Qatar Jumps 4.6% as TASI Slips After Wall Street’s Tech Rout; OPEC+ Holds Output and Brent Drops 3% Ahead of Apple and the US Midterms - Modern Money Experts

Qatar Jumps 4.6% as TASI Slips After Wall Street’s Tech Rout; OPEC+ Holds Output and Brent Drops 3% Ahead of Apple and the US Midterms

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Qatar Jumps 4.6% as TASI Slips After Wall Street’s Tech Rout; OPEC+ Holds Output and Brent Drops 3% Ahead of Apple and the US Midterms

Takeaway: On Monday 2 November 2026 (Asia/Dubai), markets open a busy week after a heavy tech sell-off on Wall Street. On Friday the Nasdaq fell 2.86% to 25,437.00, its worst day since June, the S&P 500 lost 1.82% to 7,580.07 and the Dow 1.09% to 51,770.31, as Intel plunged about 29% and Amazon also fell after results. Gold dropped below $4,000 to a one-year low, while Brent rose to six-month highs. In the Gulf on Sunday, Qatar jumped 4.64% to 9,575.48 with all seven sector indices higher, while TASI fell 0.84% to 9,838.28 and Kuwait’s All-Share lost 0.80%. OPEC+ kept December output targets unchanged. This morning Brent is down about 3% near $110 as Iran–Qatar talks continue, and US stock futures are higher ahead of Apple’s results tonight and Tuesday’s US midterm elections.

What happened

1) Wall Street: a tech-led sell-off to end October

  • Friday 30 October close (CNBC): Dow 51,770.31 (−572.25 / −1.09%), S&P 500 7,580.07 (−140.32 / −1.82%) and Nasdaq Composite 25,437.00 (−747.72 / −2.86%). It was the Nasdaq’s worst day since June, leaving it roughly 8% below its recent high; for October the Nasdaq fell 5.3%, its steepest monthly drop since March 2025 (CNBC).
  • Intel fell about 29%, its worst day since the 1970s, after guiding fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion–$16 billion and adjusted earnings of 25 cents a share, below LSEG estimates of $17.1 billion and 43 cents, citing a plant shutdown in Israel and a weak PC market (CNBC). The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) tumbled 9.1% on the day (CNBC).
  • Amazon fell about 1.4% after third-quarter results missed on revenue and earnings, while it kept its 2026 capital spending forecast at $220 billion (CNBC). Alphabet, which suffered its worst one-day drop on record on Thursday, fell another 1.7% (CNBC). Rivian jumped more than 8% after better-than-expected results (CNBC).
  • Energy held up: Chevron and ExxonMobil touched all-time highs after refining profits surged. Chevron earned an adjusted $5.28 a share against $4.89 expected, and Exxon $4.23 against $4.08 (CNBC, LSEG estimates). Most S&P 500 sectors still posted weekly gains as investors moved into areas such as health care and consumer staples (CNBC).

2) Data, yields and gold

  • The US employment cost index rose 0.8% in the third quarter, in line with expectations, after 0.9% in the second quarter; labour costs were up 3.4% over 12 months, and wages and salaries rose 0.7% on the quarter and 3.1% on the year (Reuters via Investing.com).
  • Treasuries gained: the 10-year yield ended Friday at 4.94% and the 2-year at 4.56%, down 4 and 5 basis points (US Treasury daily par yield curve). On Monday in Asia, futures implied about a 72% chance of a quarter-point Fed hike in December (Reuters).
  • Gold fell to its lowest level since October 2025: spot was down 3.5% at $3,880.97 an ounce in the afternoon, and December futures settled 3.3% lower at $3,898.90. Silver dropped 6.5% to about $49 (Reuters via MarketScreener). On Monday gold rebounded about 0.9% to around $3,911 (Reuters).

