Asian Stocks Rise Ahead of Apple Earnings as Oil Slips

Stock markets in Asia rose on Monday as investors hoped Apple’s earnings would ease concerns about AI-related cash burn. Oil prices fell as talks continued between Iranian and Qatari mediators.

Oil Prices Retreat

Brent crude futures fell 3.3% to $109.70 a barrel, following a 13.6% rise in October and continued attacks on tankers in the Gulf. U.S. crude futures dropped 3.4% to $100.58 a barrel.

Apple in Focus

Apple is seen as a relative oasis of calm in the market because it is not spending billions of dollars on data centers. Its shares have risen for four consecutive months, helping it overtake Nvidia as the world’s most valuable listed company.

Analysts expect quarterly revenue of $113 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $2, up from $1.85 a year earlier. The company may also give some indication of how early iPhone 18 sales have gone, with pre-orders having begun in mid-October.

Futures and Nasdaq

S&P 500 futures gained 0.5% and Nasdaq futures rose 0.9%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq lost about 7% in October, its worst month since the April 2025 “Liberation Day” tariff shock.

Last week, concerns about negative cash flow and the scale of AI capital spending rattled the market, sharply raising the cost of insurance against corporate defaults. Intel’s roughly 29% drop on Friday raised risks for other chipmakers, including AMD. The U.S. midterm elections add another risk: a Democratic win in both chambers could create more political obstacles for data centers.

Goldman Sachs: Growth Is Slowing

Goldman Sachs analysts expect hyperscaler capital expenditure to roughly double this year to $800 billion and rise further to $1.2 trillion in 2027. At the same time, they forecast S&P 500 EPS growth slowing from about 30% in 2026 to 18% next year.

Ben Snider, the bank’s chief U.S. equity strategist, noted that profit growth is strong but no longer accelerating. In his view, third-quarter results support the thesis that AI spending will keep rising, but the pace of capital spending growth has peaked.

Anxiety in Crypto Markets

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, resumed operations on Sunday after hackers stole billions of dollars from the platform last week. Withdrawals from the exchange have since added to the nervous mood.

Asian and European Markets

Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) rose 2.6%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) gained 0.5%. China’s blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.3%, after media reports that regulators will meet financial institutions to discuss measures to support capital markets.

In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures rose 0.3% and DAX futures added 0.2%, while FTSE futures were flat.

Interest Rates and Yields

Last month’s equity sell-off boosted demand for safe-haven bonds, and investors wondered whether the sustained selling might deter the Federal Reserve from raising rates in December. Futures still imply a 72% chance of a quarter-point hike, but total tightening priced in has fallen to 55 basis points from more than 70 a month ago.

The 10-year Treasury yield stands at 4.931%, well below its October peak of 5.3645%, and the 2-year yield is 4.612%. The Treasury will announce its quarterly refunding plans on Wednesday, which could signal more issuance at the shorter end of the curve.

Among central banks meeting this week, markets expect the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Bank of England and the Riksbank to raise rates, while Norges Bank is on hold.

This Week’s Economic Calendar

The U.S. ISM manufacturing survey for October is due Monday, while the key payrolls report comes Friday. After a disappointing gain of 29,000 in September, forecasts call for an average increase of 65,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate expected to stay at 4.2%.

Currencies and Gold

In currency markets, major moves are concentrated in equities. The euro edged up to $1.1169, and the dollar rose to 157.75 yen.

Gold, which pays no interest, rose 0.9% to $3,911 an ounce after falling 6.8% last month amid talk that some investors have been forced to sell it to meet margin calls on equities