Cointime update: China has fully launched a cross-industry talent development program for the entire machinery supply chain, making “AI+machinery” composite talent training a core support for industry transformation and upgrading this year, the China Machinery Industry Federation said. Experts cited a structural skills mismatch, with AI-literate staff unfamiliar with industrial processes and machinery specialists lacking AI application skills.
Cointime update: South Korea’s defense ministry said on November 5 it will submit a revised consent bill to the National Assembly to extend the deployment of its Cheonghae naval unit and widen its operating area to waters off southern Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, while adding military equipment and personnel. The move is seen as Seoul taking a practical military step to help stabilize the Strait of Hormuz situation.
Cointime update: OpenAI published the National Community Compact and Compute Campus Policy Blueprint on Nov. 5, committing each compute campus it owns and operates to cover full electricity and infrastructure costs. The compact requires water plans favoring closed-loop or low-water cooling, public disclosure of site-level power and water use, and annual compliance and local hiring reports. OpenAI and Georgia Power agreed it can cut up to 1,000 megawatts during high-demand periods.
Cointime update: Micron Technology has halted construction of a $4.5 billion memory chip plant in Taoyuan, Taiwan, due to an ongoing labor dispute with local unions. The company has largely stopped work on the site and informed local officials and a supplier of the pause, with management concerned that local labor agreements could be overturned, creating project uncertainty. The plant was intended as a key production base for AI-critical memory components.
Cointime reports: Meta’s newly issued €9 billion ($10.1 billion) six-part euro bond is trading above par, with all six tranches quoted higher on Thursday and bid prices also above face value. The order book reached €62 billion, far surpassing the €31 billion record set by AB InBev a decade ago. Underwriters priced each tranche just under 100 euros per 100 euros of face value, with spreads closer to lower-rated issuers than to other mega-cap tech borrowers.
Cointime reports: South Korea’s KOSPI fell 5.28% to 5,383.8 and the KOSDAQ dropped 5.11% on November 5, with both indexes triggering market stabilization mechanisms the same day. Semiconductor and AI-infrastructure shares led the decline: SK Hynix fell 9.46% and Samsung Electronics 7.57%. Investors are concerned that Democratic gains in the US midterm elections could tighten regulation of data center approvals, grid access and power costs, delaying AI data center projects and weighing on demand for HBM and DRAM memory chips.
Cointime reports: Morgan Stanley said in a Nov. 5 report that Democratic midterm gains, including in Texas, could tighten data-center regulation and delay projects, but the broader AI investment cycle is expected to remain intact. The bank kept an overweight stance on global equities, noting large-cap stocks have risen 15%-16% on average in the six months after midterms since 1982. It expects the federal deficit to stay near 6% of GDP.
Cointime reports: Meritz Securities said on Nov. 5 that memory chip makers’ order books for 2027-2028 far exceed available production capacity, with order fulfillment rates holding at a low 80%-85% this year and driving sharp price increases. Even if Democrats gain an advantage in US midterm elections and delay some data center projects, the supply shortage is unlikely to fundamentally change, with the 2027 gap expected to widen and fulfillment possibly falling to about 80%.
Cointime reports: US midterm election results signal mounting political resistance to data center expansion, with an NBC News election-day poll finding 76% of voters oppose data centers in their communities. Of 45 local referendums on data center development nationwide, 33 had backed construction limits as of the morning of Nov. 4. Wells, Maine approved a 180-day moratorium on large data centers, while several Ohio cities voted to ban facilities exceeding 25MW.
Cointime reports: Japan’s government is considering writing an exception to its three non-nuclear principles into the National Security Strategy due for revision at the end of the year, potentially allowing nuclear weapons to be brought into Japan in emergencies. The move was reported by Kyodo News on the 5th, citing people familiar with the matter. The revision is scheduled for year-end.
