Global market wrap: Asian stocks tumble as Brent crude tops $95 per barrel; Dell Tech shares up 8%

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

Asian stocks tumbled for a third day on Wednesday as oil prices continued to rise after the US carried out its latest round of attacks on Iran.

South Korea’s Kospi index declined 3.9% to 6,570, while Japan’s Nikkei index dropped 2.9% to 64,302 on Wednesday.

China’s Shanghai Composite index was also trading lower by 0.9% at 3,947. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 1% to trade at 25,087.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.1% to 8,968 on Wednesday, while Singapore’s Straits Times was trading flat at 5,709.

US stock futures traded with a negative bias on Wednesday after the benchmark indices posted losses for three days in a row. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1%, Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.25%, while futures tied to the Dow were trading almost unchanged.

In the regular trading session on Tuesday, the S&P 500 dropped 0.7%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.8%.

Oil prices rose sharply again on Wednesday as Middle East tensions escalated. The US crude oil futures for October delivery gained 0.4% to $90.60 per barrel by 0034 EDT, while Brent futures for December delivery jumped 4.1% to $95.33 per barrel.

Gold prices fell on Wednesday as higher oil prices raised rate hike prospects. US gold futures for ​December delivery were down 1% to $4,352 per ounce, while spot gold fell 0.5% to $4,305 per ounce by 0434 GMT.

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

Nvidia may sign $14 billion deal to buy Hugging Face this week

Nvidia Corp. is in advanced talks to buy AI startup Hugging Face in a $14 billion deal. According to a report, an agreement by Nvidia to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion may be reached as soon as this week.

The deal may include a $1 billion retention package for Hugging Face employees, the report mentioned, adding that a final agreement hasn’t been reached and the timing or details could still change.

OpenAI to launch new AI model Astra ‘soon,’ says CEO Altman

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Tuesday that the company is nearing the launch of its next AI model named Astra.

Altman said in an X post that the company will launch its next model “soon”, but that the startup was also focusing more on cybersecurity and safeguards around its upcoming model.

“We are clearly in a phase of development where we believe caution is warranted, and we are pacing our progress to ensure that we can meet the safety standards required by new capability levels,” Altman said.

Dell Technologies shares surge 8% after earnings beat estimates

Dell Technologies Inc. reported second quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $7.04, which was $2.17 better than the analyst estimate of $4.87. Revenue for the quarter came in at $47 billion compared with consensus estimate of $44.84 billion.

Dell Tech’s shares surged more than 8% in extended trading on Tuesday after the earnings announcement. The stock price especially got a boost after the company raised its annual sales forecast by $25 billion in a further sign of surging demand for servers. Dell Tech said that revenue in the fiscal year ending in January 2027 will be about $192 billion, up from an outlook in May of about $167 billion.

Palo Alto Networks Q4 earnings beat estimate

Palo Alto Networks beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates on Tuesday. The company also announced the ​acquisition of AI-native platform Console.

Palo Alto Networks’ fourth-quarter revenue stood at $3.41 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $3.35 billion. Adjusted ⁠profit per share came in at $1.02, ahead of estimates of 98 cents.

Talking about Console, the company said it is a platform designed ⁠to help organizations use AI-driven analysis ​and action across enterprise operations. CEO Nikesh Arora ​said the acquisition will allow customers to “build agentic workflows in natural language” that can automatically flag ​and remediate issues.

Australia posts second-quarter growth of 2.1%

The Australian Bureau of Statistics announced on Wednesday that the Australian economy expanded 2.1% year-on-year in the second quarter, beating consensus expectations of around 1.8% growth.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.4%, also marginally surpassing expectations of 0.3%.

The growth was driven by private demand and mining exports, data showed. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said in its statement that households continued to behave cautiously, with spending remaining subdued and rising just 0.4%.

BHP’s chief commercial officer to step down

BHP’s chief commercial officer Rag ​Udd will step down at the end of January ‌to pursue an opportunity outside the company, according to a report that quoted a staff memo.

Udd, who is based in Singapore, will have worked at BHP for three decades by the time of his departure, according ​to the memo. He was in charge of BHP’s negotiations with China ​Mineral Resources Group (CMRG). Udd’s departure will leave open one of the miner’s most difficult roles of negotiating iron ore deals with China.