The US-China trade war needle is pointing toward red again after Beijing sanctioned American entities of a South Korean shipping giant and threatened more retaliatory measures in response to US curbs on its own shipping sector.

The sanctions, targeting five US entities of Hanwha Ocean, triggered a slump in global stocks as traders dialed back hopes for an easing of tensions between the world’s largest economies. China’s moves escalate a long-standing dispute with the US over maritime dominance. Both sides have already slapped special port fees on each other’s vessels, while the US has rallied allies — especially South Korea — to help it revive a moribund American shipbuilding industry.

Meanwhile, China dismissed complaints from the US that it didn’t respond to inquiries over its latest export curbs on rare earths, saying Beijing has been maintaining communications over trade issues despite recent tensions. The remarks came just hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Beijing had failed to respond to US inquiries over the weekend.

In a separate interview with the Financial Times on Monday, Bessent accused China of trying to hurt the world’s economy with its rare earths controls. The intensity of the exchanges means investors may struggle to take a position before a planned meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping later this month. —Richard Frost

What You Need to Know Today

Political instability is also weighing on Japanese stocks. Japan’s main opposition parties will meet Tuesday as they weigh the possibility of uniting against ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takaichi in a vote that could oust the party from government. Following the shock collapse of the ruling coalition on Friday after an alliance lasting 26 years, the prospect of the LDP’s new leader Takaichi becoming prime minister has become murky. 

Sanae Takaichi Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg

Cryptocurrencies continued to lose ground after a historic round of liquidations that triggered a sharp selloff over the weekend. Bitcoin, the largest digital asset by market value, slumped as much as 3.75% to about $111,500, while Ether fell 7.5% to below $4,000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Smaller, more volatile tokens sank further still, dragging the combined market value of all cryptocurrencies down by more than $150 billion over a 24-hour period, according to CoinGecko data. 

Silver rose to a record above $53 an ounce before losing ground. Demand for the precious metal has been boosted by a short squeeze in London amid surging demand for safe-haven assets. According to traders, liquidity has almost entirely dried up in the London silver market, leaving anyone short spot silver struggling to source metal and forced to pay crippling borrowing costs to roll their positions to a later date. Adding to the frenzy is concern that the US could include silver in new tariffs on critical materials.

The rally in precious metals has come amid concern among money managers about a phenomenon known as the “debasement trade.” Those who believe in it are pulling away from sovereign debt and the currencies they are denominated in, worried their value will erode over time as governments avoid tackling their massive debt burdens.

Apple is bringing its superthin iPhone Air to China after a pause that allowed local carriers to prepare for the eSIM-only device. Preorders start Oct. 17 after domestic carriers including China Mobile won approval to support that feature. The launch coincides with CEO Tim Cook’s latest visit to China, where he posted about meeting Labubu’s creator Kasing Lung and visited an Apple store in Shanghai.

The iPhone Air Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg

India plans to set up a federal Transport Planning Authority to coordinate infrastructure projects and curb wasteful spending, according to people familiar with the matter. The new body, which will work closely with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, will oversee development across sectors, aligning ministries to improve project viability and avoid delays, the people said. India’s increased spending on infrastructure has led to costly inefficiencies and underused infrastructure, such as empty airport terminals and metro systems operating below capacity.

A Warburg Pincus managing director is buying a $18 million mansion in Singapore, adding to a wave of high-end property deals that are bolstering the country’s luxury housing market. Saurabh Agarwal, who’s also the head of Southeast Asia private equity at the firm, is purchasing the house in Jalan Pelangi, according to details of a September deal seen by Bloomberg News. Agarwal is a Singapore citizen and also the CEO of Warburg Pincus’s Singapore unit.

Alphabet’s Google aims to invest about $15 billion building an AI infrastructure hub in southern India over the next five years, making its biggest bet on the fast-growing country. The US company outlined plans Tuesday for a data center in the port city of Visakhapatnam linked to new energy sources and a fiber-optic network. Indian tycoon Gautam Adani said his company AdaniConneX would partner with Google on the project, along with Bharti Airtel, the country’s No. 2 wireless carrier.

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

For Your Commute

The altcoin casino blew up in spectacular fashion last week — and it’s not clear the gamblers are coming back. 

The crash didn’t just hit Bitcoin. It vaporized entire ecosystems of speculative tokens that had promised generational wealth through viral memes, big-name branding, and blind faith in momentum.

Bitcoin fell 13% after a fresh US-China tariff spat. But the damage was far deeper in smaller tokens, many of which fell as much as 80% before a tentative recovery. Trump’s memecoin, promoted earlier this year by the president, fell 37% on Friday, according to CoinMarketCap. World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token, also affiliated with the Trump family, plunged by a similar clip. The crash raises doubts about the future of the altcoin ecosystem. Read more here.

An image of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency tokens displayed at the Token2049 conference in Singapore on Oct. 1.  Photographer: Suhaimi Abdullah/Bloomberg

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