Wall Street hits new highs as Nvidia becomes world’s first $5tn company – as it happened

3.57pm GMT Closing summary Nvidia has become the world’s first $5tn company as the artificial intelligence industry and wider US stock market boom. Just three months ago, the Silicon Valley chipmaker was first to break through the barrier of $4tn in market value. In comparison, Nvidia’s value is greater than the GDP of India, Japan and the United Kingdom, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Shortly after US stock markets opened on Wednesday, Nvidia’s shares touched $207.86 with 24.3bn shares outstanding, putting its market cap at $5.05tn. Ravenous appetite for Nvidia’s chips, seen as the most cutting edge in powering artificial intelligence products and software, is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023. The US stock market has reached multiple record highs this week, buoyed up by expansive investment in artificial intelligence. Related: Nvidia becomes world’s first $5tn company amid stock market and AI boom Our other main stories: Related: EU carmakers ‘days away’ from factories halting work in chip war with China Related: Toyota denies promising to invest $10bn in US after Trump announcement Related: Aston Martin cuts investment plan by £300m as Trump tariffs bite Related: Boeing takes near $5bn hit due to delays in delivering first 777X jets Related: South Korea awards Trump gold crown amid deal to unlock $350bn trade talks Related: GSK boss: Britain must reform drug pricing to become a life sciences superpower Thank you for reading! We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care – JK 3.13pm GMT Private credit bosses have played down fears raised by the IMF and Bank of England, saying the sector is “safer” and offers more stability to the financial system than traditional, regulated banks. Senior bosses at private credit giants Apollo, Ares and Blackstone were adamant, during a session with the Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee on Wednesday, that there was ultimately ‘nothing to see’ in terms of heightened risk following the exponential rise of the private credit industry. Even the recent collapse of Tricolour and First Brands - two US firms serving the auto-industry - was wrongly pegged on the private credit industry, when in fact only a small portion of those firms’ loans came from the sector. This amounted to “misinformation,” they said. However, they suggested it was natural for regulators to be poking around the private credit industry - now worth nearly $3tn globally - but that regulators were unlikely to find any problems.It comes as the Bank of England confirmed last week that it was preparing to run stress tests to check on potential systemic risks, particularly as a result of interconnectivity with the banking industry, which often provides loans to private credit firms that issue loans directly to businesses. Daniel Leiter, senior managing director at Blackstone and head of international and global head of liquid credit strategies at Blackstone Credit and Insurance said: I think they will come to the conclusion that what is happening in private credit, is fundamentally safer to happen in private credit, rather than on banks balance sheets. He claimed that this was partly because private credit was funded through institutional investors like pension funds and insurers - rather than being backed by consumer deposits - which could lock in their money for longer, and that the private credit industry maintained close relationships with businesses they lend to, following rigorous due diligence.He also argued that if borrowers went bust, the private credit firm would take the loss, and it would not result in contagion to other funds in the firm let alone the wider financial system. Furthermore, banks borrowed much more per pound, in order to issue loans, than private credit firms, he said. The regulators will do this work, and will come to the conclusion that the system is going to be more stable whenever we do go through economics hocks, because now, away from just relying on the banking system, private credit can provide a source of financing through difficult times. Leiter said this justified what many claim is a lack of close supervision by regulators: “it should be regulated differently.” It comes a week after Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, said the recent failures of Tricolour and First Brands had worrying echoes of the sub-prime mortgage crisis that kicked off the global financial crash of 2008. Meanwhile, the IMF warned that a downturn could have ripple effects across the financial system, given that banks were increasingly exposed to a largely unregulated private credit industry. There are concerns that a downturn could destabilise traditional banks that issue loans to the shadow banking sector. 2.58pm GMT Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada has cut interest rates by a quarter point to 2.25%, as expected. This has taken the policy rate to the bottom of its 2.25% to 3.25% neutral range estimate. The move had been close to 90% priced in by financial markets. Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said: With the Bank of Canada’s decision to cut today widely anticipated, the key development was that it signalled that it now thinks the policy rate is “at about the right level to keep inflation close to 2% while helping the economy through this period of structural adjustment”. That is a sure sign that it is likely to keep interest rates unchanged in December, as we anticipate, although we still think the Bank will eventually be forced to cut interest rates by another 50bp next year… We’ve always assumed that the bar to additional cuts would be higher once the policy rate reached the bottom of the Bank’s neutral range estimate, however, with those cuts unlikely to come until the middle of 2026. While the Bank is still concerned that cutting interest rates too far in the face of a structural shock to supply would risk pushing up inflation, we judge that the much bigger shock from changes to US tariff policy have been to demand. The Bank of Canada said on X: 📣 Our Monetary Policy Report is out! Explore key #economy and inflation trends in our quick video.🔗 Check out the full report: https://t.co/TlF7NSqzsy#cdnecon #EconomicTrends pic.twitter.com/dkfsLJmhbD— Bank of Canada (@bankofcanada) October 29, 2025 2.20pm GMT Wall Street indices hit record highs as Nvidia tops $5tn valuation Wall Street’s main indices hit new record highs, as Nvidia become the first company ever to surpass a $5tn stock market valuation. This comes amid a wave of big tech earnings reports, and as investors are waiting for the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision later today – it is widely expected to cut rates by a quarter point to 4%. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B.Riley Wealth Management, told Reuters: While the $5tn milestone seems unfathomable in a historic context, it comes in the wake of a company that has managed to outperform on all metrics. Nvidia shares rose as much as 5% and are now up 4.5%, boosted by chief executive Jensen Huang’s spree of deals, $500bn in AI chip orders, and plans to build seven supercomputers for the US government. The S&P 500 tech index gained 1.4% while the wider S&P 500 rose by 0.3%, the Nasdaq added 0.7% and the Dow Jones was up 0.6%. The three main US stock indices have been hitting record highs in recent days, driven by the AI boom, positive company earnings and expectations of rate cuts from the US central bank. Updated at 3.05pm GMT 1.52pm GMT Nvidia becomes world's first $5tn company The US chipmaker Nvidia has passed the threshold to become the world’s first $5tn company shortly after trading began on Wall Street. Shares rose by 4.6% after the tech company received a boost from Donald Trump remarks and amid an AI boom. It comes a day after Microsoft rejoined the $4tn club and Apple briefly crossed that threshold before easing back. It has only been four months since Nvidia passed the $4tn mark, and the rally has been boosted by chief executive Jensen Huang’s spree of deals. He has forged new agreements to supply chips to companies including Finland’s Nokia and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Group. Updated at 2.00pm GMT 11.54am GMT EU carmakers 'days away' from shutting production due to chip shortages Car manufacturers in the EU are “days away” from closing production lines because of dire shortages of chips, after China banned exports from Nexperia following the factory’s takeover by the Dutch government two weeks ago, the industry has said. The crisis warning and call on European leaders to strike a deal with China immediately comes just a day before Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are expected to seal a trade deal, easing the US’s chip and rare earth supply chain. Caught in the cross fire between the two superpowers, the EU will hold urgent talks with a senior delegation from China in Brussels on Friday. But the car industry warns it may be too late to avert production line closures. Sigrid de Vries, director general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, said: Assembly line stoppages might only be days away. We urge all involved to redouble their efforts to find a diplomatic way out of this critical situation. The ACEA said the industry “is currently working through reserve stocks but supplies are rapidly dwindling. From a survey of our members this week, some are already expecting imminent assembly line stoppages.” While alternative suppliers exit, it could take “months to build up additional capacity” it said and the “industry does not have that long before the worst effects of this shortage are felt.” While the political dispute that has led to the prohibition of Nexperia chip exports from China remains unresolved, the situation becomes more critical daily for global automotive manufacturing. The resulting shortage of supply of the type of simple chips used in the control car electric system including magnets for opening windows and car boots. De Vries said: We know that all parties to this dispute are working very hard to find a diplomatic solution. At the same time, our members are telling us that part supplies are already being stopped due to the shortage. Updated at 1.43pm GMT 11.45am GMT Nvidia on track to become first $5tn company when Wall Street opens The US chipmaker Nvidia is on track to become the first $5tn company when Wall Street opens later, after receiving a boost from Donald Trump remarks and amid an AI boom. The shares rose by 3.9% in premarket trading, and if this is sustained, Nvidia will top a $5tn market cap at the official open on Wall Street. It has only been four months since the company reached the $4tn mark, and the rally has been boosted by chief executive Jensen Huang’s spree of deals. He has forged new agreements to supply chips to companies including Finland’s Nokia and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Group. Updated at 1.31pm GMT 11.36am GMT UK mortgage approvals highest since December British lenders approved more mortgages in September than any month so far in 2025, according to Bank of England data. Mortgage approvals for home purchases totalled 65,944, the highest figure since December 2024, monthly Bank of England figures showed. This was higher than economists had expected. The increase comes after other data, from lender surveys, indicated a slowdown in the housing market, with buyers wary ahead of the late budget on 26 November. