Good morning and welcome to your end of week summary of global business and political news from around the world.
First, as NBR has been reporting over the last 24 hours, analysts are digesting Nvidia’s latest results, with broader jitters flowing through about artificial intelligence valuations.
Wall Street has turned red, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and tech-heavy Nasdaq declining after earlier gains. Nvidia shares turned negative after rising 5% following its quarterly results, which beat earnings and revenue expectations, CNBC reported.
CEO Jensen Huang said demand for its current-generation chips were “off the charts” and he rejected the suggestion of an AI bubble. But CNBC said there were “resurfacing worries” about AI trade and valuations, as well as concern about the Federal Reserve’s next rate decision.
Hargreaves Lansdown senior equity analyst Matt Britzman said valuations for certain areas of the AI sector needed to take a breather, but Nvidia was not in that camp. Nvidia previously expected US$500 billion in AI chip orders through next year, the BBC noted. Nvidia chief financial officer Colette Kress said the company would "probably" be taking more orders on top of the US$500b that had already been announced.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump said six Democrats had committed seditious behaviour punishable by death after they urged members of the military not to obey unlawful orders, the ABC reported.
Trump responded online: "Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???
"SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!".
Senator Chris Coons urged Republicans to condemn what Trump said. “The administration should never try to force our servicemembers to carry out an illegal order.”
Staying in the US, official employment data showed a rise in hiring, as well as a slight uptick in unemployment. Employers added 119,000 jobs in September, more than double what analysts had expected, the BBC reported. Unemployment rose from 4.3% to 4.4%. Overall, employment growth had still barely moved since April, raising pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again to support the economy.
A former Philippines mayor, accused of spying for China, has been found guilty of human trafficking and running a scam centre, the BBC reported.
Alice Guo and three others were sentenced to life in prison this week. Authorities had uncovered one of the country's biggest scam centres in the town of Bamban. Around 800 Filipinos and foreigners were later rescued from the scam hub after a raid.
Guo, who was arrested last year after being on the run, denied all allegations against her.
Meanwhile, a passenger ferry carrying 267 people crashed in South Korea because the operator was on his phone, authorities alleged, the ABC and Reuters reported. All passengers and crew were safely rescued on Wednesday local time, after the vessel crashed into an island off the country's south-west coast.
Crew members had given conflicting testimonies. Investigators said the first officer initially indicated there was a technical issue before admitting he had been on his phone at the time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, agreed to work on a peace plan drafted by the US and Russia and expected to talk with Trump in the coming days about the proposals, Bloomberg reported.
Ukraine officially received a draft plan which the US said could help reignite diplomacy. Zelensky hoped to discuss with Trump the diplomatic opportunities required to achieve peace.
US officials said the plan was still being worked on, and any final agreement would require concessions from both sides, not just Ukraine, CNN reported. The 28-point plan marked the White House’s latest attempt to bring the Russian invasion of Ukraine to an end.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
