Markets, 31 October 2026
Weekend board: gold drops almost 4%, US tech sells off, steel keeps climbing
What moved
- Gold had its worst day in a while. It closed Friday around $3,885 an ounce, down about 3.7% on the day, about 3% on the week and about 7% on the month. It’s now well below the $4,000 line it was sitting on all week.
- US stocks sold off into the weekend. The S&P 500 fell about 1.8% to 7,580 and the Nasdaq dropped about 2.9% to 25,437, now down about 5% on the month. Emerging markets (the EEM fund) lost about 2.7%. At home the ADX was nearly flat at 9,466 (down about 6.6% on the month). The DFM shows 5,771, the same reading as Thursday, so Friday’s session may not have updated yet.
- Oil held up. Brent closed around $112 a barrel (up 0.7%) and WTI around $103 (roughly flat). Both are about flat on the week. The monthly gains of about 14% still span the late-September contract roll, so I wouldn’t lean on them.
- Metals eased again. COMEX copper is about $14,350 a tonne, down 1.2% on the day and flat on the week. Aluminium is about $3,166, down 0.5%, up about 1% on the week and about 4% below a month ago. Zinc still hasn’t updated since 23 October ($3,944).
- Steel is still climbing. US Midwest HRC closed around $1,545 a tonne, up 0.8% on the day, about 4% on the week and about 8% on the month. Shanghai rebar reads 3,035 yuan a tonne, down 0.5%.
- Rates and the dollar. The latest Treasury yields are from 29 October: the 2-year at 4.61% and the 10-year at 4.98%, down 6 and 7 basis points on the day. The dollar index is about 102, barely changed. The monthly US PPIs for copper wire and cable (+0.8%), steel wire drawing (+0.6%) and cement (flat) are still the September readings.
The truth: The headline is gold and US tech, but neither changes much for UAE cable, electrical and construction suppliers this week. What does is steel. HRC is about 8% up on the month, so wire, mesh, fencing, tower and rebar costs keep moving against anyone holding fixed prices. Copper and aluminium ended the week about where they started, which is a calm backdrop for conductor-heavy quotes. Oil around $112 keeps Gulf budgets comfortable and freight and energy expensive. The 10-year slipping back under 5% is a small relief on financing, and with the dirham pegged that reaches us too, but one day isn’t a trend. My read: keep steel-heavy quotes short, keep escalation clauses in, and don’t read Friday’s risk-off mood as a change in local project pipelines. Not investment advice.
Sources and as-of dates for every number are on the Markets board.