The main headlines that caught the attention of global financial media last night and this morning are:

Turbulent situation in France impacts European markets

European stock markets fell, following violent incidents that erupted over weekend protests about living costs in France. Investors are also awaiting a flurry of corporate earnings reports this week.

The European Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.8%, with a temporary drop of 1.2% during the session. Bank stocks and basic resources stocks underperformed the market, while technology stocks were the only sector to rise. Following robbery and arson incidents in several French cities over the weekend, the benchmark CAC CAC 40 index fell by 1.1%. As protests over rising living costs erupted in various European countries, stock indexes in Spain and Italy saw even larger declines.

The yield on France's 10-year government bonds rose by 13 basis points to 4.94%, marking the largest increase since September, and widened the yield spread between French and German bonds by 10 basis points to 148 basis points. Following violent protests over living costs over the weekend, French government bonds performed worse than their European and British counterparts.

Saudi Arabia postpones its flagship investment conference

As Houthi militants continue to launch attacks, Saudi Arabia has postponed its flagship conference until next year, which undermines Riyadh's efforts to attract foreign capital and to position itself as a global business center.

The organizers stated in their declaration that the Future Investment Initiative Conference ( FII ) in Riyadh, which usually attracts heavyweight figures from finance, energy, and politics, will now be held in 2027, although no specific date was provided.

This decision was made after Saudi Arabia suffered several attacks recently. On Monday evening, air raid sirens sounded in Riyadh, indicating that security risks continue to exist. The attack on the capital's airport has resulted in more than a dozen deaths, disrupted flights, and forced the postponement or cancellation of numerous events.

It is stated that: "This decision was made to ensure that the landmark 10th conference can achieve the scale, quality, and impact that our partners, members, speakers, and delegates have come to expect."

Nscale and Anthropic are reportedly in talks for a large cloud computing power deal worth approximately $45 billion

Insiders say that AI cloud computing company Nscale is in talks to sell computing power to Anthropic, with a potential transaction value of about $45 billion.

Sources reveal that this data center developer, which has received investment from NVIDIA, is seeking to reach a second major agreement with Anthropic, involving the second facility in its Monarch data center park located in West Virginia. According to a regulatory document regarding the proposed IPO with Nscale, Anthropic has previously reached an infrastructure agreement with Nscale worth approximately $44.6 billion.

Some informed sources say that the second facility of Monarch will adopt NVIDIA's advanced Vera Rubin AI chips, which can provide 460 megawatts of computing power. Anthropic also has a pre-emptive right to purchase the expected third facility, Monarch.

Apple officially announced the release of new products on October 28th; analysts expect a touchscreen laptop to be unveiled.

Apple announced that it will hold a product launch event on October 28th and sent out invitations to the media and analysts on Monday. The event is titled “Apple Experience in Los Angeles”.

The email states “Pro and tell”, implying that this release will focus on high-end “Pro” devices equipped with powerful self-developed chips.

Analyst Ben Reitzes wrote in a report on Monday that he expects to launch a new Mac this fall, "including a touchscreen laptop." He stated that for John Ternus, who took over as CEO last month from Tim Cook, such a release schedule marks a "major shift" compared to the previous practice of two events per year.

Goldman Sachs: Hedge funds are reducing their holdings in tech stocks at the fastest pace in at least a decade

Data from Goldman Sachs' principal brokerage business department shows that hedge funds are reducing their holdings in tech stocks at the fastest pace in at least a decade.

Over the five trading days up to October 15th, hedge funds reduced their positions in tech stocks to the greatest extent since Goldman Sachs began tracking such data in 2016. Meanwhile, a report from Goldman Sachs' Global Banking and Markets department indicated that the overall volume of trading activities declined at the fastest pace in nearly three months.

Hedge funds engaged in selling off during the global slump in tech stocks. As the AI thematic trades faded worldwide, the Nasdaq 100 index fell by 5.5% last week, recording its largest decline since April 2025. Over these five trading days covered by Goldman Sachs' data, tech stocks were the worst-performing sector within the MSCI global index.

Hassett: Overall inflation in the United States still requires policy attention

Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council, stated that prices for goods such as beef and eggs are declining, but consumer price data for September indicates that overall inflation still requires policy attention.

Hassett said on Monday, "If we look at the past three months, inflation seemed to be completely under control, but it now appears that we will need to make another effort."

Data released last week showed that consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in five months in September, and an indicator measuring underlying price pressures also exceeded expectations. The Consumer Price Index ( CPI ) increased by 0.6% month-on-month, while the core index, which excludes food and energy, rose by 0.3%.

Hassett stated in the interview, "This either means that there has been some interruption in the downward trend, or it's just a temporary fluctuation."