This week President Trump signed an executive order approving the framework for transferring the ownership of TikTok to American investors. Investors digested U.S. economic data which lowered the likelihood of further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed). President Trump’s announcement of pharmaceutical tariffs weighed on pharma equities. Fed Chair Jerome Powell characterized U.S. equities as “fairly highly valued”. Ukraine’s attack on Russian energy infrastructure is set to reduce crude supplies. 

In global geopolitics, the State of Palestine was formally recognized by the U.K., Canada, France, Australia and several other countries. The Trump administration imposed a $100,000 H-1B visa fee on skilled workers gaining employment in the U.S. which is expected to adversely impact small technology companies. Typhoon Ragasa ravaged East Asia, causing destruction in China, Hong Kong, Philippines and other countries. A cyber attack on European Airports disrupted flight operations over the weekend. President Trump abruptly cancelled a scheduled meeting with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries as the U.S. government appeared to be moving closer to a shutdown. European countries have warned Russia against entering European airspace.

Global Updates
  • The MSCI All Country World Index declined, closely tracking the U.S. markets as investors digested new macroeconomic data which reduced the outlook for a further rate cut by the Fed in this year. 
  • Pharmaceutical stocks declined after President Trump announced new pharma tariffs. 
  • European asset managers like BNP Paribas and Natixis are increasingly consolidating to compete with their US rivals
  • AliExpress, the online retail portal of Alibaba plans to leverage lower merchant commissions and lower shipping fees to attract brands from Amazon. 
  • Royal Bank of Canada’s CEO Dave McKay has encouraged Canada and other developed countries to consider the $100,000 U.S. visa fee as a strategic opportunity to attract top global technology talent. 
  • Japan’s core CPI inflation held steady at 2.5% in September and remained above the 2% target benchmark. The prior forecasted rate of inflation was 2.8%. 
  • Alibaba shares rallied this week after the CEO Eddie Wu unveiled plans to invest $53 billion in AI infrastructure over the next three years. He also estimated that over the next five years global investments in AI will exceed $4 trillion. Alibaba group also plans to integrate Nvidia’s AI robotics software with its own AI platform. 
  • Gold futures rose this week, after newly released data dampened the hopes for further rate cuts by the Fed this year. 
  • Oil prices rose this week, after Russia cut its gasoline and diesel exports following attacks on its energy infrastructure leading to supply shortages.
U.S. Equity
  • The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones indices declined this week due to the pause in AI rally and indications confounding the hopes of two further rate cuts this year. The upward revision of GDP growth in the second quarter and the drop in jobless claims could lower the likelihood of the two rate cuts expected in this year. 
  • Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell described U.S. equity valuations as “fairly highly valued” in a news conference following the FOMC meeting. He reiterated that no risk-free path exists for balancing job growth with controlling inflation. He also refrained from confirming a rate cut in October
  • President Trump has announced a 100% tariff on patented or branded drugs from companies which do not have a manufacturing presence in the U.S. 
  • The U.S. GDP growth rate for Q2, 2025 was revised upward to 3.8%. The growth rate in consumption and business investment were also revised upwards to 2.5% and 7.3% respectively. 
  • President Trump signed an executive order approving the framework for transferring the ownership of TikTok to Americans. Investors. American companies are expected to own 65% of the U.S. assets of TikTok valued at $14bn, and ByteDance will own less than 20%. A board of seven members will manage the company, and Oracle will provide data and cloud services. 
  • Gold ETFs are experiencing elevated inflows following the Fed’s rate cut decision.
  • Lithium Americas shares rallied after the Trump administration’s plans to acquire a 10% equity stake in the company became public. The news also elevated other rare earth stocks.
Fixed Income
  • The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index edged lower this week.
  • The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.174% and the yield on the 2-year note rose to 3.663% over the week. 
  • The U.S. Dollar Index recovered this week to appreciate to 98.41.

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