Overnight US stocks | Risk appetite returns across the board as all three major indices rise; SpaceX (SPCX.US) gains 7.7%

Wednesday, solid results from SpaceX (SPCX.US) and Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI.US) reinforced bullish sentiment around the AI trade, risk appetite returned across the board, and all three major indices rose, with the Nasdaq gaining more than 1% and Bitcoin briefly approaching $85,000. [US Stocks] At the close, the Dow rose 360.21 points, or 0.69%, to 52,856.09; the S&P 500 rose 44.60 points, or 0.58%, to 7,757.17; the Nasdaq rose 278.04 points, or 1.05%, to 26,702.85. SpaceX rose 7.7%, Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) rose more than 3%, and SK Hynix (SKHY.US) and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) rose more than 2%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 2.35%, Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR (BABA.US) fell 3.8%, and XPeng, Inc. ADR Sponsored Class A (XPEV.US) fell 5.5%. [European Stocks] The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.8%, the German DAX rose 1.2%, the FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, the French CAC 40 rose 0.9%, and the Swiss Market Index rose 0.4%. [Forex] The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.08% on the day and closed at 101.780 in late foreign exchange trading. As of late New York trading, 1 euro traded at $1.1223, below $1.1237 in the previous session; 1 pound traded at $1.3384, above $1.3383 in the previous session. 1 dollar traded at 158.29 yen, above 158.20 yen in the previous session; 1 dollar traded at 0.8254 Swiss francs, above 0.8248 Swiss francs in the previous session; 1 dollar traded at 1.4052 Canadian dollars, below 1.4057 Canadian dollars in the previous session; 1 dollar traded at 9.8985 Swedish kronor, above 9.8979 Swedish kronor in the previous session. [Cryptocurrencies] Bitcoin rose more than 2% and was at $84,781 as of publication. Ethereum rose more than 1.7% to $2,496. [Precious Metals] Spot gold rose 0.38% to $4,140.73/oz; spot silver fell 0.03% to $57.96/oz. [Crude Oil] The December light crude futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 67 cents to settle at $97.15 per barrel, a decline of 0.68%; the December London Brent crude futures contract rose 3 cents to settle at $108.82 per barrel, a gain of 0.03%. [Macro News] Media: US reduces troops at Middle East bases in recent days to guard against escalation of action against Iran. According to reports, two US officials and two people familiar with the matter said the US military has quietly reduced forces at multiple bases in the Middle East in recent days, involving military bases in Jordan, Qatar and Kuwait. Two US officials said that on Wednesday, heads of multiple US diplomatic missions in the Middle East were notified that the relevant missions would begin reducing personnel. Previously, the US State Department clarified that the relevant diplomatic evacuations were limited to Saudi Arabia. The report said that as Trump considers restarting large-scale military action against Iran, further evacuating US military personnel from dangerous areas is one of the plans being developed by US military officials, and related actions may occur around the midterm elections next month. Before the war broke out in February this year, the US military had withdrawn most of its troops in the Middle East to guard against Iranian retaliation. Some personnel later returned to the bases and may now evacuate again. The US plans to retain a small number of personnel at the relevant bases responsible for air defense and security. US Central Command said the US military regularly moves personnel and equipment to optimize mission readiness but will not disclose specific movement details. Iranian official: If attacks resume, US political targets will be listed as strike targets. According to reports, a senior Iranian security official said Iran believes the United States and Israel may launch attacks at any time and no longer trusts US diplomatic gestures. US Secretary of State Rubio's remarks in Athens further deepened Iran's judgment. Iran's political and intellectual elites generally believe that US Middle East policy is dominated by Israel, and Israel will not allow the United States to seek a diplomatic solution because US President Trump has always prioritized Israel. Iran now regards itself as already at war with the United States and views the US economic blockade, maritime blockade and airspace restrictions as a continuation of military aggression. Domestic pressure in Iran to break the blockade through decisive action is rising. The official said Iran has issued instructions to combat units at all levels: if a new round of large-scale war breaks out, including the assassination of Iranian officials or the killing of civilians, Iran will regard US political targets, parties to the conflict and their infrastructure as legitimate strike targets. US plans to lend about one-third of heating oil reserves in bid to curb oil price rise. The U.S. Energy Corp. Department said on Wednesday that the Trump administration proposed lending nearly one-third of the United States' 1 million barrels of emergency heating oil reserves in a bid to curb soaring oil prices. Heating oil is similar in composition to diesel, and diesel prices have hit a record high of more than $6.50 per gallon due to Middle East supply disruptions caused by the Iran war. A source at the department said the government will assess whether further releases of heating oil from the reserves are needed. U.S. Energy Corp. Secretary Wright said the government is "committed to doing everything possible to lower energy costs." The department said it will conduct a loan bidding process for fuel retailers and terminal holders to ensure fuel flows to areas facing shortages. Bailey defends speaking out over Trump's attacks on Powell. Bank of England Governor Bailey said he was right to act at the time to defend then-Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell from Trump's attacks and would do so again. Bailey said he and other central bank governors spoke out because the US president began targeting Powell "as an individual" rather than the institution's policies. "I only commented when I believed it was an attack on him as a person and a friend," Bailey said. "I regard Jay as a friend, and