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Summary:
Oil drifted lower after reports that Vice President Vance wrote to Iranian hard-liner Mohsen Rezaei at Trump’s direction to revive peace talks
Some analysts said Trump’s remarks implied the letter touched on the US blockade or frozen Iranian funds
Gold held above $4,000 an ounce
RBNZ Governor Breman said the chances of a December hike are high, a day after a surprise hold; the NZ dollar was little changed
New Zealand business confidence rose to +53, with pricing intentions at their highest since May
The HKMA held its base rate at 4.25%, in step with the Fed
Microsoft shares rose after hours and Alphabet fell sharply
A Peltz-led group offered $1.4 billion to take Wendy’s private
Samsung posted record Q3 profit but its shares fell as much as 6.6% after it delayed its shareholder-return plan
The Kospi fell 2.8%, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.8%, and the Nikkei and Hang Seng were flat
Oil and Iran
Oil prices drifted lower during the Asian session after reports that the United States is making a fresh diplomatic push with Iran. The Wall Street Journal reported that Vice President JD Vance wrote to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and one of the country’s most powerful hard-liners, in an attempt to revive peace negotiations. According to the report, the letter was sent at President Donald Trump’s direction, even as Trump has threatened to restart the war after next week’s midterm elections.
Later reporting added detail that suggested a more determined effort. Some analysts said remarks Trump made to reporters implied the letter may have addressed either the US blockade of Iranian ports or the release of frozen Iranian funds, possibly around $6 billion held in Qatar that was originally freed for humanitarian imports. Neither point has been confirmed. ANZ cautioned that risks to oil prices remain elevated, citing repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure.
Gold
Gold held above $4,000 an ounce. A Reuters poll published this week showed analysts cutting their 2026 forecast for a second straight quarter, citing high yields and a strong dollar linked to the Iran war, though they expect a recovery in 2027.
New Zealand
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Anna Breman said the chances of a December rate hike are high, adding that the whole committee agrees further increases are likely, though the timing is uncertain. Her comments came a day after the RBNZ surprised markets by holding the cash rate at 2.75%. The New Zealand dollar ended the session little changed. Separately, the ANZ Business Outlook survey showed business confidence rising to +53 in October, with the share of firms planning price increases at its highest since May.
Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority held its base rate at 4.25%, as expected, following the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep rates steady. Under Hong Kong’s currency peg, the base rate is set 50 basis points above the lower end of the Fed funds target range.
Company news
Microsoft shares rose after hours after the company beat expectations, with Azure growth accelerating and the chief financial officer saying it expects to stay cash flow positive despite higher capital spending. Alphabet shares fell sharply after hours as a miss in search advertising and negative free cash flow overshadowed Google Cloud revenue more than doubling.
An investor group led by Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management offered $7.35 a share in cash to take Wendy’s private, valuing the burger chain at around $1.4 billion.
Samsung Electronics reported a record third-quarter operating profit of around 107 trillion won, driven by demand for AI memory chips. Its shares, however, reversed earlier gains and fell as much as 6.6% after the company said it would delay details of a shareholder-return plan until late January. Rival SK Hynix, by contrast, has announced around $45 billion in additional returns. Weaker-than-expected chip margins and a roughly 60% rise in capital expenditure this year also weighed on the stock.
Equities
Regional equity markets were mixed. South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.8% and the Kosdaq lost 2.9%, with Samsung’s slide weighing heavily. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were little changed.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.
