Oil slides and European stocks steady as investors look to US midterms

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Market snapshot:

• The Swiss franc is leading, while the Australian dollar is the laggard.
• Gold is up 0.6% at $3,900.
• WTI crude is down 4.1% at $99.80.
• The 10-year Treasury yield is lower by 1.8 basis points, at 4.91%.
• European stocks are barely changed, with Nasdaq futures up 0.7%.

November trading is getting under way with a more settled start to the new week and month. Following the heavy losses on Wall Street late last week, the mood is calmer today, though this could prove to be only a short-term pause.

Crude is cooling off, which is helping as traders weigh the prospect of a resolution to the US-Iran conflict. That has pulled WTI back below the $100 threshold to $99.80 on the day.

In fixed income, 10-year Treasury yields are hovering around 4.91% without much movement. There is still no clear direction, and market participants will have to decide whether to seek haven protection in bonds once more if technology stocks resume their selloff later this week.

Equities, at least for the moment, are more settled. European stocks are broadly flat, while US futures have staged a mild rebound after Friday's rout. S&P 500 futures are up 0.3% and Nasdaq futures have gained 0.7%, but there is still ground to cover in reversing the pessimism of recent weeks. Investors still seem deeply concerned that the enormous spending on AI infrastructure will not deliver returns fast enough at this stage.

Elsewhere, the dollar is mixed, softer against European currencies but firmer against the yen and the antipodean currencies. EUR/USD has risen 0.5% to 1.1217, while USD/JPY is up 0.2% to 157.87.

Gold, meanwhile, is holding a modest bounce from its 100-week moving average, staying near $3,900. Some of the immediate pressure has lifted, but the technical outlook is still precarious amid continued selling and liquidation, particularly if broader risk sentiment turns sour again.

Attention now shifts to tomorrow's US midterm elections, the next major risk event for markets.