White House advisor predicts government shutdown may end; Apple and gold hit record highs.

Trump Confident in Strong Trade Agreement with South Korea

On October 20, Eastern Time, former President Trump announced during a live event that he plans to meet with Chinese officials in the coming weeks to finalize a trade agreement. He expressed confidence in reaching a strong deal following discussions with South Korea, warning that tariffs could rise to 155% if no agreement is reached by November 1. Trump emphasized the importance of U.S.-China economic cooperation and reiterated his plan to visit China in early 2026.

White House Reports on Australian Investments

The White House stated that Australian pension funds are expected to increase their investments in the U.S. to $1.44 trillion by 2035, an increase of nearly $1 trillion from current levels.

Key Mineral Agreement with Australia

Trump and Australian Prime Minister Albanese signed a key minerals and rare earth cooperation agreement valued at approximately $8.5 billion. Several collaborative projects are set to launch within the next six months, with plans to develop new projects alongside Japan.

Federal Reserve and Economic Updates

Bank Reserves at Critical Levels

According to Nick Timiraos, a spokesperson for the Federal Reserve, bank reserves have recently fallen below 13% of bank assets, a level previously deemed "adequate" by New York Fed President Williams.

Government Shutdown Update

White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett indicated that the ongoing federal government shutdown, which has lasted 20 days, is expected to end this week, attributing the situation to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

U.S. Stock Market Performance

U.S. stock indices rose over 1% on Monday, driven by easing trade tensions and a surge in Apple shares. The Dow Jones gained 515.97 points, closing at 46,706.58; the Nasdaq rose 310.57 points to 22,990.54; and the S&P 500 increased by 67.35 points to 6,735.13.

Apple Hits Record High

Apple's stock reached a historic high, rising 3.94% to a market cap of $3.89 trillion, making it the second-largest U.S. company by market value, surpassing Microsoft.

Nvidia and Google Cloud Partnership

Nvidia and Google Cloud announced the launch of enterprise-level AI solutions, featuring the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell server GPU. This collaboration aims to enhance AI applications across key industries.

Other Notable Market Movements

• Amazon AWS Service Disruption: Amazon's cloud service experienced a significant outage affecting numerous businesses.
• NVIDIA's New Semiconductor Products: Nanowire Semiconductor's stock rose over 16% after announcing new products for Nvidia's AI factories.
• Merck's New Production Facility: Merck is investing $3 billion in a new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Virginia.

Chinese Market Updates

China Mobile's Q3 Revenue Growth

China Mobile reported a 2.5% year-on-year revenue increase in Q3, with significant growth in AI-related income.

CATL's Q3 Performance

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) saw a 12.9% increase in revenue and a 41.21% rise in net profit for Q3.

Upcoming Financial Events

The Federal Reserve will hold a payment innovation meeting, and companies like Coca-Cola, Netflix, and Lockheed Martin are set to release their latest earnings reports.