Disney Leads Worst Wall Street Losses in a Month

Disney stock fell nearly 8% yesterday as US indices dropped sharply, with the S&P 500 closing 1.66% lower and the Nasdaq down 2.29%. Sterling slipped to around $1.315 after reports suggested the government may abandon plans to raise income tax rates before the 26 November Budget, while the FTSE 100 fell 1% as Aviva, 3i Group and Burberry all moved lower. Oil prices rose early this morning to around $63.80 for Brent and $59.50 for WTI after a Ukrainian drone strike hit a Russian oil depot, while spot gold pulled back sharply from recent gains.

Equities

The FTSE 100 fell 1% on Thursday, snapping a three-day run of record highs as financial stocks pulled the index lower following weaker-than-expected UK GDP data.

Aviva dropped almost 6.2% after updating investors on new financial targets that failed to lift sentiment. 3i Group slid 17.4%—its worst single day on record—after management said they were cautious about making new investments and flagged a challenging backdrop for transactions. Rolls-Royce closed 2.8% lower, even as the company maintained confidence in its full-year outlook despite supply-chain issues.

Burberry, which had earlier touched its highest level since late July after reporting its first quarter of growth in two years, reversed late in the session to finish 2% lower.

Across the Atlantic, Wall Street closed sharply lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 down 1.66%, the Dow off 1.65% and the Nasdaq 2.29% lower. All three indices registered their biggest daily declines in more than a month.

Nvidia fell 3.6% and Tesla slid 6.6% as investors reassessed valuations in popular AI-linked shares. Broadcom was down 4.3% over the session, while Western Digital lost 5.4%, Seagate fell more than 7% and SanDisk dropped almost 14% after Kioxia reported weaker sales and profits.

Walt Disney sank 7.8% on Thursday after the company warned that its dispute with YouTube TV over channel distribution could last for some time. Cisco bucked the weakness, rising 4.6% after lifting its full-year revenue and profit forecasts on the back of firm demand for networking equipment.

Forex & Commodities

The US dollar moved lower heading into Friday, with the dollar index near 99.14 as traders waited for a backlog of economic data following the end of the US government shutdown. The euro rose to around $1.164, while Sterling slipped to about $1.315 after a report overnight suggested the government may abandon plans to raise income tax rates ahead of the 26 November Budget.

The New Zealand dollar traded around $0.5687 after data showed a lift in October manufacturing output and the RBNZ confirmed it will ease mortgage loan-to-value restrictions from 1 December. In China, the onshore yuan reached a one-year high near 7.091 after dollar-selling by exporters, even as fresh data showed factory output, retail sales and new home prices slowed in October.

Gold pulled back late on Thursday, with spot prices down to about $4152 per ounce after touching a session high near $4245 earlier in the day. The broader sell-off followed the US government’s reopening, with traders reassessing the outlook for forthcoming data releases during a period when several Fed officials have signalled caution over further rate cuts.

Oil prices moved higher early on Friday. Brent crude rose to around $63.80 per barrel and WTI to $59.50 after a Ukrainian drone strike damaged an oil depot at the Russian port of Novorossiysk, a major export hub. Both benchmarks had jumped sharply in early Asian trade before easing back. The attacks came shortly after the US expanded sanctions on Russian oil companies.