Until the past few weeks, copper futures in New York had traded at persistent premiums to the global benchmark set on the London Metal Exchange, and that's enabled traders to make unprecedented profits shipping copper to the US before any levies come in.

Asian markets traded mixed on Monday, October 19, as investors awaited China's third-quarter GDP data. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.26% and South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.56%, while Australia's ASX 200 advanced 0.3%. Brent crude slipped below $109 a barrel but held most of last week's gains as conflicts persisted in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Investors are also watching September-quarter earnings from 35 companies, including Bajaj Finance and UltraTech Cement.

The development of AI agents has become a central part of Anthropic's future strategy, with the company preparing for a potential initial public offering (IPO) that investors expect could rank among the largest stock market listings in history.

India shifts ethanol procurement to corn and rice as weak rainfall threatens sugar output and domestic prices touch record highs.

CoreWeave's heavy debt load and a sharp drop in its shares have pushed investors to reassess the financial sustainability of the artificial intelligence sector. The company carries about $50 billion in debt and has raised its annual capital spending forecast to between $35 billion and $39 billion. Analysts expect 2026 revenue of nearly $13 billion alongside a loss of more than $2.13 billion, while yields on some of its bonds have climbed towards 16%. The strain has spread to Anthropic and OpenAI, with Anthropic's valuation expectation cut to $1.5 trillion from about $2 trillion.

US technology stocks recorded their steepest decline in three months, wiping out about $850 billion in a single session. September CPI came in at 3.7% year on year, above expectations, reviving fears that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates further. Chip stocks fell across the board, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF down 4.5%. Oracle slid 8.8%.

Gold fell over 1% to a one-week low as hotter-than-expected US inflation boosted Federal Reserve rate hike bets, lifting the dollar and Treasury yields and weighing on non-yielding bullion.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell on Tuesday, led by declines in technology stocks. Reports said ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s annualized revenue is about $50 billion, below some market estimates of $70 billion. The news helped trigger a selloff in chip shares, pushing the Nasdaq 100 down 1.4% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 3.4%.

Constellation Brands fell nearly 5% in premarket trading after reporting quarterly results and issuing weaker-than-expected full-year earnings guidance. SpaceX shares dropped 2.34% after reports said the company is seeking to raise about $40 billion to buy chips from Nvidia for its AI development push, in what would be its biggest-ever debt financing. Neogen rose nearly 15% after beating quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and raising its fiscal 2027 revenue guidance.