Cointime reports: Elon Musk deleted an X post from Election Day urging voters to “vote red today,” after major US media projected Democrats would regain control of both chambers of Congress in the November 3 midterms. The post had disappeared from his account by November 4. Musk spent $474 million this midterm cycle, a record for an individual non-candidate donor, and had used X to campaign for Republicans.
Cointime reports: Southbound trading recorded a net outflow of more than HK$19 billion (HK$19.0 billion) from Hong Kong stocks on November 5. The figure marks a substantial single-day withdrawal by mainland investors via the Stock Connect channels. No further breakdown of the flows was provided.
Cointime reports: Spot gold rose more than 2% on Wednesday after decisive Democratic wins in the U.S. midterm elections weakened the dollar, making dollar-priced bullion cheaper for overseas buyers. Investors are also awaiting U.S. nonfarm payrolls later this week for clues on the Federal Reserve’s policy path. Pepperstone research head Chris Weston said the weaker dollar, combined with sharp falls in both nominal and real Treasury yields, clearly supported gold.
Cointime update: China’s Commerce Ministry said it remains open to expanding purchases of US agricultural products, but only if a reciprocal “$30 billion for $30 billion” tariff reduction arrangement is implemented. Spokesperson Huang Ling told a regular press briefing on the 5th that agricultural trade is an important part of bilateral economic cooperation and that lowering tariffs and non-tariff barriers would benefit both sides.
Cointime reports: Long-dated US Treasury yields fell to eight-week lows on Thursday as investors bet that a Democratic sweep in the US midterm elections could tighten fiscal constraints and benefit the bond market. The 10-year and 30-year yields touched 4.837% and 5.229% intraday, respectively, before paring slightly. MissionSquare CIO Shari Hensrud said a divided Congress could help bonds but would not solve the fiscal deficit problem.
Cointime reports: Foreign investors net sold 15,427.3 billion won of SK Hynix and 11,687.2 billion won of Samsung Electronics on November 5, offloading 1.204 million and 5.718 million shares respectively, Korea Exchange data show. Combined net selling in the two chipmakers exceeded 2.7 trillion won for the day, reflecting risk-off sentiment toward semiconductors amid AI regulation concerns. Naver drew the largest net buying at 710.7 billion won, followed by Daeduck Electronics at 465.5 billion won.
Cointime update: China’s Foreign Ministry declined to confirm reports that the National Development and Reform Commission will block SoftBank Group’s acquisition of ABB’s robotics business. Spokesperson Guo Jiakun, asked at a regular press briefing about the reported rejection, said the question should be directed to the competent Chinese authorities. SoftBank was reportedly recently informed that the NDRC would obstruct the Swiss-Swedish joint venture’s robotics unit sale.
Cointime reports: Aptus Capital Advisors portfolio manager John Luke Tyner said in a note that markets should watch whether AI capital expenditure and data-center construction are affected after Democratic gains in state governor races, or merely shift to more policy-friendly states. He expects the investment to slow but by less than the market fears. Tyner said if inflation pressure stems mainly from energy prices and AI spending, September’s 25-basis-point hike was likely the last of the cycle.
Cointime reports: BondBloxx Investment Management senior investment strategist Joanne Bianco said investors view the US midterm election results as supportive for bond and equity markets, since the outcome raises the bar for further fiscal spending and increases the likelihood of more checks on policy. A more fragmented policy environment should make it harder to expand the fiscal deficit further and could improve the fiscal outlook, she said, adding that focus will shift back to geopolitics and whether the US economy can stay resilient.
Cointime reports: Asian markets closed lower on Nov. 5 as AI-regulation concerns hit Japanese and South Korean equities. The Nikkei 225 fell 1,110.73 points, or 1.79%, to 61,077.90, while South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 300.15 points, or 5.28%, to 5,383.65. The KOSDAQ lost 5.11%, with sidecar mechanisms triggered and program trading briefly halted; SK Hynix fell 9.45% and Samsung Electronics 7.56%.