FTSE Ends October Higher During Tech Rout

Wall Street fell sharply on Friday as disappointing Intel and Amazon earnings deepened AI spending fears, while the FTSE 100 edged to its first monthly gain in three on budget relief. Oil tumbled more than 3% on Monday as Iran-Qatar talks eased Middle East supply fears, while gold rebounded from a one-year low. Markets now look to Apple's results after Wall Street's close and Tuesday's US midterm elections. 

Equities 

The FTSE 100 closed 0.1% higher on Friday, logging its first monthly gain in three months and a rise of more than 1% in October, as investors welcomed a budget from finance minister John Healey that raised bank and gambling taxes by less than feared. 

AstraZeneca jumped in its best day in a year after unveiling a restructuring drive expected to save $1.5 billion and fund new drug development. BP rose after posting a record quarterly net profit, while British American Tobacco and Unilever also climbed. NatWest fell sharply after flagging a weaker-than-expected outlook for interest income, dragging the wider banking sector down alongside losses in precious and industrial metal miners that tracked declines in gold and copper. 

Wall Street closed sharply lower on Friday, with the Nasdaq suffering its biggest one-day drop since June, after disappointing results from Intel and Amazon deepened worries over AI-related spending. The Dow fell 1.1%, the S&P 500 lost 1.8% and the Nasdaq dropped 2.9%, leaving it almost 8% below its early-October record high. 

Intel plunged 29% after cutting its guidance, its worst session in decades, while Amazon pared earlier losses despite also missing expectations. Nvidia fell on renewed chip-sector jitters, AMD slid nearly 11% and Dell dropped about 11%, while HP also fell on the same AI capital-spending concerns. Starbucks slipped after forecasting an annual revenue decline tied to the divestiture of its Chinese business, while Exxon Mobil and Chevron both rose on stronger profit margins stemming from Middle East and Ukraine-related energy supply disruptions. 

Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood all fell sharply after Binance disclosed a $6.3 billion hack on the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Futures pointed to a rebound on Monday, with US and European markets firmer ahead of Apple's results after the close and Tuesday's US midterm elections. 

Forex & Commodities 

The dollar index dipped 0.2% on Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of Tuesday's US midterm elections, with prediction markets pointing to a likely Democratic sweep. The vote coincides with the US Treasury's quarterly refunding announcement on Wednesday, adding to the market's focus on the dollar this week. 

The pound firmed against the dollar, tracking broader dollar weakness, with investors also looking ahead to the Bank of England's meeting later this week. 

Gold rebounded around 1% on Monday after tumbling to a one-year low in the prior session, as softer oil prices eased inflation concerns and investors weighed comments from a trio of Federal Reserve officials who argued on Friday for further interest rate increases.  

Bullion had fallen heavily on Friday, dropping below the $4,000 level for the first time in a year, as a tech-stock selloff triggered margin calls and forced selling of safe-haven assets. 

Oil prices tumbled more than 3% on Monday, reversing some of last week's gains, after Iranian and Qatari negotiators continued talks in Doha aimed at ending the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Brent crude fell toward $110 a barrel and US crude toward $100, having rallied to a six-month high in October on fears over disruption to Gulf shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.  

Seven OPEC+ producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed over the weekend to hold December output targets steady, with the group due to meet again in late November to set January levels. Tanker attacks around the Strait of Hormuz have continued despite the diplomatic push, keeping a floor under prices for now.