New York market closes mixed…\"US may have to close all airports\" [Morning Briefing]

◆ New York stocks closed mixed despite strength in tech stocks…Dow down 0.48%

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed. On the 3rd local time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 40,733.68, down 0.48% from the previous session; the S&P 500 closed at 6,851.97, up 0.17%; and the Nasdaq closed at 23,834.72, up 0.46%. Amazon’s signing of a $38 billion cloud computing deal with OpenAI supported gains in tech stocks. The temporary trade agreement reached at the U.S.-China summit on the 30th of last month also helped ease market anxiety. However, aside from tech stocks, most issues were weak, with more than 300 S&P 500 companies in decline.

◆ U.S. Transportation Secretary: "May have to close all airports" if shutdown drags on

With the U.S. federal government shutdown that has halted some functions now past one month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the country may have to close all airports. In an interview with local media, Secretary Duffy said, "Operations are currently delayed," and that "the risk (to the air traffic control system) has increased significantly." He added, "If it is judged unsafe, we will have to close all airports." About 13,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay during the shutdown, and increasing fatigue and worsening staffing shortages have led to repeated flight delays and cancellations at major U.S. airports.

◆ U.S. to seek sanctions on N. Korean and third-country ships over coal exports violating UNSC sanctions

The U.S. State Department is pushing to designate North Korean and third-country vessels that exported coal and iron ore in violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions as targets for sanctions. In a press briefing, the State Department said that North Korean coal, which is banned from export, was transported and unloaded to the Weifeng area of China via third-country ships in May–June near North Korean waters. It urged that vessels involved in violating Security Council sanctions on North Korea be designated for sanctions. The U.S. move to seek such designations at the U.N. Panel of Experts on North Korea is the first in years and is seen as a sign that the U.S. will not only pursue conciliatory measures toward North Korea. However, because Russia and China are permanent members of the Security Council, the chances of the sanctions measure passing appear slim.

◆ Major crypto plunge after mass liquidations of derivatives…Solana down 8.5%

Major cryptocurrencies plunged as derivatives were massively liquidated in the crypto market. As of 5 a.m. this morning according to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin was trading at 107,199 dollars, down 2.6% from 24 hours earlier; Ethereum was down 5.3% at 3,642 dollars. Fourth-ranked Ripple was down 5.5% at 2.34 dollars, fifth-ranked Binance Coin was down 7.1% at 1,000 dollars, and sixth-ranked Solana plunged 8.5% to 167 dollars. The sell-off is attributed to risk-off behavior in the crypto market, with about 1.13 billion dollars of long positions liquidated and about 799 million dollars flowing out of Bitcoin ETFs, indicating that institutional investors are also pulling funds from the market.

◆ President Lee Jae-myung to deliver policy speech today…asks cooperation on next year’s 728 trillion won budget

President Lee Jae-myung will deliver a policy speech on next year’s government budget. He is expected to explain the budget’s direction and policy necessities and ask both ruling and opposition parties to cooperate in swift passage. Next year’s budget, the administration’s first main budget, amounts to 728 trillion won and is concentrated on areas related to national economic growth policies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and research and development (R&D). At the Cabinet meeting in August that approved next year’s budget, the president emphasized "economic innovation" and "reducing export dependence" as key tasks, stating, "Next year’s budget is a primer to solve these two tasks simultaneously and to achieve recovery and growth through a great economic innovation."

◆ Morning lows near 1°C early-winter chill…warmer at 21°C in the afternoon

On Tuesday the 4th, the early-morning will remain in an early-winter chill, but warmer autumn weather is expected to return from the afternoon. Morning lows are expected to be 1–11°C, and daytime highs 14–21°C. With a diurnal range around 15°C, take care of your health. Skies will be mostly cloudy nationwide then clear from the afternoon, and Jeju may see less than 5 mm of rain. Frost and icy conditions are expected in central inland areas, Gangwon mountain areas, and high mountains in the southern regions. Fine dust concentrations will be at 'Good' to 'Moderate' levels across all regions.

O Se-sung, Hankyung.com reporter sesung@hankyung.com