Daily Buzz: 8 October 2026

US Says Iran Must Make 'Meaningful' Cuts in Uranium Enrichment

US Vice President JD Vance told Reuters that Iran must make a "meaningful" reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity to satisfy US demands and end the seven-month war. That appeared to somewhat of a softening from earlier demands that Iran renounce uranium enrichment and nuclear-weapons development. Iran has said its enrichment program is only for peaceful purposes, a claim the US discredits. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran has passed up "multiple" chances to reach a deal on its nuclear program, as peace talks stall. Iran indicated there have been "no negotiations" between Tehran and Washington over Iran's nuclear program, according to a Reuters report.

China Says It's in Communication With Russia Over Plague Report

China's foreign ministry said it is maintaining close communications with Russia after that nation reported a woman researcher at a Siberian lab studying the plague died, apparently of the disease. "China and Russia maintain close communication and cooperation in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, including the plague," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said. Unconfirmed reports suggest the woman fell ill either after breaking a test tube containing the pathogen or following a field trip to a region where the plague occurs naturally among wild rodents. Russian media reported that nearly 200 people known to have had contact with the dead woman were under medical observation as a precaution. Sketchy reports of the lab incident have stirred global concern about a pathogen escaping safety controls. The World Health Organization said Russian health authorities have reported no recent cases of pneumonic plague. US President Donald Trump said he will discuss the incident on a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Moscow to release more information about the technician's death.

Samsung Operating Profit Posts Another Quarterly Record

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chipmaker, reported preliminary third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won (US$80.2 billion), surging past 100 trillion won for the first time in the company's history, as booming demand for AI chips continues to fuel its business. Quarterly operating profit jumped 782 percent from a year earlier on a 127 percent increase in revenue to 195 trillion won. The profit exceeded market forecasts. The company is stepping up investments and partnerships tied to artificial intelligence. Last month, it announced a partnership with French AI startup Mistral AI. Samsung is expected to release its full third-quarter earnings, including a breakdown by business divisions, later this month.

Chemistry Nobel Prize Goes to Japanese, French Scientists

The 2026 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded jointly to French scientist Henri Kagan and Japan's Kenso Soai for their work designing groundbreaking experiments that replicated chemical asymmetry, a feat previously only in nature. The pair's work hinges on the concept of chirality: that the structure of molecules fundamental to life includes mirror image forms, a little like human hands. However, only one of those variants is actually found in the cells of living things. This phenomenon, known as homochirality, has long puzzled scientists who weren't able to replicate it in a lab.

Pensioner at Center of Spanish Housing-Cost Protests Dies

The 87-year-old woman, whose eviction from her rental home sparked nationwide protests in Spain and led to the government calling a snap election, has died. Pensioner Maricarmen Abascal was forcibly removed from her Madrid home on a stretcher last month, turfed out of an apartment she had occupied for seven decades after she was unable to afford a five-fold rent increase.

Giant Tortoise Reveals Some Secrets of Longevity

Scientists have sequenced the genome of Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise, the world's oldest known land animal at age 194, uncovering genetic traits that may explain his extraordinary lifespan. The study, published in Science Advances, identified 287 unique gene variants tied to DNA repair, tumor suppression and mitochondrial function. Researchers also found that certain regions of Jonathan's gene structure appear as youthful as those of a 5-year-old tortoise. The findings broadly align with patterns observed in exceptionally long-lived humans, suggesting shared aging mechanisms across species.

Top Business

DeepSeek Reportedly May Double Target for Fundraising Round

DeepSeek, the little-known Chinese AI startup that burst onto the world scene in 2025 after releasing a chatbot cheaper than those of US tech heavyweights, is considering expanding its latest funding round to as much as 100 billion yuan (US$15 billion), double its earlier target, CNBC reported. The company is reportedly seeking an initial public offering in Shanghai early next year, drawing big interest from state-backed funds, investment arms of Chinese listed companies and venture capital firms. DeepSeek had been financed by a private equity fund controlled by founder Liang Wenfeng, prior to seeking outside investment for the first time earlier this year. Bloomberg News reported earlier this week that DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuan, with Tencent and battery maker CATL among the largest investors, and is eyeing an IPO in early 2027. The company reportedly is seeking a pre-IPO valuation of 500 billion yuan.

