Global market wrap: Asian stocks jump for a second day on easing rate hike fears; Lululemon shares dive 15%

We are back with quick updates on global developments around stock markets, commodities and companies that you shouldn’t miss today.

After a tough start, Asian stocks looked set to end the week on a high note, with all major indices recording strong gains on Friday. Investor sentiment improved after Wall Street rallied for a second day on weakening rate hike bets.

On Thursday, US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he would support holding the interest rates steady in the upcoming September 15-16 meeting if data shows inflationary pressures are abating.

Reacting to the statement, South Korea’s Kospi index jumped 1.6% to 6,687 on Friday, while Japan’s Nikkei index climbed 1.1% to 64,939.

China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 0.35% to 3,9561.72, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 2.1% to 25,738.

Singapore’s Straits Times also gained 1.1% to 5,812. However, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 8,999 on Friday.

US stock futures were trading steady on Friday ahead of the release of the August employment report, which is expected to show the US economy added 56,000 jobs last month, holding the unemployment rate steady at 4.1%.

S&P 500 futures inched up 0.06%, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%, while futures tied to the Dow were trading almost unchanged.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 gained 1.06%, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.2%.

Oil prices rose marginally on Friday, heading for their steepest weekly gain since July. The US crude oil futures for October delivery rose 0.46% to $91.72 per barrel on Friday by 0030 EDT, while Brent futures for December delivery inched up 0.2% to $95.72 per barrel. On a weekly basis, WTI has jumped over 10% and Brent crude had risen around 7.5% so far.

Gold prices eased on Friday after rallying in the previous session. US gold futures for ​December delivery shed 0.4% to $4,521 per ounce, while spot gold was flat at $4,474 per ounce by 0440 GMT.

Here’s a look at the key developments of the day:

Anthropic set to finalise 15 billion pre-IPO credit facility

According to a report, Claude creator Anthropic PBC is set to finalize an expansion of its revolving credit facility to $15 billion, clearing a hurdle before the public filing for its highly anticipated IPO.

The report said that Morgan Stanley is leading the process. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase and Co. also have prominent roles on the facility, along with Citigroup Inc. The four lenders are also leading the IPO, the report added.

Nvidia to acquire AI platform Hugging Face

Nvidia has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire leading artificial intelligence (AI) platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed that Hugging Face will remain an open, multi-cloud platform operating under its existing brand. Developers will retain full autonomy to choose their preferred frameworks, cloud providers, inference engines, and underlying hardware. Building or deploying on Hugging Face will not require Nvidia compute.

Lululemon stock plunges 15% on disappointing earnings

Shares of Lululemon plunged 15% on Thursday after the retailer reported disappointing results for the second fiscal quarter. The company reported a 4% decline in revenue and a comparable sales decrease of 9% during the period.

The company said its gross profit decreased 1% to $1.5 billion while its gross margin grew 5.6%, boosted by a tariff refund of $134.5 million.

For the third fiscal quarter, Lululemon said it expected revenue to decline roughly 10% to 11% from the prior year.

OpenAI unveils AI model GPT-6 Astra

ChatGPT maker OpenAI on Thursday unveiled its most capable AI model GPT-6 Astra. Though the company acknowledged that increasingly advanced AI systems are becoming harder for humans to monitor and control.

OpenAI said Astra represents a new frontier in computer and browser use, combining greater speed, accuracy and versatility. The model can perform tasks including tax preparation, game development, architectural rendering, legal memo formatting and apartment searches.

Tesla starts Cybercab rides in Austin

Tesla announced on Thursday that it has started offering rides in limited areas of Austin, Texas, in its two-seater Cybercab. Cybercab is a vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals.

After the announcement, the safety regulator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration signaled its interest in Tesla’s activity. “NHTSA is in contact with Tesla and is evaluating the situation,” the spokesperson said, without elaborating. Notably, federal safety norms typically require human controls.

Chinese AI firm Moonshot files confidentially for Hong Kong IPO

In what is likely to be one of the most anticipated near-term listings by a Chinese AI company, Beijing-based startup Moonshot has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), according to a report.

The developer of the Kimi large language model is aiming to raise $3 billion, the report said.

The company is reportedly in talks with Microsoft, Amazon and Google on revenue-sharing agreements that would allow the US cloud companies ​to host the model.