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Last updated: October 18, 2026, 10:40 PM ET
Equities & Chips
Korean stocks resumed declines bloomberg.com on Monday as DeepSeek's latest model reignited worries over chip demand and funding. US equity-index futures rebounded bloomberg.com from last week's chip rout, offering some relief to traders. The AI trade is also wobbling wsj.com, with commentary questioning whether the build-out can avoid the usual boom-bust pattern. Europe's industrial groups are diverging ft.com in how they ride the AI boom, with Schneider Electric and Siemens moving further into software while ABB bets on power.
Rates, Dollar & Gold
Gold bloomberg.com opened the week higher as traders pared bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike following a Warsh speech. Global dollar funding is tightening as the Iran war and shifts by China amplify US rate rises ft.com across markets. The euro fell against most Group-of-10 peers as Ukraine tensions escalated and French protests weighed on sentiment. Treasuries are showing signs bloomberg.com of reclaiming their haven role as the AI selloff renewed demand for bonds. Rising yields are also prompting commentary that TINA is giving way to TARA wsj.com, with stocks looking less attractive against interest-bearing alternatives. The New Zealand dollar has fallen for five straight quarters, and a CPI print bloomberg.com could decide whether that losing run continues.
Energy & Commodities
Oil retreated bloomberg.com from a five-month high as traders weighed fighting in the Middle East against supply concerns. Copper has surged since Donald Trump returned to office, but traders are growing wary bloomberg.com of the bull market without any sign of tariffs. Trump's energy-price promise has faltered ft.com as voters increasingly link rising costs to the administration's policies, while the clean-power case is strengthening ft.com on the back of the Iran war and AI demand. Holiday air travel will be the priciest in years wsj.com as jet-fuel expenses have surged.
Deals & Corporate
Cleanaway shares jumped 21% bloomberg.com after a A$6.5 billion takeover deal from EQT, their biggest gain in years. Daiichi Life offered $4.4 billion bloomberg.com for the rest of Challenger Ltd. Banque du Caire is seeking to raise up to $454 million bloomberg.com in an Egyptian IPO. Microsoft pulled out ft.com of a lease agreement for Nscale's UK data centre. Accenture is exploring a sale ft.com of its Chinese operations for up to $1.5 billion. Evercore named co-presidents ft.com Nigel Dawn and Naveen Nataraj in a leadership reshuffle. Kioxia shares face margin-buying bloomberg.com sell-off risk after a buildup of leveraged positions. Perella Weinberg's near-sale to Piper Sandler ft.com collapsed at the last moment. Anthropic will commit 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund.
Geopolitics & Markets Risk
Trump defended easing nytimes.com Russia sanctions and hinted at a hostage deal, while Zelenskyy accused Trump bloomberg.com of pressing Ukraine to capitulate. Some Wall Street executives are weighing whether to skip Davos in the Desert after Houthi attacks on Riyadh. Poland is investigating bloomberg.com a suspected airspace violation near Lublin. US officials have threatened Europe ft.com with retaliation over Starlink restrictions, warning of devastating consequences. Shadow-fleet Russian ships are faking locations ft.com to appear in two places at once. Alberta's independence referendum ft.com threatens Mark Carney's government. Protests in France have turned violent nytimes.com, with buildings and shops damaged and city hall set alight in Limoges. A fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright killed four nytimes.com and injured dozens. In China, a stampede in India's religious festivities killed at least 33 bloomberg.com. China condemned Japan's bloomberg.com Yasukuni Shrine moves, and a former Guangxi official is under anti-graft investigation bloomberg.com.
Coming Up
The Fed's next moves will be closely watched as traders pare rate-hike bets bloomberg.com, and New Zealand's CPI report bloomberg.com is due. Alberta's independence referendum ft.com is scheduled for Monday.
Private Equity
Last updated: October 18, 2026, 10:40 PM ET
Venture Capital
Benchmark's partners described a deliberately unhurried approach to investing in a frenzied market, emphasizing conviction over speed techcrunch.com even as the firm has expanded its fund size and reshuffled its partnership ranks. Their comments offer a counterpoint to the rush of late-stage deal activity that has defined much of the sector's recent coverage.
Sector Investment
Last updated: October 16, 2026, 3:30 PM ET
Sector Investment
Investors in data centres infrastructureinvestor.com now face patent litigation risk that is moving from the margins to the heart of project risk.