Economy / Markets
The AI trade now has to survive an election, an oil price and Beijing
Markets enter the week with three variables that no model release controls. Friday's 3.5% fall in the Nasdaq 100 was the sharpest since June and the semiconductor index lost 7.2%, with futures only partly recovering in Asia. Tuesday's US midterms add policy risk, and Brent's slide to $110.19 rests on a diplomatic pause rather than a settlement with Iran. In China, regulators convened banks to widen buyback funding after the Shanghai Composite's 6.3% October decline. The correction, in other words, is being priced against politics and energy as much as against earnings.