CNBC Daily Open: Lights out and away we go into the new week

Over the weekend, all the world was a stage — in many ways.

In Tokyo, Sanae Takaichi took pole position in Japan’s political Grand Prix, becoming the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s first female leader and likely the country’s next prime minister.

Her stance as a disciple of “Abenomics,” which advocates for a mix of government spending and monetary stimulus, may have investors already bracing for a twist in the Bank of Japan’s rate hike trajectory. 

Meanwhile, the OPEC+ bloc hit the gas pedal with a modest increase of 137,000 barrels per day starting November. The move, aimed at reclaiming market share, left Brent futures hovering around $65 a barrel.

Over in the U.S., Wall Street ended the week with a victory lap despite a late stumble Friday stateside. Hopes for a Fed rate cut later this month are now almost certain, even as the government shutdown drags on.

The shutdown has led the Labor Department to pause on virtually all activity, blocking the Friday release of the September nonfarm payrolls report. 

To add on to the uncertainty, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said that mass layoffs to federal workers will start if shutdown talks stall. Currently, about 750,000 federal government employees could be put on unpaid leave each day, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Buckle up investors, it’s lights out, and away we go into a new week. 

Friday stateside rally fizzles. U.S. markets saw a mixed Friday stateside, but held on to solid weekly gains despite a government shutdown dragging on for a third day. The S&P 500 closed little changed, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.28%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed 0.51%. Futures were little changed Sunday night. 

“There will start to be layoffs.” White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that layoffs for federal employees will begin if President Donald Trump decides that congressional negotiations to end the government shutdown “are absolutely going nowhere.”

Foreigners eye China once again. As China seeks to entice back foreign capital amid dwindling inbound investment, global investors eyeing opportunities in the country remain wary of more fundamental constraints: Beijing’s iron grip on capital flows and lack of policy clarity.

OpenAI may face lawsuits. The company launched short-form video app Sora this week, and users have flooded the platform with artificial intelligence-generated clips of popular brands and animated characters. But this could mean that OpenAI could soon face a deluge of copyright lawsuits, experts told CNBC.

[PRO] Chip stocks getting too far ahead? Semiconductor stocks have been on a tear and rank among the best performers this year. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), a widely watched gauge of the group, is outperforming the S&P500 by a huge margin. But is the move too far, too fast?