Market News

Trading Sphere is brewing something wicked this Halloween

Introducing The Witch’s Pot 23 October 2026 This Halloween, Trading Sphere is putting a wicked twist on trading with The Witch’s Pot which gives traders the chance to earn entries while helping grow a shared prize pool.

Running from 26 October to 1 November 2026, the campaign brings together trading activity, a growing cash prize pool and a live leaderboard, with five winners set to share the final Witch’s Pot equally.

Every Lot Adds to the Spell

The Witch’s Pot will start at $2,000 and grow by $1 for every lot traded. 

At the same time, traders earn one Lucky Draw entry for every lot…

US Tech Stocks Tumble as Treasury Yields Crash – Nasdaq Drops 2.6%

US equity markets experienced another extremely volatile trading session yesterday, with technology stocks taking a significant hit as renewed concerns surrounding the AI sector weighed heavily on investor sentiment. The Nasdaq led the declines, plunging 2.60% to close at 26,008, recording its biggest one-day fall since June. The S&P 500 also came under significant pressure, dropping 1.21% to finish at 7,663, while the Dow managed to hold relatively steady, edging 0.02% higher to close at 52,867. The sharp divergence between the major indices highlighted the extent of the selling pressure in the technology sector, with investors increasingly concerned over elevated…

• Eurozone October flash services PMI 51.7 vs 52.5 expected
• Prior 53.0
• Eurozone October flash manufacturing PMI 52.4 vs 52.7 expected
• Prior 52.9
• Eurozone October flash composite PMI 51.9 vs 52.7 expected
• Prior 53.1

Details to follow...

Let's take a step back and check on the key market drivers this week. The US-Iran conflict is still raging on and geopolitical tensions remain high. So, that is underpinning oil prices once again with WTI crude breaching $100 and Brent crude hitting $114 - its highest since May.

Now, that sounds like a familiar backdrop for the bond market, doesn't it? Higher oil prices mean stronger inflation pressures, which should normally push up Treasury yields. Well, that has not been the case this week.

Instead, Treasury yields have fallen sharply, with 10-year yields even slipping back below the 5% threshold in overnight trading and holding thereabouts since. But wait a second, shouldn't falling yields then buy some relief for stocks?

You would…

• UK September retail sales -0.4% vs -0.1% m/m expected
• Prior +0.5; revised to +0.7%
• UK September retail sales +0.8% vs +1.0% y/y expected
• Prior +2.4%; revised to +2.7%
• UK September retail sales (ex autos, fuel) -0.7% vs -0.1% m/m expected
• Prior +0.6%; revised to +0.9%
• UK September retail sales (ex autos, fuel) +0.8% vs +1.5% y/y expected
• Prior +2.7%; revised to +2.9%

UK retail sales disappointed in September, falling by 0.4% on the month and missing expectations of a 0.1% decline. That comes after a stronger revision to the August number, which saw a 0.7% increase. Having said that, the quarterly picture is still holding up reasonably well as retail sales volumes rose by 0.7% in Q3 compared with the previous quarter.

Looking at the details, the…

There are just a couple of key expiry levels to take note of on the day, as highlighted in bold below.

The first one is for USD/JPY at the 157.00 level, which is keeping within less than 15 pips of the spot price. The expiries here could help keep price action anchored around the figure level in the session ahead, especially if the broader risk mood settles down.

But as things stand, overall risk sentiment remains the bigger driver at this stage and stronger yen demand once again could still override any related pull from the expiries.

Meanwhile, there is also one for USD/CHF at the 0.8245 level. The expiries here could offer some magnetic pull if trading conditions turn quieter, although broader dollar and franc flows will remain the bigger…

Global trading technology provider expands into Perpetual Futures, with firms running on its infrastructure serving 2M+ users and 1M+ active accounts every month and processing more than $200 million in client revenues annually.

Trade Tech Solutions has announced the launch of its Perpetual Futures prop firm technology, expanding its infrastructure into one of the fastest-growing areas of the global trading market.

The launch builds on Trade Tech Solutions’ experience working with many of the top 15 prop firms in CFD and futures, as well as more than 85 prop firms across 180+ regions worldwide.

Operators can now use Trade Tech Solutions to launch a fully branded Perpetual Futures prop firm in as little as 25 days, while established firms…

The UK retail sales release will be one of the main items to watch out for in the economic calendar today, especially after the latest inflation and labour market figures have given the BOE plenty to think about ahead of its November meeting.

For the September report, retail sales are expected to fall by 0.1% on the month, following a 0.5% increase in August. Meanwhile, retail sales are expected to rise by 1.0% annually - a slowdown from 2.4% previously. The numbers might not be all too interesting on the surface, but they will matter to the broader context in shaping the BOE outlook.

UK headline annual inflation climbed to 3.5% in September, with core annual inflation also picking up to 2.8%. That is hardly reassuring for the BOE,…

• HSBC’s RedCoin stablecoin goes live in Hong Kong: what the launch answers, and what it still doesn’t
• Gold drops below $4,000 for first time since July as yields and dollar weigh
• Three AI listings stalled in a month: the money behind the AI boom is getting pickier
• Japan’s 2.4% underlying inflation puts a higher BoJ terminal rate in play
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.7180 (vs. estimate at 6.6758)
• Japan flash PMI holds at 52.3 as services gain offsets factory slowdown before BoJ
• What is blockchain finality? Why Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana settle at very different speeds
• Japan core inflation tops BoJ’s 2% target for first time since December, yen firms
• Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade cuts settlement to under a second: what it changes,…

The $4,000 break matters more as a psychological level than as a reaction to news, and losing it could trigger further selling from momentum-driven and leveraged holders. The most important near-term link runs through oil: Brent above $110 a barrel keeps inflation expectations high, which supports further Fed tightening, higher Treasury yields and a firm dollar, all of which weigh on a metal that pays no interest. The Fed decision on October 28 is the next major test. A hawkish message would likely add pressure, while any sign of a pause could give gold room to recover. Equity volatility is also a risk: further sharp falls in tech shares could force more selling of gold to meet margin calls, as happened during Thursday’s chip sell-off.

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HSBC has started rolling out RedCoin, its Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin, to more than 3.3 million users of its PayMe payments app, according to the South China Morning Post. The phased launch began on Friday, 23 October, starting with transfers between users and payments to merchants. Three weeks ago, investingLive flagged that RedCoin had a name but no launch date. That question now has an answer. Two others do not: which blockchain RedCoin runs on, and whether it can ever leave HSBC’s own apps.

What happened

According to the SCMP, PayMe users can activate a RedCoin wallet with no minimum balance and no extra account-opening steps. Once they update the app, they can select the wallet and send money instantly, through an interface…