Markets, 6 November 2026
US stocks drop 4–6% in a day, oil still down about 12% on the week, Dubai holds steady
What moved
- US stocks sell off hard. The S&P 500 closed Thursday at about 7,354, down about 4.4% in a day and about 6% on the month. The Nasdaq closed at about 24,315, down about 5.5% on the day and about 12% on the month. Emerging markets (EEM) closed at 58.05, down about 5.8% on the day and about 15% on the month.
- Dubai and Abu Dhabi hold up. The DFM closed Thursday at about 6,043, flat on the day and up about 4% on the week. The ADX closed at about 9,520, up about 0.6% on the day, though it’s still down about 5% on the month.
- Oil is still well off last week’s level. Brent is around $100.22 this morning, up about 1% on the day, but down about 12% on the week. WTI is around $91.86, also down about 12% on the week. Contract rolls can distort weekly and monthly changes, so I’d treat those two as rough.
- Copper slips on the week. COMEX copper is around $13,730 a tonne, up about 0.2% today but down about 4% on the week and about 6% on the month. Aluminium is around $3,178, down about 0.5% today. Zinc still hasn’t updated since 23 October ($3,944), so it’s stale.
- Steel is firm. US Midwest HRC is around $1,585 a tonne (Thursday’s quote), up about 2.5% on the day and about 11% on the month. Shanghai rebar is 3,038 yuan a tonne, down about 0.3%.
- Gold, rates and the dollar. Gold is around $4,053 an ounce, down about 1% today but up about 4% on the week. The latest Treasury yields are from 4 November: the 2-year at 4.58%, down 3 basis points, and the 10-year at 4.90%, down 5. The dollar index is around 101.75, up about 0.2%. The monthly US PPIs for copper wire and cable, steel wire drawing and cement are still the September figures.
The truth: The loudest number today is the US stock drop, a bit over 4% for the S&P and over 5% for the Nasdaq in one session. I don’t know why from this data, and I won’t guess. What I can say is that Dubai and Abu Dhabi didn’t follow it yesterday, and that may change when they next trade. For suppliers, the thing to watch is financing: the dirham is pegged, so a wobble in US markets and yields reaches local borrowing costs quickly. Copper is down about 4% on the week, which helps conductor quotes, but it’s a live quote and can swing back. Steel is the opposite: HRC is up about 11% on the month, so keep wire, mesh and rebar quotes short and keep price-adjustment clauses in. Oil near $100 is still comfortable for Gulf budgets, but it’s well below where it was a week ago, and that’s the number to watch for project spending. Not investment advice.
Sources and as-of dates for every number are on the Markets board.