MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks fell as the tech selloff intensified after results from Amazon and Intel compounded worries around the AI trade. Treasury yields dropped as a flight to safety revived demand for government debt. Oil prices climbed on worries that tensions in the Middle East could escalate, pushing gold prices lower. The dollar weakened.
MARKET WRAPS EQUITIES
U.S. stocks fell as the artificial-intelligence selloff began to feed on itself following more disappointing earnings reports from Amazon and Intel, leaving investors to wonder if the tech correction could become a speculative bust.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.1%. The broad S&P 500 dropped 1.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dove 2.9%.
To be sure, stocks are still comfortably in the green for the year. There is a sense of the speculative spell of AI breaking, however. The Nasdaq has come to the brink of correction territory after companies such as Google owner Alphabet and Amazon reported revenue growth at rates far above historical averages and only slightly shy of Wall Street expectations.
"Reactions to bad earnings are awful, while reactions to good earnings are barely positive...which indicates poor liquidity and a still relatively complacent market, with high expectations versus reality," said Lorenzo Di Mattia, chief investment officer and founder at hedge-fund firm Sibilla Capital.
Earlier Friday, Asian stocks declined, tracking losses on Wall Street.
South Korea's Kospi slid 3.5%, though it pulled off its early lows. Index heavyweight chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both dropped.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gave back 2.1%.
China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.4% while the Shenzhen Composite Index shed nearly 2.7%. The tech-focused ChiNext Price Index tumbled 4.1%.
Stocks in Australia rose, as the S&P/ASX 200 increased 0.2%. New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 gained 0.6%.
COMMODITIES
Oil prices rose with the market on edge about possible military escalation in the Middle East after the U.S. midterm elections, while an attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, Houthi claims of more attacks on Saudi refineries and a Ukrainian strike on a Russian refinery fed supply concerns.
December Brent crude went off the board at $117.64 a barrel, up 2.4%, for a monthly gain of 14%. The most-active January Brent contract rose 2.4%, to $113.43 a barrel. December West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1%, to $104.12 a barrel, for a 15% monthly gain.
"As tensions continue to mount, global oil supply security is increasingly threatened, and risk appetite is further expanded in keeping the energy complex up-trending ahead of next week's mid-term elections," trading advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates said.
Precious metals futures fell as conflicts in the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine pushed oil prices higher, fueling concerns about inflation and higher interest rates.
Front-month gold fell 3.3% in New York to $3,885.70 a troy ounce, its lowest close since Oct. 3, 2025. Silver fell 5.9% to $49.097 a troy ounce, its lowest since Nov. 7 of last year.
The selloff could be "partly emanating from the crypto hack, which is triggering a flight to cash and putting additional selling pressure on the metals," Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital said.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
China Economic Activity Loses Steam Sharply in October
China's economic activity slowed sharply in October, with gauges of manufacturing, services and construction all pointing to a loss of momentum.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 49.3 in October, down from 50.1 in September, said the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday.
The result undershot the 49.8 forecast made by economists in a Wall Street Journal survey and dropped into contraction territory again after a short rebound into expansion. A reading above the 50 mark suggests activity expansion, while below that threshold means a contraction.
The production subindex fell to 49.8 in October, down from 51.7 in September. The subindex for total new orders dropped to 49.4, compared with September's 50.5 while new export orders declined to 48.7 from to 50.0 in September.
OPEC, Allies Keep Output Steady While Gulf Shipping Remains Under Threat
Key members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies agreed to keep oil production steady in December, as concerns that the U.S. could resume strikes against Iran after the midterm elections keep geopolitical risks elevated.
Sunday's virtual meeting of seven core members-Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman-comes as oil prices remain above $100 a barrel. Continued threats to shipping in the Persian Gulf have pushed freight and insurance costs sharply higher, while global onshore oil inventories are near their lowest levels in at least a decade.
