Technology shares lead US equity rebound

US equities ended Monday broadly firmer, with a renewed appetite for large technology and artificial-intelligence (AI) names helping the market recover from last week’s wobble. The S&P 500 added 0.40% and the Nasdaq 100 rose 1.20%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed. The rebound followed a difficult stretch for technology, after disappointing results from Anthropic and mounting concern about debt levels among AI cloud providers prompted investors to step back from more speculative parts of the sector. 

Buyers returned to several of the market’s recent laggards. Micron gained 3.10%, Intel rose 3% and Amazon climbed 5%, while Nvidia, Alphabet, Microsoft and Tesla added 1.40%, 1.20%, 0.80%, and 3.40%, respectively. Banks, however, struggled after last week’s earnings updates. Morgan Stanley slipped 1%, Bank of America lost 1.70% and Wells Fargo fell 2.50%. 

European equities closed lower as renewed civil unrest in France and Italy added to political and fiscal uncertainty. The Euro Stoxx 50 fell 1% to 6 141, while the Stoxx Europe 600 declined 0.90% to 639. Rising government bond yields across the eurozone added to concerns about sovereign debt risks, with banks among the weakest performers. Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Santander, UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo all fell by more than 2%. Germany’s DAX declined around 1.20% to 25 320, while France’s CAC 40 lost 1.10% to 7 868. In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell more than 1%, ending a three-session winning streak as banking and mining shares weakened. Investors are also looking ahead to UK inflation and retail sales data due this week. 

Asian markets were mixed. China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.39% as stronger-than-expected third-quarter economic growth and improved industrial output and retail sales supported sentiment. The economy grew 4.50% year-on-year in 3Q26, compared with 4.30% in the previous quarter. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.62%, with technology shares remaining under pressure amid questions over returns from AI infrastructure spending. Hong Kong’s stock exchange was closed for the Chung Yeung Festival holiday, with trading scheduled to resume today, 20 October.

South African equities ended lower on Monday, as broad-based selling across the market and a sharp pullback in mining shares weighed on sentiment. The JSE All-Share Index fell 1.75% to 108 994.98, while the Top 40 Index lost 1.90% to close at 101 266.06. Resources were the main drag, with the Resources Index down 3.32% at 117 098.46. Financials and industrials also weakened, with the Financial 15 Index declining 1.08% to 25 023.21 and the Industrial 25 Index easing 1.07% to 119 702.25. In corporate news, Datatec announced a special cash dividend of 2 900 South African cents per share, while Nedbank said its offer to acquire approximately 66% of NCBA Group had become unconditional, with settlement expected later in the week. 

At 19h17 SAST, South Africa’s 10-year government bond yield was reported at around 8.90%, near one-month lows, as investors considered the fiscal outlook ahead of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s mid-term budget update on Wednesday, 21 October. September 2026 inflation data is also due on the same day, following the South African Reserve Bank’s 25-basis-point repo rate increase to 7.25% last month. 

Crude oil climbed to almost US$109.40 a barrel on Monday, its highest level in more than a month, after a 10% surge last week. Renewed tensions in the Middle East have sharpened concerns about potential disruptions to supply. In the meantime, Brent crude rose 0.31% to US$110.20 a barrel at 22h46 SAST. Gold slipped 0.59% to US$4 1440.52 an ounce, while silver gained 0.17% to US$57.10 and platinum advanced 0.89% to US$1 647.65 an ounce.