On October 7, 2025, driven by AI-related themes, the US stock market closed higher on Monday, October 6. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached new closing highs. Boosted by positive news, the Nikkei and Taiwan stocks surged in early trading on Tuesday, rewriting their intraday historical highs.
Despite the strong performance of the stock market, the ongoing government shutdown in the United States and the surge in Japanese government bond yields are simultaneous factors pushing gold prices higher, making gold one of the standout assets this year.
On Monday, AMD announced supplying AI chips to OpenAI, a deal expected to bring in billions of dollars in annual revenue for AMD. OpenAI will receive warrants to purchase up to 10% of AMD’s shares, driving AMD’s stock price up by 23.7%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.9%.
Tesla’s stock rose by 5.5%. Over the weekend, Tesla hinted at an event on Tuesday on its website, leading to speculations in the market about possible new car releases, whether it’s a new model or an affordable version, both contributing to the positive stock performance.
Microsoft rose by 2.2%, and Alphabet by 2.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 63.31 points on Monday, a decrease of 0.14%, at 46,694.97. The S&P 500 index rose by 24.49 points, an increase of 0.36%, reaching 6,740.28 points. The Nasdaq index increased by 161.16 points, a rise of 0.71%, to 22,941.67 points.
Within the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 index, the non-essential consumer goods sector performed well, while the real estate sector suffered the most significant decline.
With earnings season approaching, including third-quarter performance from major US banks, it is expected to become the next catalyst for the market.
According to LSEG data, analysts predict an 8.8% year-on-year increase in overall earnings of the S&P 500 index from July to September, which is 0.8 percentage points higher than the early forecast for the third quarter.
In the Asian markets, the enthusiasm continued. Boosted by US tech stocks, both the Nikkei 225 index and the Taiwan Weighted Index reached intraday highs on Tuesday.
Japanese chip stocks led the gains in the Nikkei index. Advantest’s stock price rose by over 4%, Tokyo Electron by 2%, Lasertec by 1.35%, and Renesas Electronics by 4.85%.
The Nikkei 225 index briefly reached 48527.33 points on Tuesday, setting a new intraday high. Previously, with the election of Takashi Takanashi as the LDP leader, the market bet on increased economic stimulus by the government, leading the Nikkei to hit new highs on Monday.
Simultaneously, led by tech stocks such as TSMC, the Taiwan Weighted Index also rose by about 2% in early trading, reaching a high of 27,298.27 points, setting another historical high.
Mainland China, Hong Kong, and South Korea markets were closed for holidays.
Amid the unstable global background, this bullish stock market trend occurs, leading investors to seek safe-haven assets as the stock market hits highs repeatedly.
Currently, as the US government shutdown enters its seventh day and events like the resignation of the French Prime Minister and the decline in the Japanese yen unfold, funds are flowing towards alternative assets, driving the continuous rise of spot gold prices, nearing the $4,000 mark. Gold has surged by over 50% this year, poised to deliver its strongest annual performance since 1979.
In what is called a “debasement trade” trend, Bitcoin also hit a historic high of $126,223 on Tuesday, with options traders betting on a rise to $140,000, reflecting concerns in the market regarding US dollar assets.
Ken Griffin, the founder of Citadel Investment Hedge Fund, stated that investors are starting to view gold as a safer asset than the US dollar, a trend that is “truly worrying.”
The US government shutdown has delayed the release of key economic indicators, forcing investors to rely on secondary non-government data to assess economic trends.
However, according to the CME FedWatch tool, the market predicts a 92.5% probability of a 0.25% rate cut by the Federal Reserve in October, showing a high consensus on the expected rate cut.