Daily Buzz: 6 November 2026

Wall Street Turns Sour on US Election Results, Tech Shares Dive

Wall Street sentiment on the US midterm elections did a sharp U-turn from a day earlier in the worst selloff since April 2025. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 5.5 percent, falling into correction territory, amid fears of controls in AI data center construction and regulations on AI development under new Democratic control of Congress and many state governments, after voters wiped out Republican majorities. The broad S&P 500 index tumbled 4.4 percent, and the Dow Jones, which surged 1,500 points on Wednesday, plunged 1,833 points. The VIX Index, the so-called "fear index," jumped 11.5 points to an eight-month high.

Nvidia shares tanked 9.3 percent, Intel tumbled 10 percent, Meta lost 4 percent and Qualcomm retreated 9.5 percent despite earnings this week that beat forecasts. Tesla shares plunged 10.8 percent and SpaceX fell 9.1 percent as investors punished Elon Musk for his US$446 million contributions to Republican candidates that backfired. Oil prices crept up toward US$100 a barrel on concerns that the anti-war overtones of midterm election victories won't lead to a hasty end to the Middle East war. Global benchmark Brent crude futures rose 5 percent to close New York trading at US$99.32 a barrel.

Who's to Blame? Post-Election Finger-Pointing Begins in US

In the search for scapegoats for the Republican trouncing in midterm elections, Washington is abuzz that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could be the first casualty. President Donald Trump expressed confidence in the former Fox News commentator, who is considered a major architect of the Iran war that even Trump admitted was a key factor in the Democratic sweep of House and Senate seats. However, Trump signaled a face-saving path to removing Hegseth by saying he would be a good choice to fill a Senate seat from Tennessee when the incumbent relinquishes it after election as state governor. Some House Democrats are keen to impeach Hegseth once the new Congress is seated in early January. Vice President JD Vance, distancing himself from Trump as he eyes a presidential run in 2028, came out squarely blaming the unpopular war that Trump started nine months ago for the Republican rout.

Israeli President Caught Unawares by US Withdrawal of Military Aid

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said US President Donald Trump's announcement earlier this week that Washington will end its annual US$3.8 billion in military aid to Israel at the end of the year came like "a bolt from the blue" and worries him. Trump said Israel doesn't need the money, which is largely used to buy US weaponry, and claimed he had discussed the decision with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made no comment on that. Trump made the announcement on election day, with some pundits calling it a last-minute campaign ploy to blunt criticism from some Democrats about the size of the country's largest single foreign aid allocation.

Herzog has yet to announce which bloc of parties he will ask first to try to form a coalition government after a bitterly fought national election last month where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing ruling coalition lost its majority of seats and the bloc led by former military chief of staff came in close second. Arab parties took a record number of seats.

French Protests Draw Up to 600,000 Marchers

Up to 600,000 people across France turned out for relatively peaceful protests as public discontent with the education system, the high cost of living and unaffordable housing continues. The numbers were swelled by five trade unions that called a one-day nationwide strike to demand higher pay. Police fired tear gas when scuffles broke out in Paris, Lyon and other cities, and detained 448 people after some looting broke out. The weeks-long protests, started by students, have pushed the government of President Emmanuel Macron into a corner. Facing record debt and a swelling budget deficit, the government has no money to address social spending concerns underpinning the protests.

Hoax Bomb Threats Disrupt European Flights

At least 21 aircraft and several airports across Europe were targeted by hoax bomb threats for the second time this week. Flights to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland and Romania were affected, involving carriers that included Aer Lingus, Finnair, Hungary's Wizz Air and Polish airline LOT, among others. It comes after seven flights were targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday. The EU said it's too early to determine who was behind the hoaxes and if they are linked.

Top Business

Hua Hong's Quarterly Profit Jumps 147 percent as Chip Prices Rise

Shanghai-based Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor, China's second-largest pure-play contract chipmaker and a global leader in specialty semiconductor technologies, reported third-quarter net profit surged 147 percent from a year earlier to US$123.4 million as wafer shipments and selling prices increased. Revenue rose 20 percent to US$987 million, with gross margin expanding by 7.6 percentage points to 24.6 percent. The results include the acquisition of Huali Microelectronics, which Hua Hong completed during the quarter. Excluding Huali Micro, revenue was US$803.4 million, with a gross margin of 19.9 percent. Company President Peng Bai said demand for microcontrollers, flash memory and power-management products was strengthening, with supply tight in some segments. He said he expects rising shipment volumes and prices to continue. Hua Hong forecast fourth-quarter revenue of up to US$1.1 billion.

Toyota Motor Posts Decline in Quarterly Net Profit, Sales Slump in China

Toyota Motor, the world's biggest automaker by sales, said net profit fell 18.5 percent from a year earlier to 759.4 billion yen (US$4.8 billion) in its second fiscal quarter ended September 30. Revenue rose 8.6 percent to 13.4 trillion yen on strong global sales of higher-margin hybrid vehicles and the weaker yuan. Operating profit jumped 34 percent to 1.1 trillion yen, beating consensus forecasts. Vehicle sales in the latest three months fell to 2.7 million units from 2.8 million units a year ago, largely on a 22 percent decline in China. The automaker raised its guidance for full-year net income to 3.6 trillion yen from 3.3 trillion yen but trimmed its vehicle sales forecast to 10.9 million units from 11.2 million. The company said it is setting up a dedicated robotics department as it moves toward manufacturing of industrial robots. Toyota has joint ventures in China with FAW Group and Guangzhou Automobile Group.

