch consumer volumes and labour-market resilience alongside Treasury yields: those signals will help test whether earnings optimism can withstand tighter financial conditions.