US stocks hit records despite shutdown chaos

Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

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1.

Day two: US stocks climbed to record highs on the second day of the government shutdown, with chipmakers rallying even as President Donald Trump prepared to slash thousands of federal jobs. The S&P 500 rose 0.06% and the Nasdaq 0.39% after both touched intraday records, driven by semiconductor shares including Nvidia and Broadcom. Tesla dropped 5% despite posting a record quarter of EV deliveries, while Equifax and TransUnion tumbled after FICO launched a new credit scoring program. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said layoffs during the shutdown were “likely going to be in the thousands,” while Trump wrote that he would meet budget director Russell Vought to decide which “Democrat Agencies” to cut. Private data showed employers planned 117,313 new jobs in September, down 71% from a year earlier, and 54,064 planned job cuts, down 26%. Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported Trump is considering USD10 billion to USD14 billion in aid for farmers, potentially funded by tariffs. (Capital Brief)(Bloomberg)(Reuters)

2.

Vote no: Proxy adviser ISS is urging AGL Energy shareholders to vote against adopting its new climate transition action plan at the company's AGM today. ISS based its recommendation that AGL "only partially" discloses its mid-term climate targets and has not made its plan more ambitious than its previously stated 13 GW of investments in renewables and firming capacity, and exiting coal-fired power generation with the closure of Bayswater power station by 2033 and Loy Yang A by 2035, in a report Capital Brief has seen. The proxy adviser noted that AGL adopted its previous CTAP in 2022 despite objections from nearly a third of shareholders, including Mike Cannon-Brookes, who currently holds a 10.4% stake in the integrated gentailer through a proprietary company that his family office Grok Ventures manages. A Grok spokesperson declined to comment on which way Cannon-Brookes planned to vote, although Grok voiced concerns about the plan in August. (Capital Brief)

3.

AI apex: OpenAI completed a deal to sell around USD6.6 billion ($10 billion) worth of employee shares to investors including SoftBank, Thrive Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, T Rowe Price and Abu Dhabi’s MGX, in a transaction valuing it at USD500 billion, financial media outlets reported citing unnamed sources. The secondary share sale makes OpenAI the world’s most valuable privately held company, according to data from startup tracker CB Insights cited by The New York Times. It is a jump from USD300 billion during a previous SoftBank-led round to now surpass SpaceX’s USD400 billion valuation. OpenAI seems on track to meet its USD13 billion revenue projection this year but losses are expected in the billions. Meanwhile, CEO Sam Altman is travelling through Asia securing chips and capital. On Wednesday, OpenAI announced letters of intent with Samsung and SK Hynix to co-develop AI data centres in South Korea, and on Thursday, it signed a MoU with Hitachi in Japan to support AI infrastructure. (WSJ)(NYT)(Bloomberg)(Reuters)

4.

Citi’s trust: Donald Trump’s money now calls Citigroup home, according to Bloomberg. Eric Trump signed up as a client of the lender and established a trust there that holds some of his father’s money, it said citing unnamed sources. The relationship began after Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser reached out to congratulate President Trump on his election win in November, according to the report. The value of the trust, which has Donald Trump as its beneficiary, is unclear. According to the report, the bank weighed how to limit access to information beyond key staff, including wealth management chief Andy Sieg, who led talks with Eric Trump, and Citigroup banker Kent Lucken, who is handling the relationship. Banks distanced themselves from Trump following failures to repay loans and after the January 6 Capitol attack. That prompted him to attack the banks and move his business to smaller lenders and crypto ventures. (Bloomberg)

5.

Tech talks: The Tech Council of Australia is in discussions with its members over how to reform copyright laws while ensuring compensation for creative sectors as it pushes forward with a plan to attract lucrative investments for AI data centres. The lobby group, which represents tech firms including Atlassian, Canva, Microsoft and OpenAI, was not present at this week’s Senate hearing into copyright reform, where creative groups lashed out over suggestions there should be text and data mining exceptions from copyright laws for AI platforms in Australia. Macquarie analysts this week wrote that Australia's copyright laws are a "clear hurdle" to attracting data centre investments for AI. In response to questions from Capital Brief on the issue, a Tech Council spokesperson revealed it is in talks with its members to find a path forward on copyright that allows AI platforms to train on copyrighted material and for creators to be paid for their work. (Capital Brief)

6.

UK terror: Two people were killed and others injured in a car-ramming and knife attack outside a synagogue in the UK city of Manchester around 9:30am on Thursday morning (6:30pm AEST). The attack, since described by police as a terrorist incident, took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The attacker rammed a car into a group of people outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, before exiting the vehicle and stabbing members of the public. Greater Manchester Police said they shot the attacker, the third casualty, seven minutes after being called to the synagogue. Police said the suspect was wearing a vest that had the appearance of an explosive device and that a bomb squad carried out a controlled explosion at the scene. Four people remain in hospital with injuries. (BBC)(Capital Brief)(Police statement)(Greater Manchester Police)

7.

Willing & Abel: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy Occidental Petroleum’s petrochemical business, OxyChem, for USD9.7 billion ($14.68 billion) cash in Berkshire’s largest deal since 2022. The deal is the first to be masterminded by Greg Abel since he was named as Buffett’s successor. Occidental is most widely known for its oil and gas operations, while its OxyChem unit manufactures and sells chemicals used for chlorinating water, recycling batteries and producing paper. The unit generated nearly USD5 billion in sales in the 12 months to June this year. Occidental has been struggling with a massive debt load following its USD55 billion purchase of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, when it outbid Chevron to acquire Anadarko’s rich shale oilfields in Texas. Its USD12 billion CrownRock acquisition pushed the company further into debt, which stood at USD23.34 billion at the end of June. Expected to close in Q4, Occidental plans to use USD6.5 billion of the transaction proceeds to reduce debt. (Berkshire Hathaway)(Capital Brief)

8.

EV frontrun: Tesla delivered a record 497,099 vehicles globally in the third quarter of 2025, a 7.4% increase from a year earlier and a surprise reversal of the steep declines that have plagued the company this year. The surge was widely attributed to US consumers racing to take advantage of the USD7,500 ($11,368) federal EV tax credit, which expired at the end of the quarter. Deliveries included 481,166 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, which rose 9%, the company said. Other Tesla models fell 30.5% to 15,933. The total beat the Bloomberg analyst average estimate of about 439,600 deliveries. Tesla also reported a record high in its energy business, deploying 12.5 gigawatt hours of energy storage products, nearly twice as much as a year earlier. Shares fell as concerns mounted over EV demand in an unsubsidised market. Tesla will report its full third-quarter earnings on 22 October. (Capital Brief)(Tesla)(Bloomberg)