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is expected to raise taxes in her budget to balance the books, with higher levies on property purchases or home ownership among mooted measures.The Bank of England data also showed net consumer borrowing rose by nearly £1.5bn last month, in line with City forecasts. While this was less than August’s £1.7bn rise, consumer credit grew by 7.3% from September 2024, the fastest annual pace of growth since October 2024. Other official data published last week showed retail sales unexpectedly rose by 0.5% in September. Alex Kerr, UK economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, said: Overall these figures are consistent with our view that consumer spending growth will strengthen over the coming quarters.But the risk is that tax rises on households in the budget dampen activity next year. 11.27am GMT Pound slides on worries about UK's public finances The pound has been sliding since news broke yesterday of the government’s official forecaster’s productivity downgrade over the next five years, expected on Friday. Worries over the state of the UK’s public finances are driving sterling lower, as Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, faces an increasingly difficult balancing act. The pound tumbled to a two-and-a-half year low against the euro and a three-month low against the dollar this morning. It fell by 0.4% against the euro and the dollar earlier, to €1.13 and $1.32, following steep falls on Tuesday. This comes after it emerged that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is planning to cut its trend productivity growth prediction by 0.3 percentage points, after a downgrade of the UK’s economic momentum since the 2008 financial crash. This means the UK chancellor will have to account for a bigger-than-expected £20bn hit to the UK public finances in next month’s budget, increasing the likelihood that she will breach a key Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise income tax. Related: Steeper UK productivity cut of more than £20bn makes tax rises more likely Each percentage point downgrade would translate into £7bn of extra borrowing. 10.23am GMT GSK boss says UK will struggle to be a 'life sciences superpower' without pricing reform As ministers are drawing up proposals to increase the amount the NHS spends on new medicines, potentially by up to 25%, with an announcement expected as soon as the end of this week, GSK boss Emma Walmsley said she was “hopeful and ambitious” that the standoff with the pharma industry can be resolved. Without pricing reform, the UK will struggle to be a life sciences superpower, she warned. She told reporters: We are great supporters of the life sciences industrial strategy in the UK. And I’ve been very consistent on our view that it’s key to execute against that in terms of the opportunity for clinical trials and the opportunity for having translational facilities, all of the work that can be done with the data, but it is absolutely key that we have a competitive, commercial environment that recognises the value of innovation. Obviously we’re engaging, watching, contributing as we can. And, I would say: hopeful and ambitious. She added: What everyone is putting the energy into, hopefully resolving, is how we make sure this country creates the right commercial environment. And without that, I think it’s going to be very difficult to be able to be a leading life sciences superpower… and without that, we are not going to secure something else we all want, which is patient access to innovation. You have to remember that the cost of drugs as a share of the total cost of health care is less than 10% in this country. Donald Trump has put pressure on pharmaceutical companies to lower their drug prices in the US and sell directly to American patients – or face trade tariffs. (Historically, drug prices in the US have been much higher elsewhere, partly because of a complicated system involving middlemen.) In response, Pfizer and AstraZeneca have done deals with the US government in recent weeks. Asked whether GSK is going to do a pricing deal with the Trump administration, Walmsley said GSK is “engaging very constructively” with the US government. We absolutely agree we should be working towards constructive reform in the US system that we want to have affordable, accessible drugs in a sustainable way. GSK is investing $30bn in US manufacturing and research, but has also affirmed its commitment to the UK. Its bigger UK rival AstraZeneca has paused a planned £200m investment at a Cambridge research site. Updated at 10.26am GMT 9.45am GMT GSK upgrades 2025 sales and profit forecasts as CEO Emma Walmsley bows out As GSK’s chief executive Emma Walmsley prepares to bow out after eight years, the drugmaker raised its 2025 sales and profit forecasts driven