Samsung Electronics says its semiconductor division's planned investments will go to new wafer fabs and other infrastructure to meet strong AI and HPC demand and to ensure medium- to long-term readiness.

At the open, China's major futures contracts were mixed with more gains than losses. Fuel oil and asphalt rose over 3%; propylene, short fiber, plastics monthly average, PET bottle flake and other plastics gained more than 2%; low-sulfur fuel oil (LU) was up nearly 2%. On the downside, lithium carbonate fell over 4%; caustic soda dropped more than 2%; Shanghai silver and live hog futures slipped about 2%; No.20 rubber, rubber, soda ash and Shanghai lead fell over 1%; Shanghai aluminum eased nearly 1%.

Steven Whiting, co‑founder of CIO Group, said the Fed waiting until December to raise rates would only "prolong our pain." Fed funds futures largely price no move tonight and a December hike; CME FedWatch shows about a 7% chance of a 25bp increase this evening. Whiting noted Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has signaled inflation remains too high, raising the possibility policymakers could act before December; he said he is not predicting a move tonight but judges the odds of a surprise hike to be higher than 7%.