1.Asia-Pacific markets track Wall Street declines as tech-led sell-off deepens
Asia-Pacific markets fell Wednesday, tracking Wall Street declines as concerns about artificial intelligence valuations continued to pressure tech stocks. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2% in volatile trading, while the Topix index was flat. Yields on 10-year Japanese government bonds rose about 2 basis points to 1.759%, the highest level since 2007. Those on the 20-year government bond rose almost 3 basis points to 2.811%, the highest level since 1999, while the 30-year bond yield rose nearly 4 basis points to hit 3.334% and was hovering near record highs. The technology sector had dragged the Nikkei 225 index sharply lower in early trading, led by semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest which fell more than 4%, last down 0.88%. Semiconductor firm Renesas was trading 4.4% lower.
2. Dow closes down nearly 500 points, S&P logs its longest slide since August
Stocks fell again on Tuesday as technology shares continued to retreat on concerns about valuations of artificial intelligence-related stocks and as bitcoin dropped briefly below $90,000, a sign of reduced risk-taking by investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 498.50 points, or 1.07%, to settle at 46,091.74. The S&P 500 lost 0.83% to end the day at 6,617.32. It was the broad-based index’s fourth straight losing session, making for its longest slide since August. The Nasdaq Composite decreased 1.21% to finish at 22,432.85. At their lows of the session, the blue-chip Dow was lower by nearly 700 points, or 1.5%, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq had fallen 1.5% and 2.1%, respectively.
3. Gold subdued as dollar firms; spotlight on Fed minutes, U.S. jobs data
Gold edged lower on Wednesday due to a stronger dollar, while investors awaited minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting and U.S. jobs report that could shed more light on the central bank’s interest rate trajectory. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $4,059 per ounce, as of 0201 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery edged 0.1% lower to $4,061.60 per ounce.” Global equity markets have turned sharply negative this week, with the S&P 500, opens new tab on a four-day losing streak on concerns about valuations of AI stocks. Investors now await minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting, due to be released later in the day, and the September non-farm payrolls report, which will be released on Thursday after being delayed due to the recent U.S. government shutdown.
4. Oil prices fall as rising U.S. inventories reinforce oversupply concerns
Oil prices fell on Wednesday as an industry report showing crude and fuel inventories rose last week in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer, reinforced mounting concerns that supply is exceeding demand in the market. Brent crude futures dropped 28 cents, or 0.43%, at $64.61 a barrel as of 0200 GMT, after gaining 1.1% in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 24 cents, or 0.4%, at $60.5 a barrel, after rising 1.4% on Tuesday. U.S. crude and fuel stocks rose last week, market sources said late on Tuesday, citing American Petroleum Institute figures.
5.Saudi crown prince visited the U.S. for the first time since Khashoggi scandal
U.S. President Donald Trump met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, with the leaders expected to discuss the deepening of defence, trade and technology ties as well as cooperation in the fields of artificial intelligence, security and nuclear energy. The trip follows Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May in which the kingdom made a $600 billion trade and investment commitment to the U.S. Analysts say Trump will be looking to cement those pledges this week. “The United States wants Saudi Arabia to purchase more of its goods and services and increase investments in U.S. companies, and Saudi Arabia is seeking greater access to U.S. tech and innovation to support its ambitious Vision 2030 reforms,” Tim Callen, visiting fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, said ahead of the meeting.
6. China expected to keep rates steady for sixth month as PBOC turns less dovish
China is expected to leave benchmark lending rates unchanged for a sixth consecutive month in November, a Reuters survey showed, after the central bank signalled less urgency for additional monetary stimulus. The loan prime rate (LPR), normally charged to banks’ top clients, is calculated each month after 20 designated commercial banks submit propose rates to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). All 23 respondents in a Reuters survey this week said they expected the one-year and five-year LPRs to remain steady on Thursday at 3.0% and 3.5%, respectively. The consensus comes after the PBOC this month maintained its seven-day reverse repo rate, which now serves as a major policy rate. They said the central bank seems to have shifted to a less dovish stance after resurfacing “cross-cyclical” policy adjustments in its third-quarter monetary policy implementation report — its first mention since the first quarter of last year.
