Asian shares fell sharply lower on Friday as a sell-off in technology stocks spread to risk assets amid worries about potential regulatory changes in the United States. The Nikkei 225 index fell 5.90% to 57,478 points, and the yen exchange rate was around 157.8.
Bob McNally, CEO of Rapidan Energy Group, told CNBC that with the U.S. midterm elections over, there is an 80% chance that the United States will restart military operations against Iran in the next few days. Both Brent and WTI crude oil futures are expected to rise above $100 per barrel. They are currently trading at about $100 and $91 respectively.
Musk said that this round of decline in U.S. stocks is rare even for him. The report mentioned that U.S. stocks may set the second-highest single-day market value evaporation record, second only to the record of US$3.5 trillion on March 16, 2020.
After the US midterm election results were announced, Bitcoin rose above $80,500 at the Wednesday US stock market open, with BTC/USD gaining more than 4%, rebounding from a seven-week low. S&P 500 futures recovered from a three-month low of 7,490 to 7,690, with The Kobeissi Letter calling the earlier decline a "textbook bear trap."
After the midterm election results landed, Bitcoin and S&P futures rebounded in tandem from lows, showing the short-term restorative effect on risk appetite from the fading of political uncertainty. For gold, this kind of improvement in risk sentiment typically weakens safe-haven buying, but it needs to be observed whether the rebound can persist rather than being a one-day sentiment release. Traders should watch whether the linkage between US stock futures and crypto assets continues, and whether safe-haven funds show a phased return.
In the US 2026 midterm elections, Democrats have won control of the Senate and are closing in on the House, flipping Senate seats in Texas, South Carolina and Ohio. The author believes the global trade tariff war launched by Trump and the US-Iran war are the main causes of voter dissatisfaction, with energy price pressures exacerbating cost-of-living concerns. Wall Street is currently more focused on the backlash against AI and data center construction; Nasdaq futures are now down 0.7%, having earlier fallen more than 2% during the session.
Democrats retaking control of the Senate means Trump's tariff and foreign military agenda will face stronger legislative constraints, and policy uncertainty itself will transmit to the dollar and gold through the risk-appetite channel. Notably, the market focus is not simply political gridlock, but the political resistance encountered by AI and data center construction—Nasdaq futures fell more than 2% at one point during the session, showing that pressure on tech stocks is becoming a risk signal independent of the election outcome, which may indirectly affect the allocation logic for safe-haven assets.
The World Gold Council predicts that India's gold demand will fall to about 650 tons in 2026, the lowest since 2020. High prices and weak monsoons have suppressed jewelry and investment buying. In the September 2026 quarter, Indian demand fell by 29% year-on-year to approximately 160 tons, of which jewelry demand fell by 20% and investment demand fell by 40%. Sachin Jain, head of the association's India business, said demand will pick up during the festival and wedding season in December, but high prices and a weak rural economy will limit the extent of the recovery.
The World Gold Council's quantitative forecast for India's demand in 2026 provides a clear reference for assessing the suppression of high prices on physical consumption: the weak monsoon coupled with high gold prices, jewelry and investment buying have weakened simultaneously, and the decline in investment demand has been particularly prominent. For traders, the weakness of India, the traditional demand engine, means that the physical support for gold prices has weakened. In the future, they need to pay attention to the actual recovery of the December festival and wedding season, as well as the impact of the pace of rural economic recovery on demand elasticity.
South Korean consumer group Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty plans to file a complaint with the Korea Fair Trade Commission on Thursday, accusing Tesla of misleading consumers in its marketing of Full Self-Driving software in South Korea, because most vehicles sold in the country cannot legally use the feature.
The South Korean consumer group's complaint over FSD marketing centers on the mismatch between software functionality and local regulatory certification, which highlights that Tesla's software revenue is highly dependent on certification progress in each country. For traders, this is a regulatory and reputational risk event in a single market and does not constitute a short-term macro driver, but it is worth watching whether it triggers scrutiny of FSD advertising claims in other markets, as well as the cumulative impact of such non-financial risks on Tesla's valuation narrative.