Headlines:
- US midterms 2026: Is Trump about to lose his grip on Congress?
- US midterms 2026: Where are Republicans most vulnerable in the battle for Congress?
- Crude oil opens the week lower and extends the losses as US-Iran deal hopes return. What’s next?
- European stock market open: Stocks kick start November trading more cautiously
- Chart of the day: Gold is in trouble and things could get a whole lot uglier
- Gold bounces from a key support zone as hopes for US-Iran deal strengthen. What’s next?
- BOJ continues to reaffirm that inflation is here to stay, so what’s stopping another rate hike?
- Germany retail sales slump in September as consumer weakness adds to ECB’s headache
- Eurozone manufacturing PMI holds up in October but rising price pressures give the ECB another headache
Markets:
- CHF leads, AUD lags on the day
- Gold up 0.6% to $3,900
- WTI crude oil down 4.1% to $99.80
- 10-year Treasury yields down 1.8 bps to 4.91%
- European stocks lightly changed; Nasdaq futures +0.7%
It’s a calmer start to the new week/month as we get November trading underway. After the bloodbath on Wall Street at the end of last week, we are seeing a steadier mood today but one that looks to be just a bit of respite for now.
Oil prices are coming off the boil, so that is helping as traders weigh hopes of a resolution to the US-Iran conflict. That is helping to drag WTI crude down back below the $100 mark to $99.80 on the day.
In the bond market, 10-year Treasury yields are not doing all too much in hovering around 4.91%. It’s still neither here nor there as traders will have to consider whether to seek safety in bonds again if the selloff in tech shares continue again later this week.
But at least for now, things are calmer in the equities space. European stocks are little changed overall while US futures are seeing a mild bounce after the rout on Friday last week. S&P 500 futures are up 0.3% with Nasdaq futures up 0.7% but there is still some ways to go in erasing the pessimism from the past few weeks. Investors seem to remain very much fearful that the massive spending on AI infrastructure will fail to generate fast enough returns at this juncture.
In other markets, the dollar is keeping more mixed today as it holds lower against European currencies but up against the yen and antipodes. EUR/USD is up 0.5% to 1.1217 while USD/JPY is also up 0.2% to 157.87 on the day.
As for gold, the precious metal is keeping a modest bounce off its 100-week moving average as it holds near $3,900. For now, the pressure is off a little but the technical picture is definitely still looking dicey amid further selling and liquidations – especially if the broader risk mood comes under fire again.
For now, all eyes will turn to the US midterms tomorrow as the next key risk event for markets.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.