For stock investors, check the Golden Qilin analyst reports 鈥?authoritative, professional, timely, comprehensive, helping you uncover potential thematic opportunities! Source: Jinshi Zatan. On October 5th, A-shares remained closed while Asia-Pacific markets rose collectively. Japanese stocks surged for the second consecutive day, climbing as much as 2.37% in a single session, once again eyeing the 70,000-point mark. Taiwan Fund Inc (TWN) gained 0.25%, continuing its march toward a historic high. The Hang Seng Index briefly turned positive, with the Hang Seng Tech Index currently up 0.26%.

Behind the rally in Japanese stocks: First, U.S. stocks rose overnight, with NVIDIA hitting a historic high and its market cap approaching $6 trillion. Second, U.S. September non-farm payrolls fell short of expectations, further reducing the probability of an October rate hike, which is favorable for risk asset appreciation. CICC believes that while the Fed needed to hike rates in September to protect its reputation and market trust, there is no need for consecutive and large rate increases, because the fundamentals of traditional sectors do not support it unless oil prices spiral completely out of control. Third, as written last Thursday, expectations for a Bank of Japan rate hike in October have dropped significantly. The summary of opinions from the BOJ's September meeting disappointed investors who had hoped to see signs that policymakers might be preparing to act again this month. The BOJ confirmed in its September meeting summary that its policy focus has shifted toward preventing inflation from overshooting its target. Other views expressed by decision-makers included that the neutral rate may be higher than estimated; that many companies believe the impact of rate hikes so far has been limited; and that it would be appropriate to raise the policy rate further sooner rather than later. Swap market pricing for a BOJ rate hike before October 30th fell from over 30% at one point on Wednesday to just under 20% on Thursday morning. The market has fully priced in the possibility of a rate hike at the December meeting. Citi strategists said that despite elevated interest rates and lingering geopolitical risks, solid corporate earnings in 2027 can support global stocks to continue climbing. The strategy team led by David Groman and Beata Manthey predicted that global stocks will gain about 6% before the end of this year, driven by earnings growth rather than valuation expansion. Citi maintained overweight ratings on U.S., Japanese, and global technology sectors, citing earnings momentum and AI-driven growth. It maintained neutral ratings on European markets excluding the U.K. and emerging markets. Europe and emerging markets remain vulnerable to geopolitical risks. The financial sector was downgraded to neutral, and the real estate sector was downgraded to underweight.

Meanwhile, Taiwan Fund Inc (TWN) continued to rise, recently up 0.25%, just a hair's breadth away from a historic high. So far this year, the Taiwan stock market has surged 67.37%, surpassing South Korea to become the best-performing capital market globally. (The following data is compiled from Wind Financial Terminal.)

As for Hong Kong stocks, a V-shaped rebound occurred today, with the Hang Seng Index now turning positive after previously falling 0.57%. The strongest performer in Hong Kong stocks was the optical communications sector. Comba Telecom skyrocketed 21%, copper-clad laminate leader Kingboard Laminates surged 12%, Kingboard Holdings and Cambridge Technology rose over 8%, Victory Giant Technology gained nearly 7%, and Zhongji Innolight rose nearly 4%. On one hand, NVIDIA provided a boost, driving AI chip and computing power industry chains higher. Morgan Stanley semiconductor analyst Joseph Moore's team reiterated NVIDIA as a top pick on October 2nd, giving it an overweight rating with a positive outlook and a base price target of $300, which is 30% higher than the October 1st price of $230.86, corresponding to a market cap of $7.23 trillion. On the other hand, on September 28th, Morgan Stanley analyzed the direction and timeline of potential FCC restrictions on Chinese optical modules. The research report noted that potential restrictions could be introduced at 3.2T, which would limit Chinese optical modules, but if the proportion of U.S. material value exceeds 65%, they might be exempt; the earliest introduction could be in October. Through analysis, aside from a few domestic supply chain optical chips and upstream components facing temporary negative impact, the effect on Zhongji Innolight is manageable. As for Cambridge Technology, it has not yet achieved mass production and delivery capability for 3.2T optical modules and is only in the R&D stage, so there is no impact. For companies supplying the domestic market such as Accelink Technologies, there is also no negative impact, collectively buffering the earlier negative sentiment from the FCC ban. In addition, Kingboard Laminates has issued seven rounds of price increase notices this year. Sinolink Securities previously noted in a research report that strong AI demand is driving PCB prices and volumes higher simultaneously. Currently, many AI-PCB companies have strong order books, are producing and selling at full capacity, and are aggressively expanding production, with high earnings growth expected to continue. AI copper-clad laminates are also in strong demand. Due to the slow capacity expansion of overseas copper-clad laminate manufacturers, shortages and price increases continue, and leading mainland copper-clad laminate manufacturers are expected to benefit actively.