by double-digit growth in respiratory, inflammation & immunology, oncology and HIV. The company reported a pretax profit of £2.5bn for the third quarter, compared with £64m a year earlier which reflected its Zantac settlement. The GSK share price jumped by nearly 3% on the news, to its highest level since mid-2024. Vaccine sales rose by 2% to 2.7bn in the quarter to 30 September, beating analysts’ forecasts. Growth was driven mainly by sales outside the US, where GSK reported a 15% drop in sales of its shingles vaccine, Shingrix. US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, an anti-vaxxer, has slashed funding for research and ousted the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Speaking to reporters, Walmsley said: We remain very cautious about the environment in the US, although we did reassert today, we expect to be at the top end of our current vaccines guidance, and that’s really because we’re seeing great momentum ex US, particularly in Europe this quarter. Updated at 1.45pm GMT 9.31am GMT Trump settles for golden gifts instead of investment deal in South Korea Donald Trump wants South Korea to invest $350bn in the American economy – but so far he has had to settle for a gold medal and a crown.Both were gifts from the country’s president, Lee Jae Myung, who dialled up the flattery while Washington and Seoul struggled to finalise details on financial promises during the last stop of Trump’s Asia trip, according to Associated Press and Reuters. The US president was awarded the “Grand Order of Mugunghwa”, the country’s highest decoration.On the lunch menu were “mini beef patties with ketchup”, a “Korean Platter of Sincerity” featuring US beef and local rice and soybean paste, and grilled fish with a glaze of ketchup and gochujang, a red chilli paste. The lunch was capped by a “Peacemaker’s Dessert” consisting of a brownie adorned with gold. A band played Trump’s campaign anthem of “Y.M.C.A.” when he stepped off Air Force One. Lee told him that “you are indeed making America great again.”Trump has a soft spot for pomp and pageantry, and he seemed satisfied despite the lack of a trade deal. He was particularly impressed by a choreographed display of colourful flags as he walked along the red carpet. The US president told Lee during their meeting: That was some spectacle, and some beautiful scene. It was so perfect, so flawlessly done. Earlier in the day, Trump even softened his rhetoric on international trade. “The best deals are deals that work for everybody,” he said during a business forum. Updated at 1.49pm GMT 9.02am GMT Aston Martin cuts £300m from investment plans after Trump tariff impact Aston Martin has slashed £300m from its investment plans after the British sportscar maker reported a bigger than expected loss in the third quarter because of Donald Trump’s tariffs and weak demand in China. The carmaker said on Wednesday that losses before tax were £112m in the third quarter of 2025, a ninefold increase from £12m a year earlier. The brand, whose products are best known for featuring in the James Bond film franchise, has been buffeted by global pressures during a five-year turnaround effort that has been marked by perennial heavy losses. Aston Martin had already warned earlier this month that this year’s profits would be lower than previously expected because of a decline in sales. It sold 1,430 cars to retailers during the third quarter of 2025, down 13% compared with the period last year. Revenues over the first nine months of 2025 were down by 26% to £740m compared with almost £1bn a year earlier. Adrian Hallmark, Aston Martin’s chief executive, said: This year has been marked by significant macroeconomic headwinds, particularly the sustained impact of US tariffs and weak demand in China. Work is under way to review our future product cycle plan with the aim of optimising costs and capital investment while continuing to deliver innovative, class-leading products to meet customer demands and regulatory requirements. The manufacturer, which produces its vehicles in Warwickshire and south Wales, has already delayed the launch of its first electric model, and it cut 5% of its workforce in February. It said it would detail further changes early next year. Aston delivered the first of its Valhalla supercars this month, which it hopes will improve the financial performance if it can deliver 150 in the last three months of the year. The company will make 999 of the mid-engined, plug-in hybrid cars, priced at £850,000 – or more than $1m a vehicle. Aston Martin said that more than half of the cars were already ordered by customers. Updated at 1.50pm GMT 8.53am GMT Nvidia shares jump after Trump remarks Shares in Nvidia jumped after Donld Trump said he will discuss the US chipmaker’s Blackwell artificial intelligence processors with Chinese leader Xi Jingping, calling the chip “super duper”. He said the company’s chief executive Jensen Huang recently brought a version of it to the Oval Office. Trump already said a few months ago that he would consider allowing Nvidia to export a downgraded version of its Blackwell processor to China. This would be a major win for Nvidia and a significant concession to Beijing – and upend Washington’s campaign to curtail China’s prowess in AI. Nvidia’s shares extended gains to 8.5% in Asian trading on the alternative platform Blue Ocean, Bloomberg News reported. They are currently up by 3.3% in pre-market trading ahead of the Wall Street open. In August, Nvidia and fellow chipmaker AMD agreed to give the US government 15% of their revenue from advanced chips sold to China in return for export licences to the key market. 