SpaceX Reportedly Seeking US$40 Billion in Debt Financing

Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to raise US$40 billion in bank loans and bond sales – led by asset manager Apollo Global Management -- to purchase Nvidia chips, the Financial Times reported. The move highlights the high cost of AI development that is sending many technology companies into higher debt as the cost of borrowing rises. Investment bank Morgan Stanley estimates AI infrastructure will require US$1.5 trillion in external financing by 2028, stirring caution among some lenders and investors about the risk of the AI bubble deflating. Musk earlier said xAI's Colossus 2 data center, part of the SpaceX family, could more than double the number of Nvidia chips ⁠it uses by December.

Finland Suspends Work on Two Google Data Centers

Finland ordered Google to stop work on two data centers after failing to carry out required environmental impact assessments on its construction sites. The two data centers are part of a 13-billion-euro (US$15 billion) project across multiple sites in northern Finland. The temporary stop-order came after Google had felled 330 hectares of forestland at one site and has been logging 200 hectares at the other. Finland has emerged as a key location for data centers amid the AI boom because of its vast tracts of available land and abundant power supplies.

Separately, Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs said AI data center expansion in the US is expected to remain strong despite growing political and public opposition. Goldman raised its forecast for US data center capacity by the end of this year by 5 gigawatts to 64 gigawatts. Data centers provide computing power for training and running AI models developed by companies like Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and xAI. Local communities across the US are opposing location of the centers in their backyards, citing concerns about the energy-hungry sites driving up electricity bills. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in June showed only about one-third of Americans supported the current pace of data center construction

Economy & Markets

China Forex Reserves Fall, Gold Holdings Rise

China's foreign-exchange reserves in September declined by US$38.1 billion to US$3.4 trillion on a higher dollar value and easing global asset prices, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange reported. The People's Bank of China said its gold holdings at the end of last month rose by 740,000 troy ounces from August to a record 77.47 million ounces. The central bank increased its gold reserves for the 23rd straight month. However, the value of those holding fell to US$323.5 billion on a 6 percent drop in global gold prices. In Hong Kong, foreign-currency reserves fell by US$9.8 billion in September from the month prior to US$433 billion.

Flurry of Company Disclosures Ahead of China Trading Resumption

On the Wednesday eve of trading resumption after a weeklong holiday, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges fielded a wave of corporate disclosures covering asset restructurings, earnings forecasts, share buybacks and stake changes. XinYa Technology sought a trading suspension amid plans to acquire a controlling stake in Shanghai-based Qiyuan Gas Development through a cash-and-share offer. Beibu Gulf Port also halted trading due to plans to acquire Guangxi Free Trade Zone Qinzhou Port Area Henggang Terminal, and Rongfeng Holding's temporary trading halt relates to changes in controlling shareholder Shengshida Investment Co. Amid earnings forecasts, Huahai Pharmaceutical said it expects net profit attributable for the first three quarters of 2026 rise up to 190 percent from a year earlier to as high as 1.1 billion yuan (US$164.8 million), and Feilong Auto predicted a profit decline of up to 66.9 percent. On buybacks, Allist Pharmaceuticals said it is proposing to repurchase shares of up to 200 million yuan.

French Bond Yields Send Dire Warning

French government bond yields have blown out as the nationwide wave of violent student protests demanding more funds for education refocuses attention on the nation's precarious finances. Public debt was more than US$4 trillion in June, exceeding the size of the whole economy, and the cost of servicing that debt has surged as bond yields rise. Demands on the public purses are increasing, not only from students but also from pension costs and pledges to spend more on defense. Last week, the French government proposed deep spending cuts and tax hikes aimed at narrowing the runaway budget deficit, but past attempts at those remedies have been stymied by parliamentary squabbles and public outcry. The spread between French and German bond yields expanded to its widest level since 2012, meaning that investors demand much higher returns to hold debt from France, compared with Germany. The Bank of France, while acknowledging France's dire economic situation, said the nation is not seeking help at this stage from the European Central Bank.

Bond yields have been rising around the world. In US debt markets, the yields on benchmark 10-year and 30-year Treasury bonds were trading near 24-year highs on Wednesday. Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund, cited rising borrowing costs as one risk to global economic growth, along with high energy prices and record public debt. She urged governments to take protective fiscal and monetary policy measures, noting that

public debt is at the highest level since World War II, singling out the US as one of the worst offenders.

US Energy Agency Raises Forecast for Oil Prices

The US Energy Information Administration raised its oil price forecast for this year and 2027 as global reserve stockpiles deplete rapidly and diesel markets remain tight due to the ongoing Iran war. Attacks on Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, a key export route for one of the world's largest oil producers, underscore the risk of further disruptions to oil flows and prices, the agency said. Global benchmark Brent crude is forecast to average about US$105 a barrel in the fourth quarter, up US$14 from the previous estimate. US retail diesel prices, which hit record highs last month, are expected to remain above US$6 a gallon this month before easing back to about US$4.50 a gallon in 2027, the agency said. Diesel is vital in manufacturing and farm production. In late New York trading, Brent crude futures were priced at about US$101 a barrel.

