Markets Today: Swiss Inflation Steady, Gold Nears $3900/oz, DAX Eyes Potential 900 Point Move

[Redator]

Asia Market Wrap - OpenAI Boosts Asian Tech Sector

Asian stock markets moved significantly higher on Thursday, fueled by a major rally in technology shares. Japan's Nikkei index gained more than 1%, led by chip sector companies, despite facing headwinds from a stronger yen against the dollar.

Elsewhere, the tech-heavy stock market in Taiwan jumped 1.8%, and South Korea's KOSPI index shot up an impressive 2.8%. The boost in South Korea came after chip giants Samsung and Hynix announced new partnerships to supply data centers for OpenAI. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also added 1.6%.

This widespread enthusiasm drove the broader MSCI Emerging Markets Asia Index up by as much as 1.8%, reaching its highest level since June 2021 and marking its fourth straight day of gains. The overall gauge of Asian stocks, excluding Japan, also hit its highest level since March 2021.

Source: Gemini, LSEG

Technology company shares rose significantly after OpenAI reached a major agreement with South Korea's largest chip manufacturers, Samsung and SK Hynix.

This deal is a key part of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's ambitious plan to build data centers globally, a huge project expected to cost trillions of dollars. This massive undertaking will require enormous amounts of computer chips, servers, cooling systems, and electricity, and involves other industry giants like Nvidia and Oracle.

Following his visit to South Korea, Altman is reportedly scheduled to travel to Taipei to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn), further fueling the intense excitement around artificial intelligence.

Swiss Inflation Remains Steady

In September, consumer prices in Switzerland increased by a modest 0.2% compared to the previous year. This rate remained the same as the two prior months and was slightly lower than the 0.3% analysts had expected.

This data comes after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) decided to pause a series of six consecutive interest rate cuts, keeping its main rate at zero. Although the SNB is reluctant to return to negative interest rates, it has indicated that it is open to further cuts if prices start falling again (deflation).

Inflation had last fallen below zero in May. Looking at specific categories, prices for housing and utilities rose slightly, while the decrease in transport costs became less severe. However, the drop in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages worsened slightly. On a month-to-month basis, consumer prices fell by 0.2%, which was a larger drop than in August but in line with market predictions.

Importantly, core inflation, which excludes unstable items like unprocessed food and energy, remained stable at 0.7% in September, unchanged from August.

European Session - European Stock Surge Continues

European stock markets reached a record high on Thursday. This surge was primarily driven by companies related to computer chips and technology, following a strong overnight rally on Wall Street and Asia. Shares in major healthcare companies also continued their strong performance from the previous session.

The main pan-European index, the STOXX 600, gained 0.7%, hitting a new intraday record. Most national markets also rose, with Germany leading the way with a 0.7% increase. Technology stocks climbed 2.3%.

Additionally, healthcare stocks rose 1%, extending the rally started earlier in the week when a deal between the U.S. government and Pfizer helped clear up some regulatory uncertainty in the sector.

The auto sector also saw gains, climbing 2.1%, fueled by a 3.2% jump in Ferrari's stock after HSBC upgraded its rating on the luxury carmaker.

On the FX front, the US dollar struggled to break its four-day losing streak on Thursday.

It saw a brief boost after the US Supreme Court announced it would hear arguments in January regarding President Donald Trump's effort to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, effectively keeping her in her position for the time being.

However, that early momentum faded, and the gauge that measures the dollar's strength against six major currencies ultimately erased its initial gains to trade flat. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar traded slightly higher.

Meanwhile, the euro was stable after news broke that the U.S. will reportedly provide Ukraine with intelligence to conduct long-range missile strikes on Russia’s energy facilities. The British pound also remained unchanged.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the Australian dollar appreciated slightly after new data showed that household spending rose only marginally in August, with purchases of goods actually declining.

The New Zealand dollar continued its strong performance, extending its winning streak for a fifth consecutive day.

Currency Power Balance

Source: OANDA Labs

Gold prices moved slightly higher on Thursday, holding close to the record high they reached the previous day.

This stability was supported by two factors: continued expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again this year, and ongoing political uncertainty (US government shutdown).

The price of spot gold rose 0.2% to $3,871.99 per ounce, though this was just below Wednesday's all-time high of $3,895.09.

Oil prices moved slightly higher on Thursday, recovering a bit after falling for the previous three sessions. The small gain was due to renewed concerns about potential disruptions to Russian crude oil exports.

Specifically, the Group of Seven (G7) nations' finance ministers announced on Wednesday that they will take steps to increase pressure on Russia by targeting those who continue to buy Russian oil and those who help Russia get around existing sanctions. Despite this support, the overall gains in oil prices were limited by ongoing worries about too much supply in the global market.

Brent crude futures gained 14 cents to $65.49 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 14 cents to $61.92 a barrel.

Economic Calendar and Final Thoughts

Looking at the economic calendar, the European session will be quiet moving forward.

The US session will be intriguing once more. In light of the US government shutdown preventing the release of many major economic reports, alternative data sources, like yesterday's ADP report and today's Challenger job cuts report, will have a bigger and longer-lasting effect on the markets than they normally would.

Specifically, since the usual weekly report on jobless claims won't be released today, the Challenger report on job cuts for September could have a very large impact. The US dollar still looks weak, but without clear, major news (strong catalysts), traders may be cautious.

For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar. (click to enlarge)

Chart of the Day - DAX Index

From a technical standpoint, the DAX index has finally broken above the channel which had been in play since early August.

This sets the DAX up for a potential 900 point rally to the upside.

Of course a pullback could materialize before the rally gains pace, but this may also depend on the global stock rally and Wall Street in particular.

Support rests at 24200 before the confluence level at 24000 comes back into focus. Below that we have the 20-day MA which may come into play and rests at the 23746 handle.

On the upside resistance may be found at 24500 before the start of the channel high at 24665 comes into focus.

DAX Index Daily Chart, October 2. 2025

Source: TradingView.com (click to enlarge)

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