8.16am GMT Trump lands in South Korea amid deadlocked trade talks over $350bn deal on tariffs Donald Trump landed in South Korea on Wednesday to meet president Lee Jae Myung, with deadlocked talks over a $350bn trade deal between the two countries threatening to cast a shadow over the event. After arriving on a flight from Tokyo, where he signed a rare earths deal with Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, the US president addressed a summit of CEOs ahead of a meeting with Lee in the town of Gyeongju, a historical city playing host to the annual Apec summit. South Korea says it will award Trump its most prestigious medal for his efforts to stabilise peace on the Korean Peninsula before the meeting. Lee’s office said Trump will be the first US president to receive the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, South Korea’s highest order, in recognition of his past diplomatic efforts and to emphasise his role as a “peacemaker” between the rival Koreas. Seoul also plans to present Trump with a replica of a royal gold crown from the ancient Silla Kingdom, whose capital was Gyeongju. Related: Trump lands in South Korea amid deadlocked trade talks over $350bn deal on tariffs At the top of the agenda for the talks with Lee will be the unresolved trade agreement between the US and South Korea. The two allies announced a deal in August under which Seoul would avoid the worst of the tariffs by agreeing to pump $350bn of new investments into the US. However, Korean officials say a direct cash injection could destabilise their economy, and they would rather do loans and loan guarantees instead. Officials from both sides have said Trump and Lee are unlikely to finalise an agreement. For now, South Korea is stuck with a 25% tariff on vehicles, putting manufacturers such as Hyundai and Kia at a disadvantage against Japanese and European competitors, which face a 15% levy. Trump has also pressed allies including South Korea to pay more for defence, and the two are likely to discuss efforts to engage North Korea, which announced early on Wednesday that it had test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile the previous day. 8.00am GMT Introduction: Trump says he will cut fentanyl tariff on Chinese goods and expects ‘good deal’ with Xi Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Donald Trump has said he will cut fentanyl-linked US tariffs imposed on China earlier this year, as he arrived in South Korea, a day before his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in the country.Speaking on Air Force One on Wednesday, the US president said he would reduce the 20% fentanyl levy he imposed in the spring as a way to put pressure on Beijing to curb the export of precursor chemicals used to make the synthetic opioid, which has fuelled the opioid crisis in the US. Trump told reporters: I expect to be lowering that because I believe they can help us with the fentanyl situation. We have to get rid of it. US and Chinese officials have drawn up the framework for a trade deal for Trump and Xi to sign when they meet in the south-eastern city of Gyeongju tomorrow. “I think we’re going to have a deal,” the US president said, adding that it will be a “great deal for both” nations, speaking at a meeting of corporate leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. He told the summit: The world is watching, and I think we’ll have something that’s very exciting for everybody. A US official told the Financial Times that Beijing is willing to take concrete action to stop the flow of fentanyl ingredients which, he said, merits “a little bit of relief” from Washington. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Trump was considering cutting the 20% tariff on Chinese goods to as low as 10%. Trump also indicated that he is open to providing China with access to Nvidia’s Blackwell AI processor as part of a trade deal, which would be a major concession. Calling the chip “super duper,” he said: We’ll be speaking about Blackwells. It is the last stop of Trump’s Asia tour. Most Asian stock markets rallied, with Japan’s Nikkei jumping by 2.2% South Korea’s up 1.76%, and the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges gaining 0.7% and nearly 2% respectively. Related: Trump and Xi talks could end months of global economic chaos State-owned COFCO has bought three US soybean cargoes ahead of the meeting between the two presidents tomorrow – China’s first purchases from this year’s US harvest, Reuters reported, citing two trade sources. As the two countries are locked in an uneasy trade truce, the lack of Chinese buying has cost American farmers (who largely voted for Donald Trump) billions of dollars in lost sales. Later today, the US Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point to 4%, and traders are waiting for Fed chair Jerome Powell’s press conference to shed further light on the central bank’s next moves. The Agenda 8am GMT: Spain GDP flash for Q3, retail sales for September 9.30am GMT: Bank of England consumer credit for September 1.45pm GMT: Bank of Canada interest rate decision (quarter-point cut to 2.25% forecast) 2pm GMT: US Pending Home sales for September 6pm GMT: US Federal Reserve interest rate decision (quarter-point cut to 4% forecast) Updated at 1.45pm GMT