he is a person of the utmost integrity. Saying 'I'm sorry, we will support our friend' was the right response at the time, and I know I would do it again." Bailey previously said he was "very concerned" about Trump's attacks on Federal Reserve officials, warning that any trend weakening central bank independence could spill over to other parts of the world. Putin agrees in principle to resume Russia-US-Ukraine trilateral peace talks, location may be Abu Dhabi. According to reports, the Kremlin said Russian President Putin told US envoy Witkoff on Wednesday that he "agrees in principle" to resume trilateral peace talks among Russia, Ukraine and the United States around November 10 to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the location possibly in Abu Dhabi. Witkoff held a three-hour meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg that day and submitted to him the latest plan to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Trump envoy Kushner participated in the meeting by video. Witkoff told Putin that progress had been made in the Oslo talks and hoped both sides would consider resuming Russia-US-Ukraine trilateral negotiations and allow technical experts to participate in discussions of specific issues. He also submitted multiple documents to Putin on a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In addition, Putin also told Witkoff that he hoped to discuss the possibility of Russia playing a mediating role between the United States and Iran. Putin said Russia has established decades of special mutual trust with Iran and is willing to help resolve the current crisis. [Company News] IBM revenue beats expectations, delayed orders recover faster, software business grows 8.3%. IBM (IBM.US) reported third-quarter revenue that exceeded analyst expectations. The company said most of the infrastructure business orders delayed earlier this year have now been signed again. The earnings report showed that for the quarter ended September 30, company revenue grew about 5% year over year to $17.1 billion. Revenue from the infrastructure business, including mainframe servers, rose 4% to $3.7 billion, and both results were above analysts' average expectations. IBM Chief Financial Officer Kavanaugh said about two-thirds of the mainframe and related software deals delayed earlier this year have now been signed. In July this year, IBM said that amid a shortage of chips and servers caused by the AI boom, customers temporarily shifted spending to chips and servers, hurting the company's mainframe and software businesses. IBM's closely watched software business third-quarter revenue grew 8.3% to $7.8 billion, above Wall Street expectations of $7.64 billion. For full-year performance, IBM now expects free cash flow to increase by more than $1 billion, above its previous forecast of about $1 billion. Tesla, Inc. profit falls for second consecutive quarter, free cash flow does not turn negative. Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) reported on Wednesday that profit fell year over year for a second consecutive quarter as the company continued to invest heavily in autonomous vehicles, humanoid Siasun Robot&Automation and other emerging technologies. Tesla, Inc. said third-quarter net profit fell to $787 million from $1.4 billion a year earlier, a decline of about 44%. Revenue was $28 billion, basically flat from a year earlier. Market expectations had projected third-quarter net profit of $785 million and revenue of $27.88 billion. Musk had previously warned that Tesla, Inc.'s profit would be affected as the company directs resources into AI-driven autonomous driving technology and humanoid Siasun Robot&Automation research and development. However, revenue from these new businesses remains very limited. Tesla, Inc.'s third-quarter free cash flow was positive $1.53 billion, versus market expectations of negative $4.921 billion. Meta capital expenditure seen at up to $145 billion, also to issue new non-voting shares. Meta Platforms (META.US) raised its capital expenditure forecast and announced plans to establish a new class of non-voting stock. The two moves indicate that the social media giant is further increasing its already massive AI investment. Meta said on Wednesday when reporting quarterly results that 2026 capital expenditure is expected to reach $135 billion to $145 billion, compared with its previous forecast range of $130 billion to $135 billion. At the same time, Meta plans to distribute new class shares to existing investors in the form of stock dividends. Under the plan, existing shareholders will receive corresponding new shares, with the practical effect essentially equivalent to a 2-for-1 stock split. Meta said it expects the new shares to begin trading in January next year. The company said the new class of shares will be used for raising capital, employee compensation and potential acquisitions. These moves show Meta is confident that its AI investment will ultimately generate returns. Meta's third-quarter revenue was $64.6 billion, above market expectations of $63.334 billion. Meta also expects fourth-quarter revenue to reach $73 billion to $76 billion, compared with analysts' previous average expectation of $73.6 billion. SpaceX results beat expectations but trigger debt concerns, credit risk indicators continue to rise. SpaceX (SPCX.US) third-quarter net profit reached $4.4 billion, far exceeding market expectations of $1.88 billion, and revenue grew 161% year over year, driving its shares up as much as 12.4% intraday on Wednesday. But the company said it will continue to invest heavily, triggering concerns about a future expansion in borrowing. The spread on SpaceX's 6.6% coupon bonds maturing in 2046 widened by 9 basis points to 264 basis points; the price of five-year credit default swaps (CDS) once rose to 232.6 basis points, setting new highs multiple times this month. SpaceX Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said the company will focus investment on computing power for its superintelligence unit and Starlink broadband and mobile businesses, and is in talks with multiple sources of debt capital for financing. The company issued $25 billion in bonds in June, and there were previously reports that SpaceX is in talks to raise $40 billion to buy NVIDIA Corporation chips. Johnsen said the company plans to maintain an investment-grade credit rating.