Overview

• The U.S. government shutdown is set to delay Friday’s official jobs report, pushing investors to rely on private gauges such as ADP.
• ADP reported a surprise 32,000 drop in private payrolls for September with August revised to a 3,000 decline, reinforcing expectations for rate cuts.
• Futures pricing now leans toward two quarter‑point reductions this year, with the October move seen as highly likely.
• Gold traded near recent records around $3,860 an ounce as Treasury yields fell, with the two‑year near 3.531% and the dollar fluctuating close to recent lows.
• Asian equities climbed led by chipmakers, with Taiwan and South Korea outperforming after Samsung and SK Hynix announced OpenAI data‑centre supply partnerships; gold’s rally has been bolstered by central‑bank buying and strong ETF inflows.