Market Commentary: Thursday 2nd October

Global equities extended gains, led by Asian tech stocks. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.1% following a deal struck between OpenAI and South Korea’s chipmakers Samsung and SK.

The US Supreme Court blocked President Trump from immediately firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook, issuing an order deferring the President’s application until January 2026.

On the economic calendar, weekly US initial jobless claims will not be released due to the government shutdown. President Trump is also seeking to shrink the size of the federal government, with federal worker layoffs expected this week.

In corporate news, McDonald’s announced a multibillion-dollar global expansion, aiming for around 50,000 stores worldwide by adding nearly 10,000 new locations over four years.

China and India’s markets are closed today. Later, we’ll hear from several central bank speakers: Fed’s Logan (3:30 pm) and Goolsbee (7:30 pm), SNB’s Schlegel (4:35 pm), and ECB’s Villeroy (5:30 pm) and Guindos (6:00 pm).

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