01·The Week
A new Congress, a chip sell-off.
- Senate: Democrats hold 54 seats after flipping seven, including Texas and Ohio, Al Jazeera reported; some races are still being counted.
- House: AP called the chamber for Democrats; the new Congress takes over on 3 January.
- Thursday: all 11 S&P 500 sectors fell in Wall Street’s worst day since April 2025, and the Nasdaq entered a correction, CNBC reported.
- The trigger: Democratic wins raised fears that tighter rules could slow data-centre building; Senator Bernie Sanders called for a national moratorium.
- Big Tech: the “Magnificent Seven” megacap tech stocks lost $1 trillion in market value that day.
02·Markets
Tokyo and Seoul slump, oil slides.
- Japan: the Nikkei 225 entered a bear market on Friday, more than 20% below its June peak, CNBC reported.
Week to Fri 6 Nov close. Brent is the January contract.
25.64
VIX
+32.03% wk
−11.71%
Kospi
Week
5.26%
US 30-Yr
−4.9bp wk
$51.80
Silver
+5.51% wk
Equities
| S&P 500 | −2.68% | |
| Nasdaq Composite | −3.37% | |
| Russell 2000 | −2.05% | |
| Stoxx 600 | +0.24% | |
| FTSE 100 | −0.52% | |
| DAX | +0.01% | |
| Nikkei 225 | −9.25% | |
| Hang Seng | +5.10% | |
| TASI (Saudi) | +1.75% | |
| ADX (Abu Dhabi) | −0.78% | |
| DFM (Dubai) | +4.42% |
Commodities
| Brent (Jan) | $98.32 | −13.32% |
| WTI (Dec) | $90.83 | −12.76% |
| Gold | $4,074.90 | +4.51% |
Rates
| US 10-Yr | 4.86% | −7.0bp |
FX
| EUR/USD | 1.1143 | −0.20% |
Digital Assets
| Bitcoin | $75,762 | −2.43% |
03·Chart of the Week
Planes up, chips down.
US stocks · one week · close Fri 6 Nov
Winners and losers of the week.
Change over the week to Friday, %.
Delta+8.8%
HCA Healthcare+4.61%
S&P 500−2.68%
Nasdaq−3.37%
Nvidia−8.8%
Chip index−12.15%
Arm−15.22%
Micron−22.01%
Source: Yahoo Finance closing prices, Fri 30 Oct to Fri 6 Nov. Chip index: PHLX Semiconductor Index.
04·What Else Mattered
Hiring jumps, two banks hike.
US economy
Jobs beat forecasts
- Payrolls: employers added 165,000 jobs in October, against 59,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.
- Jobless rate: fell to 4.1% from 4.2%.
- The Fed: the report keeps a rate rise at the 9 December meeting in play, Yahoo Finance reported.
CNBC · Yahoo Finance · 6 Nov
Central banks
London and Sydney raise rates
- Bank of England: raised its rate to 4%, its first increase since 2023.
- Australia: the Reserve Bank raised its cash rate to 4.85%, the highest since 2008.
- Euro zone: inflation rose to 4% in October, a three-year high, a flash estimate showed.
Bank of England · ABC News · CNBC · 3–5 Nov
Companies
Margins and a valuation
- Apple: beat profit forecasts but expects lower margins as memory-chip costs rise, AP reported.
- Anthropic: IPO investors are eyeing a $1–1.3 trillion valuation, down from about $2 trillion projected last month, Bloomberg and the WSJ reported.
AP · Bloomberg, WSJ via Yahoo Finance · 3–6 Nov
05·MENA Focus
Qatar’s plan, strikes continue.
- Friday night: US forces struck Iranian air defences on Qeshm Island; Trump called the strikes “minor” and said there had been “a lot of progress with Iran”.
- Qatar’s plan: Iran would admit UN nuclear inspectors and the US would lift its blockade, with Hormuz reopening on the second day, the Guardian reported.
- Iran’s conditions: for now, it will not negotiate on nuclear issues until the US ends its blockade of Iranian ports and lifts sanctions, a Middle East official told AP.
- Doha: Qatar denied reports that the talks had collapsed; its prime minister said, “We will never have a perfect peace deal.”
- Hormuz: Iran’s military said two tankers caught fire after hitting mines on an “unauthorised route”, ABC News reported.
- Aramco: adjusted third-quarter profit rose 9% to $31.2bn, MEED reported.
- DIP Holding: the UAE’s first IPO this year priced at Dh1.12 a share, raising Dh1.9bn for Dubai Investments.
- Emaar: offered Dh15 a share, about $3.3bn, to take full control of Emaar Development and delist it, The National reported.
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06·The Week Ahead
Three things to watch.
Three things to watch
- 01Tue 10 NovUS consumer prices for October
- 02No date setTehran’s response to Qatar’s proposals
- 03Thu 12 NovResults from Cisco and Applied Materials, a chip-equipment maker
If If prices cool, Tehran accepts Qatar’s proposals and both companies beat forecasts
Oil eases; chip stocks recover.
If If prices rise as expected, talks continue without a deal and results are mixed
Swings continue.
If If prices run hot, Tehran rejects the proposals and results disappoint
Oil rises and shares fall.
This week’s calendar
Monday
9 Nov
- DataChina consumer and producer prices (Oct)
- EarningsKKR; Take-Two, after the US close
Tuesday
10 Nov
- DataUS consumer prices (Oct), 17:30 GST; China trade (Oct)
- EarningsCoreWeave, after the US close
Wednesday
11 Nov
- ListingDIP Holding expected to start trading on the DFM
- DataGermany final consumer prices (Oct)
Thursday
12 Nov
- DataUK GDP (Q3)
- EarningsCisco and Applied Materials, after the US close
Friday
13 Nov
- DataUS producer prices (Oct), 17:30 GST; euro zone GDP (Q3)