The end of the U.S. government shutdown may be an example of “buying the rumor and selling the news,” as Wall Street tumbled on Thursday after rallying earlier in the week.

Though with Nvidia and other AI leaders recording meaningful losses yesterday, and bets on Federal Reserve cuts getting pared back, the major market-moving issues clearly remain “AI bubble” fears and the trajectory for policy easing.

One reason the end of the longest-ever government shutdown – 43 days, if you were counting – had only a modest impact on markets is that economic clarity – one of investors’ biggest concerns related to the closure – is unlikely to clear up, even with Washington DC open.

That lack of clarity is bad news for Fed Chair Jay Powell, and can help explain why the U.S. central bank may pause next month.

Over in Asia, the yen fell to its weakest level in nine months on Wednesday, brushing up against the crucial 155 level.

Government intervention to prop up the yen may not yet be a given, but investors should still remain on high alert. Staying in Japan, a peculiar similarity is emerging between new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump.

They both appear set on using fiscal stimulus to combat cost-of-living concerns – which is a bit like trying to bring a fire under control by dousing it with gasoline.

Meanwhile, in energy markets, the International Energy Agency on Wednesday published its World Energy Outlook, which introduced a new scenario showing that, given current government policies, oil demand will not plateau in 2030 as previously expected, but will instead keep rising through mid-century.

It’s sobering reading for world leaders meeting in Brazil for COP30.

Speaking of the climate summit, the growing bullishness about the outlook for oil and gas demand was certainty apparent in energy giant Chevron’s latest strategy update, also released on Wednesday.

It shrugs off long-term anxieties about the transition toward low-carbon energy as well as near-term concerns about a potential looming oversupply.

On the topic of oversupply, the LNG market is bracing for a surge in supply next year, with significant uncertainty about how low spot prices will have to drop to clear the additional volumes.

Finally, over in the metals markets, copper has been added to the U.S. government's list of critical minerals, even though the U.S. has the world's second-largest copper stockpile.