US Trade Deficit Widens Despite Tariffs Aimed at Curbing Imports

The US trade deficit deteriorated further in August as imports jumped to a record high, dispelling Trump administration claims that higher overseas tariffs would narrow the nation's trade imbalance. The data tends to back up economists' claims that the US doesn't have the capacity or cheap enough labor to produce enough goods to meet consumer demand without help from imports. The US trade deficit in August widened nearly 14 percent to US$105.6 billion, its largest since before Trump began introducing aggressive import tariffs on global trading partners last year.

US Threatens New Ban on Chinese Electronics Testing

The US Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it will vote on October 29 on a measure to bar all Chinese labs from certification on testing electronic devices such as smartphones, cameras and computers for use ‌in the US. Agency chairman Brendan Carr said 82 percent of electronics were tested in China last year. The prohibition, if enacted, would take effect in December 2028. Last year the agency banned testing of US electronics by labs owned or controlled by the Chinese government, but it now claims a substantial majority of China-based test labs are still testing US electronics.

Corporate

Nanya Poised to Raise Prices as Global Chip Crunch Continues

Taiwan-based Nanya Technology is expected to raise contract prices for dynamic random-access chips as much as 20 percent, local media reported. A price hike would come as buyers are scrambling to lock up supplies amid a shortage of chips that shows no sign of abating. Nanya is also expanding into high-bandwidth memory. The company plans to build a 3D wafer packaging and testing facility incorporating through-silicon via and wafer stacking technologies, with approved capital spending to support construction of NT$346.6 billion (US$10.9 billion) over three years. Micron Technology Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra, on an earnings call last month, said he doesn't see a clear point when chip supply will catch up with demand. The US company has already contracted most of its high-bandwidth memory supply for 2027 locked in by buyers, with prices rising sharply year on year.

China-Developed Cancer Drug Fails Testing in the US

Shares in US-based ArriVent BioPharma tanked 47 percent in New York after the company announced a late-stage trial failure involving a cancer drug licensed from Shanghai-based Allist Pharmaceuticals. The drug, called firmonertinib, was aimed at treating a type of lung cancer. In Phase 3 trials, it failed to show that it significantly delayed disease progression, compared with chemotherapy. In 2021, ArriVent acquired the exclusive rights to develop and market the drug outside China – one of the earliest US biotechnology firms licensing Chinese developmental drugs. The South China Morning Post quoted Tony Ren, head of Asia healthcare research at Macquarie Capital, as saying many "out-licensed Chinese drugs are starting to face their moments of truth as they come under more rigorous scrutiny and higher global standards," adding that it's not uncommon for a drug that appears successful to eventually fail.

Mercedes-Benz Sales Decline on Big Drop in China

German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz said core sales in the third quarter declined 8 percent from a year earlier to 407,200 vehicles on challenging market conditions in China, where sales tumbled 31 percent to 86,800 units. However, sales in the US rose 6 percent, with a 5 percent gain in Europe.

CATL Retains Top Global Market Share for Car Batteries

Use of electric-vehicle batteries outside of China rose 24 percent in the first eight months of the year to 360.5 gigawatt-hours, with Chinese battery maker Contemporary Ampere Technology (CATL) holding the largest market share at 34 percent, according to SNE Research. China's BYD was in third place at 11 percent. By contrast, the combined share of South Korea's three major battery makers -- LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On – fell to 27 percent from 38 percent.

Shanghai-based Boke Launches Therapeutic Game for Leukemia Patients

Shanghai-based gaming company Boke Technology, in partnership with the Naval Medical University, has released an innovative dietary education game designed for children battling leukemia and their caregivers. Developed to tackle strict nutritional and hygiene challenges during long-term recovery, the project recently won the 2026 Digital with Purpose Global Award. In the game, players roll dice to explore six themes related to healthy diets

Yangzhou Waterway Tourism Company Passes IPO Hurdle

Jiangsu Slender West Lake Culture & Tourism, which operates water sightseeing excursions, passed its Hong Kong listing hearing on Wednesday, paving the way for the company to go public there. The company's services cover tourism sites in the city of Yangzhou, including the Shugang-Slender West Lake Scenic Area and the Ancient Canal Area. Details of its IPO haven't been made public.