3) Oil and OPEC+: higher Friday, lower Monday

  • Friday settlement (Reuters via Euronext): the expiring December Brent contract settled up $2.76, or 2.4%, at $117.64, after touching $118; the more active January Brent contract rose $2.63 to $113.43, and WTI rose $2.12, or 2.08%, to $104.12. These were the highest settlements since late April, after a tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz. For October, Brent rose 13.6% and WTI 15.2% (Reuters).
  • OPEC+ (Sunday 1 November): the seven core members — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman — agreed to keep December production at September’s required levels, with Saudi Arabia’s set at 10.478 million barrels per day. The next meeting is on 29 November (OPEC; Arab News). The National notes the combined target is about 31 million bpd, although most members are producing below it because of the war (The National).
  • Monday in Asia: Brent fell $3.68, or 3.2%, to $109.75 by 04:07 GMT and WTI fell $3.43, or 3.3%, to $100.69, as Iranian and Qatari officials held a third day of talks on ending the war (Reuters via StreetInsider). Bloomberg cited a report that President Trump wants to give diplomacy with Iran more time before potentially resuming strikes after Tuesday’s midterms (Bloomberg via swissinfo). Note that the headline Brent quote now refers to the January contract, so Monday’s move is measured against January’s $113.43 settle, not December’s $117.64.

4) Gulf equities: Sunday 1 November

  • TASI 9,838.28 (−83.22 / −0.84%), a second straight decline, with 44 stocks up and 220 down on turnover of about SAR 3.1bn (Arab News). SABIC fell 2.38% and Ma’aden 2.57% while Aramco closed flat (The Edge); Elm jumped 9.00% to SAR 611.50 (Arab News). The parallel market Nomu rose 0.75% to 21,636.14 (Arab News).
  • Saudi GDP: the General Authority for Statistics’ flash estimate showed real GDP down 3.8% year on year in the third quarter, with oil activities down 20.4% but non-oil activities up 1.9%; on a seasonally adjusted basis the economy grew 1.3% from the second quarter (GASTAT via Arab News).
  • Qatar (QE) 9,575.48 (+424.30 / +4.64%), with 48 stocks up, five down and one unchanged, on turnover of about QR1.07bn (QNA). All seven sector indices rose, led by telecoms (+5.61%) and industrials (+5.59%), on the day the exchange published its summary of third-quarter disclosures (The Edge).
  • Kuwait All-Share 8,386.14 (−67.85 / −0.80%), a third straight decline; the Premier Market fell 0.75% to 8,826.21 and the Main Market 1.08% to 8,363.27, on value traded of about KD40.6m (KUNA via QNA).
  • Elsewhere: Oman’s MSX 30 fell 0.73% to 7,292.53 and Bahrain’s All Share index fell 0.60% to 1,818.99, its 13th straight decline (The Edge). UAE (Friday 30 October): Abu Dhabi slipped 0.12% to 9,466.34 and Dubai fell 0.81% to 5,770.73 (The Edge).

5) Asia and US futures: Monday morning

  • Asian shares bounced: South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.6% after losing 16% in October, MSCI’s broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan gained 0.5%, and China’s blue chips rose 1.3% after media reports that regulators would meet financial institutions to discuss support for the stock market (Reuters). In Tokyo, memory maker Kioxia fell as much as 17% (Bloomberg via swissinfo).
  • S&P 500 futures were up about 0.5% and Nasdaq futures about 0.9%, and the 10-year Treasury yield held near 4.93% (Reuters). Apple reclaimed the title of the world’s most valuable company from Nvidia on Friday (Bloomberg via swissinfo).

Why it matters for Gulf + US-focused Arab traders

  • The AI trade is under review: after Alphabet, Amazon and Intel, the market is rewarding cash generation and punishing heavy spending with weak guidance. Many Gulf investors hold these names directly or through US index funds, so this week’s results from Apple, Palantir and AMD matter.
  • Oil is swinging on diplomacy and security headlines: Brent ended October at six-month highs, then fell about 3% on Monday as talks continued. With OPEC+ keeping targets steady, the next moves are likely to be driven more by Iran-related news around the midterms than by quotas.
  • The Gulf is not trading as one block: Qatar rallied on earnings while Riyadh and Kuwait eased, a reminder that local results and sector mix can outweigh the global mood on a given day.