7. Bank of England to cut interest rates in December and again in Q1 2026
The Bank of England will cut interest rates in December and again early next year as inflation cools over coming months, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll who last month expected borrowing costs to remain unchanged for the remainder of this year. Next month’s meeting will follow British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget on November 26 where she is no longer expected to raise income tax but will make up an expected shortfall through smaller tax rises from other sources. The Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-4 to leave rates unchanged earlier this month, with BoE Governor Andrew Bailey casting the deciding vote, wanting to wait for evidence of declining inflation before committing to a cut. Nearly 80% of economists, 48 of 61, expect the BoE will cut Bank Rate by 25 basis points to 3.75% on December 18, according to a Reuters poll taken November 13-18. The rest forecast no move.
8.Trump says his administration has started interviews for next Fed chair
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was speaking with various people about the Federal Reserve chairman’s job and had some unexpected candidates on the list of those who might replace Jerome Powell. “We have some surprising names and we have some standard names that everybody’s talking about,” Trump said when asked about the Fed search during an Oval Office appearance with visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We may go the standard way. It’s nice to, every once in a while, go politically correct. But we have some great names,” he said. Trump reiterated that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not want the job and continued to berate Powell, who he has repeatedly criticized for not lowering interest rates faster.
9. Home Depot forecasts steeper drop in annual profit as Americans delay big projects
Home Depot forecast a bigger drop in full-year profit after missing Wall Street estimates for quarterly earnings on Tuesday, as tariff-driven economic uncertainty dampened demand for big-ticket renovations and do-it-yourself projects. The shift in tone from the company comes as executives said that a widely expected pick-up in demand from easing U.S. interest and mortgage rates had failed to materialize, likely amplifying concerns over a slowing economy. The world’s top home-improvement chain set the ball rolling for a week packed with earnings reports from big-box retailers, including Walmart and Target, as investors track U.S. consumer spending ahead of the all-important holiday season amid tariff-driven cost pressures. Home Depot’s shares fell about 4% and those of rival Lowe’s declined 2% in early trading. Lowe’s is set to report results on Wednesday.
10. Amazon, Google named by EU among ’critical’ tech providers for finance industry
European Union regulators on Tuesday designated 19 technology companies, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft, as critical third-party computing providers for the bloc’s finance industry. Under the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which started being applied in January 2025, three EU-level financial regulators can together name certain technology providers as critical and supervise them directly. The new rules are part of an attempt to protect the EU’s financial sector from the risks around its reliance on external technology providers, for example its use of cloud computing to run key banking services. Regulators are worried about the impact on the financial sector if a tech provider used by many banks had an outage. The regulators will examine whether these companies have the right risk management and governance frameworks in place to ensure the services they provide will remain resilient, they said in a press release on ESMA’s website.
11. Warner Bros Discovery wants Paramount to raise its offer to $30 per share
Warner Bros Discovery’s board wants Paramount Skydance to sweeten its latest bid of $23.5 per share to about $30 apiece, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Paramount’s offer was for 80% in cash and 20% in stock, Axios reported. The companies did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the report. At $30 per share, Warner Bros Discovery would be valued at $74.34 billion. That’s up from Paramount’s current offer of $58.23 billion. Earlier in the day, Paramount said Variety’s report on the company forming an investment consortium with the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to submit a total $71 billion bid for Warner Bros Discovery was “categorically inaccurate.
12. Elon Musk attends Trump’s dinner with Saudi crown prince
Elon Musk joined a dinner with U.S President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday, the second joint public appearance since a bitter public feud earlier this year. Musk’s attendance could be a sign of reconciliation in a turbulent relationship between the Tesla CEO and the U.S. president. Musk supported and funded Trump’s election last year and became a close adviser to his administration early this year, leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and overseeing cuts to federal funding and jobs. But the two soon had a falling out. The billionaire businessman took to social media to attack Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill as fiscally reckless, and said he planned to create a new political party. Trump hit back threatening to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk’s companies received from the federal government.