Finance Daily: US Stocks Enter 23-Hour Trading Era in December; Weak Payrolls Fail to Sink Long-End Treasury Yields

Market Highlights

US Stocks to Enter 23-Hour Trading Era Starting in December

Starting December 6, four core exchanges including Nasdaq and NYSE Arca will formally add overnight sessions, as Wall Street fully enters a 23-hour “overnight trading” era ^[1]. SEC data show that overnight sessions currently account for only about 1% of total US stock trading volume, but their year-over-year growth rate has reached 358%; in the second quarter of this year, overseas investors contributed 37% of total overnight-session volume ^[1]. David Easthope, a senior analyst at Crisil Coalition Greenwich, pointed out that the core pain point for institutions during extended hours is “market quality,” namely liquidity and bid-ask spreads, rather than purely operational or staffing/scheduling issues ^[1].

Nvidia Launches 64GB DGX Spark

On October 2 US Eastern Time, Nvidia announced the launch of a 64GB unified-memory version of its desktop AI computer DGX Spark, with a starting price of $4,999, to be brought to market on October 23 by OEMs including Acer, Asus, Dell, Gigabyte, HP and MSI; the price of the 128GB Founders Edition was raised to $6,950 ^[2].

Payrolls Miss Badly; Long-End Treasury Yields Stage V-Shaped Reversal

US September nonfarm payrolls increased by only 29,000, below the lower bound of all forecast ranges; August was revised down to 133,000 from 162,000, the unemployment rate edged up to 4.2%, and average hourly earnings growth slowed to 3.0% year over year ^[3]. The 10-year Treasury yield quickly rebounded from an intraday low of 5.16% after the nonfarm payrolls release and tested 5.30% by midday, rising about 12 basis points over the week; the 2-year yield fell 10 basis points on the day to 4.69%, down about 3 basis points for the week ^[3].

Hedge Funds Turn Net Short Yen Again

CFTC data show that in the week ended September 29, leveraged funds turned net short the yen again, with related bearish bets totaling about ¥210 billion ($1.3 billion) ^[4]. The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 1.25% in September, the highest in 31 years; but as of this week, the yen had weakened against the dollar for a third consecutive week ^[4].

Toshiba Expands HDD Output, Seagate and Western Digital Plunge

Toshiba announced an investment of ¥60 billion (about $380 million) to expand its HDD plant in the Philippines, planning to double capacity by fiscal 2027; after the news emerged, Seagate and Western Digital both plunged more than 10% on Friday ^[5]. Year to date, Seagate has gained 208% and Western Digital 141%, far outpacing the Nasdaq 100’s 22% gain ^[5].

Macro & Policy

White House National Economic Council Director Hassett said Friday that he was “not disappointed” by the September nonfarm payrolls report, calling it “in line with expectations,” and disclosed that the US Navy has opened the Strait of Hormuz and crude oil is flowing normally, with more energy announcements to come next week ^[6]. Hassett acknowledged that the current level of interest expenses is “unacceptably high,” stressed that President Trump “is serious about reducing the deficit,” and made clear that he “does not want to inflate away the debt” ^[6].