Today’s calendar and the week ahead (Asia/Dubai times)

  • US clocks have moved back: from today the US cash session opens at 18:30 and closes at 01:00 Asia/Dubai.
  • Monday 2 November: US ISM manufacturing for October at 19:00 (CNBC calendar). Apple reports fiscal fourth-quarter results after the US close, with its call at 5 p.m. ET (02:00 Tuesday Asia/Dubai) (Apple). Analysts expect earnings of about $2 a share on revenue of about $113 billion (Reuters). Palantir also reports after the close (CNBC).
  • Tuesday 3 November: US midterm elections; JOLTS job openings; AMD reports after the close (CNBC).
  • Wednesday 4 November: ADP employment and ISM services (CNBC); the US Treasury announces its quarterly refunding plans (Reuters).
  • This week: markets expect rate hikes from the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Bank of England and Sweden’s Riksbank, with Norway’s central bank seen on hold (Reuters).
  • Friday 6 November: US October jobs report at 17:30 Asia/Dubai; forecasts are for roughly 55,000–65,000 new jobs after September’s 29,000, with unemployment at 4.2% (CNBC citing FactSet; Reuters poll).
  • Gulf: watch whether Qatar can hold Sunday’s jump, whether TASI can steady near 9,800–10,000 as Saudi earnings continue, and how the region reacts to the US vote and any Iran headlines. The next OPEC+ meeting is on 29 November.

Short educational angle: why gold can fall when stocks slump

Gold is often described as a safe haven, so it can be surprising to see it drop on the same day stocks sell off. On Friday spot gold fell about 3.5% while the Nasdaq lost almost 3%. One reason is forced selling: when leveraged investors face losses on equities, they may receive margin calls and need cash quickly, so they sell what is liquid and still showing gains, and gold is one of the easiest assets to sell. Commerzbank analysts said Friday’s tech slump may have led to exactly this kind of selling of safe-haven assets (Reuters). A second reason is interest rates: gold pays no income, so when markets expect rates to stay higher for longer, holding it becomes relatively more expensive. In a sharp sell-off, the first move is often about liquidity rather than long-term value, and the safe-haven role can show up later, if at all. A useful habit is to check why an asset is moving (forced selling, rates, the dollar or demand) before drawing conclusions from one day. This is educational framing only, not a forecast or a recommendation on any trade.

Sources

  1. CNBC — Stock market today: live updates (Friday close), 30 Oct 2026. cnbc.com
  2. CNBC — Intel stock has worst day since 1970s; Amazon also sells off, 30 Oct 2026. cnbc.com
  3. CNBC — Chevron and Exxon hit all-time highs as refining profits soar, 30 Oct 2026. cnbc.com
  4. CNBC — Stock market next week: outlook for Nov. 2–6, 2026. cnbc.com
  5. Reuters via Investing.com — Slower wage growth curbs US labor costs in third quarter, 30 Oct 2026. investing.com
  6. US Treasury — Daily Treasury par yield curve rates, 2026. treasury.gov
  7. Reuters via MarketScreener — Tech rout drives gold to one-year low, 30 Oct 2026. marketscreener.com
  8. Reuters via Euronext — Oil jumps 2%, settles at 6-month highs on fears of escalation in Iran, 30 Oct 2026. euronext.com
  9. OPEC — Press release, 1 November 2026. opec.org
  10. Arab News — OPEC+ holds December oil output targets unchanged, 1 Nov 2026. arabnews.com
  11. The National — OPEC+ holds December oil output targets steady as Iran war disrupts supply, 1 Nov 2026. thenationalnews.com
  12. Reuters via StreetInsider — Oil prices ease 3% on optimism for Qatari-led talks on ending Iran war, 2 Nov 2026. streetinsider.com
  13. Reuters via Devdiscourse — GLOBAL MARKETS: Stocks bounce as Apple earnings near, oil falls, 2 Nov 2026. devdiscourse.com
  14. Bloomberg via swissinfo — Most Asian stocks rise with US futures, oil falls: Markets Wrap, 2 Nov 2026. swissinfo.ch
  15. Arab News — Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 9,838, 1 Nov 2026. arabnews.com
  16. Arab News — Saudi non-oil growth accelerates to 1.9% in Q3: GASTAT, 1 Nov 2026. arabnews.com
  17. QNA — QSE index closes higher, 1 Nov 2026. qna.org.qa
  18. QNA — Kuwait Bourse closes lower, 1 Nov 2026. qna.org.qa
  19. The Edge — Middle East Market Wrap 1 November: Doha jumps 4.64% as the rest of the region ends lower. edgeconsultancykw.com
  20. Apple — FY26 fourth quarter results conference call, 2 Nov 2026. investor.apple.com

Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a trading recommendation, or financial advice. Trading and investing involve a substantial risk of loss. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Do your own research and consult a licensed adviser where appropriate. Modern Money Experts (MMEC) is an educational brand.

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