International News 03 November 2025
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Amazon Soars to Record High as AWS and AI Investments Drive Strong Q3 Performance
Amazon Inc. shares surged 11% to a record high on Friday (Oct 31, 2025) after the company posted Q3 earnings that beat Wall Street expectations. The tech giant reported earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.95 on revenue of US$180.2 billion, surpassing analysts’ forecasts of US$1.58 and US$177.8 billion, respectively. Its cloud division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), was the key growth driver with US$33.01 billion in revenue, exceeding projections of US$32.4 billion. CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon plans to continue aggressively expanding cloud capacity amid soaring demand for computing and AI infrastructure. AWS’s momentum was fueled by the rapid adoption of Trainium2 chips, which grew 150% quarter-on-quarter, and the launch of Project Rainier, a new AI cluster featuring 500,000 Trainium2 chips. Despite the strong quarter, Amazon’s stock remains up only 2.4% year-to-date, lagging behind Microsoft (+24%) and Google (+49%) due to perceptions that AWS trails rivals in AI dominance. While Microsoft leverages its partnership with OpenAI and Google builds on Gemini, Amazon has deepened its collaboration with Anthropic, which will now use 1 million Amazon-made chips for AI model training—though Anthropic also works with Google Cloud. Jassy clarified that Amazon’s layoff of 14,000 corporate employees was driven by cultural, not financial or AI-related reasons. The company’s performance highlights how AI and cloud services are reshaping Big Tech’s growth narrative, positioning Amazon to compete head-to-head in the next wave of AI-driven computing.
Morgan Stanley Sees Gold Prices Hitting $4,500 by Mid-2026 Amid Strong Central Bank and ETF Demand
Morgan Stanley forecasts gold prices could climb to US$4,500 per troy ounce by mid-2026, supported by robust physical demand from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and central banks as global economic uncertainty persists. In a note cited by Reuters (Oct 31, 2025), the bank said recent price movements pushed gold into overbought territory on the Relative Strength Index (RSI), but the subsequent correction has “brought prices back to healthier levels,” improving its long-term positioning. The outlook factors in continued ETF inflows amid lower interest rates, steady central bank purchases, and stabilized jewelry demand. However, Morgan Stanley cautioned that downside risks remain — including potential price volatility, investor rotation into other asset classes, or central banks reducing gold reserves. Gold has surged over 54% year-to-date, setting multiple record highs in 2025, including an all-time peak of US$4,381.21 per ounce on October 20, before easing more than 8%. The year’s rally has been fueled by geopolitical uncertainty, rate-cut expectations, and heavy ETF inflows, underscoring gold’s status as a preferred safe-haven asset in a fragile macroeconomic environment.
South Korea’s Exports Surge in October, Driven by Semiconductor and Ship Demand
South Korea’s exports unexpectedly jumped 3.6% year-on-year in October 2025 to US$59.57 billion, far surpassing economists’ expectations of a slight 0.2% decline. The surge was primarily fueled by strong global demand for high-performance semiconductors and a sharp rebound in ship exports, according to data released by the Ministry of Trade. Semiconductor exports soared 25.4%, marking a second consecutive month of double-digit growth, supported by rising prices of advanced memory chips such as HBM and DDR5 used in AI servers. Meanwhile, ship exports skyrocketed 131.2%, and petrochemical shipments rose 12.7% from a year earlier. Analysts believe this momentum will continue into Q4 as global trade uncertainty eases. The new trade agreement between Washington and Seoul, which maintains tariffs on cars and parts at 15%, and a Trump–Xi meeting in Busan that produced tariff reductions on Chinese goods, are seen as positive catalysts. Economist Park Sang-hyun of iM Securities noted that export conditions “remain solid” given strong chip prices and robust daily shipment averages. On the other hand, imports declined 1.5% to US$53.52 billion, indicating improving trade balance dynamics. Overall, South Korea’s export sector appears poised for sustained recovery amid the global rebound in semiconductor demand.