Brent crude for January delivery settled above $113 a barrel on Friday, while West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil gauge, closed the session at around $104 a barrel.
Binance Resumes Withdrawals After Suffering Biggest-Ever Crypto Hack
Binance on Sunday began allowing customers to resume withdrawals from its exchange after racing to cover its losses in the biggest cyber heist in history.
Binance, in a series of statements on X, said it had re-enabled withdrawals for bitcoin, ether and certain other digital currencies and would continue to enable more withdrawals in phases. The exchange last week had blocked customers from withdrawing funds while its team conducted security checks.
The American Economy Rockets Ahead, but Doesn't Take Everyone With It
The U.S. economy is accelerating, gathering enough momentum from the artificial intelligence boom and robust consumer spending to crash through wars, volatile markets and trade disruptions. Indeed, no major advanced economy has been growing like the U.S.
The expansion has boosted certain segments of the economy, while weighing on others. At the same time, higher borrowing costs have grown alongside profits and wealth. Wages have risen, though inflation has eaten most of the gains.
"The economy is robust, but it is also extremely concentrated," said EY-Parthenon economist Gregory Daco.
American Oil Giants See Profits Soar as Wars Crimp Energy Supplies
America's two biggest oil companies banked huge third-quarter profits, benefiting from the disruption in energy markets after drones took out major oil refineries in Russia and the Middle East.
The fuel-making divisions at ExxonMobil and Chevron turned in their highest quarterly earnings ever, while churning out fuel for a global market buffeted by supply disruptions. Both companies are taking steps to boost their output of diesel, prices of which hit records in the U.S. in September.
"The higher fuel prices clearly put real pressure on families and businesses, and the most meaningful response that we can make to higher global commodity prices is to pull every lever available to us to increase supply," Neil Hansen, Exxon's chief financial officer, said. "That's what we've been doing."
Fed Needs to Implement at Least Two More Rate Increases, Dallas Fed's Logan Says
The Federal Reserve needs to implement at least two more 25-basis-point rate increases given the current economic outlook after the central bank voted to hold interest rates steady this week, according to Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan.
Without any monetary-policy restraint, inflation will continue to trend above target unless unexpected shocks occur, Logan said at an event in Davidson, N.C., on Friday.
"It remains clear to me, given the current outlook, that the FOMC needs to implement at least two more 25-basis-point rate increases," Logan said. "After that, it would make sense in my view to pause and examine economic and financial developments to determine what further action may be appropriate," she added.
Chinese Executive Close to Nvidia CEO Suspected of Giving China Information
Officials in the U.S., Singapore and Taiwan have grown concerned that a data-center industry executive with close ties to Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang is a Chinese intelligence source, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially giving Beijing access to information about the world's most valuable artificial-intelligence chips.
U.S. officials last year concluded that Chinese citizen Alice Huang, then a top executive at Megaspeed International, was sharing information with the Chinese government while working with Nvidia to build data centers in Asia, the people said. Huang, who also goes by Huang Le, isn't related to the Nvidia CEO.
Authorities in Singapore, where Megaspeed is based, and in Taiwan had separately investigated Alice Huang's ties to China, at one point putting physical surveillance teams on her, some of the people said. Officials involved in those investigations suspected she was recruited by Chinese intelligence services after they learned of what they saw as a close relationship between her and the Nvidia chief, the people said.
China Scoops Up Data That Could Aid Its Forces in Waters Around Taiwan
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan-China has accelerated the mapping of waters near Taiwan, sending dozens of ships to gather data that could be critical for submarines and subsea drones to navigate and detect rivals in a fight over the self-ruled island.
The recent flurry of maritime research has the potential to advance China's ability to seize Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own and threatens to take by force if necessary.
Taiwan responded in August by adding two ships to its small research fleet as it works to map this potential maritime battleground while it invests in an arsenal of nautical drones to improve the island's defenses.
Expected Major Events for Monday 00:00/AUS: Oct Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge
00:30/AUS: Sep Building Approvals
