On Monday, US stocks opened higher but closed lower, with the Nasdaq climbing more than 1% at one point during the session.
Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei approved the government's push to advance peace negotiations, signaling a possible diplomatic breakthrough amid growing concerns that the US and Israel could clash with Iran again.
Trump said later on Monday that the White House is willing to hold talks, hinting that discussions have made progress, though he provided no details or evidence.
US midterm elections will be held on Tuesday, with Democrats expected to win control of the House of Representatives, while control of the Senate remains uncertain.
US stocks
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 213.67 points, or 0.41%, to 51,983.98; the S&P 500 fell 38.67 points, or 0.51%, to 7,541.40; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 272.68 points, or 1.07%, to 25,164.32.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 3.3%, with Intel Corp (INTC.US) down 8.8%, Micron Technology Inc (MU.US) down 5.7%, Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL.US) down 12.7%, and Oracle Corp (ORCL.US) down 8.8%.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed up 2.2%, with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.US) up 3.5% and Bilibili Inc (BILI.US) up 6.5%.
European stocks
Germany's DAX 30 rose 168.50 points, or 0.65%, to 25,986.71; the UK's FTSE 100 rose 37.67 points, or 0.35%, to 10,767.45; France's CAC 40 rose 78.27 points, or 0.98%, to 8,047.69; the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 47.54 points, or 0.78%, to 6,178.85; Spain's IBEX 35 rose 311.99 points, or 1.67%, to 18,964.89; and Italy's FTSE MIB rose 466.53 points, or 0.94%, to 49,967.50.
Forex
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, fell 0.16% on the day and ended at 101.719 in late New York trading.
In late New York trading, the euro traded at 1.1194 dollars, up from 1.1167 dollars in the previous session; the British pound was at 1.3410 dollars, up from 1.3394 dollars; the dollar was at 157.91 yen, up from 157.37 yen; the dollar was at 0.8183 Swiss francs, down from 0.8236 Swiss francs; the dollar was at 1.3987 Canadian dollars, up from 1.3956 Canadian dollars; and the dollar was at 9.7807 Swedish kronor, down from 9.8170 Swedish kronor.
Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell below the 77,000-dollar mark and was at 76,720 dollars as of press time; Ether dropped 0.77% to 2,255 dollars.
Precious metals
Spot gold rose 1.8% to 3,945.83 dollars; spot silver rose more than 3% to 50.637 dollars per ounce.
Crude oil
Light crude futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 7.66 dollars to settle at 96.46 dollars a barrel, down 7.36%; London Brent crude futures for January delivery fell 8.66 dollars to settle at 104.77 dollars a barrel, down 7.63%.
Macro news
US natural gas output fell over the weekend, and low prices may prompt producers to cut supply voluntarily. US natural gas futures rose as output declined over the weekend, with the Appalachian shale gas region showing the most notable reductions. The drop in supply suggests producers may be actively cutting output amid low natural gas prices. In addition, slightly colder weather forecasts mean demand for natural gas for heating and power generation could increase as the winter heating season begins. Still, temperatures across most of the US are expected to remain above seasonal averages in the coming weeks, which could limit upside room for natural gas prices and offset the support from a marginal increase in heating demand. In addition, the volume of natural gas flowing to LNG export terminals also declined, leaving more gas in the domestic US market and putting downward pressure on prices.
Economist: US manufacturing expansion and cost pressures coexist, and the future inflation path faces new tests. Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "US factories continued to expand strongly in October, extending manufacturing's best growth momentum since early 2022. The recovery also drove employment growth at the fastest pace in five and a half years, the highest since the surge in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pressures brought by manufacturing growth are also evident. Against a backdrop of supply chain disruptions, factories are struggling to meet strong demand, especially for AI-related goods and equipment. Due to shipping and logistics problems, delivery delays are more widespread than at any time since 2022. As demand frequently exceeds supply, producers' ability to pass on higher costs to customers is strengthening, especially for energy-related inputs. As a result, producer factory-gate price inflation accelerated further in October, reaching its highest level since September 2022. Such a sharp rise in factory-gate prices will inevitably feed through to consumers in the coming months, keeping inflation persistently above the Federal Reserve's target and further increasing pressure on policymakers to continue raising rates."
UK bank deposit battle intensifies, and traditional banks face pressure from fund outflows. The focus of major UK banks' third-quarter earnings was not the bank tax, rising rates, inflation or AI, but deposit competition. UBS analyst Jason Napier said on Lloyds Banking Group's earnings call that deposits have become "the top issue for investors." Other analysts even apologized for repeatedly asking about deposits. The banks' earnings highlighted the intensity of deposit competition. In the three months ended September 30, Lloyds Bank's UK retail savings deposits fell by 300 million pounds (about 403 million dollars). NatWest Group's private banking and wealth management business also saw a decline of the same size in deposits. Barclays' UK corporate bank deposits fell by 2 billion pounds from the previous quarter. HSBC Holdings said one of its key profitability metrics remained stable, but emerging competitive pressure on customer deposits in markets such as the UK offset some of the positive effects. Deposits are a cheaper source of funding for banks than wholesale funding markets. Wholesale funding refers to banks borrowing from sources such as institutional investors. Banks use deposits to make loans and earn income from them. A smaller deposit base means banks must either reduce lending or bear higher funding costs.
Company news
Apple's revenue beat expectations but growth slowed, with Greater China and services under pressure. Apple Inc (AAPL.US) reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue rose 12% year over year to 114.5 billion dollars, above the market expectation of 113.5 billion dollars, but growth slowed from 16% in the previous quarter. Greater China revenue rose 21% year over year to 17.53 billion dollars, but still fell short of the market expectation of 18.75 billion dollars. The company faces pressure from the standard iPhone not being updated in September as usual, limited product supply, slowing services growth and lagging progress in AI. Services revenue grew less than 10% year over year in the quarter, the slowest pace since 2022, covering iCloud storage, App Store commissions, AppleCare warranty services and Google search engine licensing revenue. In addition, Apple's capital expenditure in the quarter was only 2.24 billion dollars, below the market expectation of 3.33 billion dollars and far below other large tech companies' investments in AI infrastructure. The market will focus on the contribution of the foldable iPhone Duo to holiday shopping season sales and when the company can ease supply constraints. After the results were released, Apple shares edged lower in after-hours US trading.
AI giant Anthropic's revenue grew rapidly, with huge losses and spending expanding in tandem. Anthropic's third-quarter revenue for the period ended September 30 was nearly 17 billion dollars, 12 times higher than a year earlier, a performance that could further raise market expectations for the artificial intelligence company's IPO, whose listing size may set a record. According to a filing Anthropic submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the Claude platform developer's net loss for the three months ended September reached 23.3 billion dollars, compared with a net loss of 12.1 billion dollars a year earlier. Operating expenses rose to 17.5 billion dollars in the quarter, up 292% year over year. The filing showed that Anthropic currently has total contractual and other committed spending of 895 billion dollars, most of it related to computing power and infrastructure. About 448 billion dollars is expected to be incurred by the end of 2030, of which about 70 billion dollars will be paid within the 12 months ending September 2027. Anthropic filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on October 26 and plans to list before the US Thanksgiving holiday. People familiar with the matter previously said the company hopes to raise 86.2 billion dollars or more in the IPO, matching the amount raised when SpaceX listed.
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