BeOne Raises Earnings Guidance After Quarterly Profit Triples

BeOne Medicines, a Sino-US maker of cancer drugs, raised its full-year earnings outlook after reporting that third-quarter net profit more than tripled. Net income reached US$384.7 million, with revenue rising 34 percent to US$1.9 billion. Global sales of Brukinsa, its blood cancer medicine, increased 34 percent to US$1.4 billion, with sales in the US up 36 percent. Sales of its Tevimbra drug rose 28 percent. The company attributed stronger profitability to revenue growth and improved operating leverage. Product gross margin increased to 88 percent from 86 percent. BeOne raised its 2026 revenue forecast to up to US$7 billion from US$6.8 billion. It also increased its forecast for operating income to as high as US$1.3 billion.

China-Listed Property Developers Post US$8 Billion in Nine-Month Losses

The aggregate losses at 90 Chinese mainland-listed property developers topped 53.2 billion yuan (US$8 billion) in the first three quarters of this year, with revenue down 25 percent from a year earlier. Biggest loss-maker was China Vanke, which was 23.9 billion yuan in the red, followed by Gemdale with 3.5 billion yuan and Grandjoy Holdings at 1.1 billion yuan, according to Wind Information. Poly Developments & Holdings led profitable developers, but its net profit still fell 16 percent to 2.3 billion yuan, while China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings posted a 76 percent profit drop to 604 million yuan. China's property market has been in a slump since 2021, when a liquidity squeeze caused defaults among some larger developers. National and local governments have introduced measures to try to prop up the residential end of the market.

Economy & Markets

China Seeks to Expand Its Digital Currency to Offshore Banks

China is expanding its digital currency network to offshore institutions that offer e-yuan wallets for foreign firms and individual clients in a move to deepen cross-border integration. "We currently have 30 domestic banks as e-yuan operators," Lu Yuan, deputy head of the People's Bank of China's digital currency research institute, told a panel discussion at Hong Kong's Fintech Week. "Now we're working to extend this capability to offshore banks." Currently, overseas banks can process digital payments through a cross-border transfer services platform. Zhang Yi, an executive with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the world's biggest lender by assets, told the same panel that his bank has already recorded cumulative transaction volumes in e-yuan reaching hundreds of billions of yuan.

China Reportedly Vetoes SoftBank Robotics Deal with ABB

Swedish-Swiss technology company ABB confirmed in a company statement that it has been informed by Softbank that "the Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review in China has prohibited the acquisition of the ABB Robotics business in China," adding it is "working constructively on the transaction" with SoftBank.

The deal, valued at about US$5.4 billion, cleared China's competition law review in February, but concerns surfaced during the foreign-investment security vetting over the transfer of China-developed assets to Japan and the potential outflow of robot-related data overseas. China is the largest robot market in the world. ABB's operations in China include wide-ranged research partnership with Chinese companies.

UK Central Bank Raises Rates for First Time in 3 Years

The Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time in over three years, warning that at least one more increase is likely if the US-Iran conflict drags on, keeping energy prices high. British inflation is likely to reach around 5 percent in the middle of next year, the bank said in raising rates to 4 percent.

Marriages in China Tumble to 18-Year Low

New marriages in China in the first nine months of the year fell to an 18-year low, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said, with implications for the nation's declining birth rate and sales of household-formation consumer products such as appliances and furniture. A total of 4.7 million couples got married in the nine months, and 2.1 million couples got divorced.

China's Budget Revenue Rises, Land-Sale Income Falls

China's general public budget revenue in the first nine months of the year rose 5.1 percent to 17.2 trillion yuan (US$2.6 trillion), and expenditures edged up 1 percent to 21 trillion yuan. Tax revenue rose 6.1 percent, but revenue from land sales fell 28 percent. New issues of special-purpose bonds reached 3.6 trillion yuan, equivalent to 81 percent of the annual quota.

Corporate

Sino Biopharma Signs Drug Licensing Deal With Boehringer Ingelheim

Sino Biopharmaceutical struck a licensing agreement valued at US$358 million upfront, plus up to US$7 billion in option-exercise and milestone payments, plus royalties, with German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim covering six preclinical cancer drugs. Sino Biopharm will undertake early development of the drugs, and Boehringer Ingelheim has exclusive options for development, production and commercialization rights outside the Chinese mainland for four of the drugs and global rights to two others.

Boehringer Ingelheim will make upfront and near-term payments of US$358 million, followed by further payments if development, regulatory and marketing milestones are met.

China National Petroleum Eyes Robotics Joint Venture With Unitree

China National Petroleum's Kunlun Manufacturing and Kunlun Capital units plan to set up a joint venture with Unitree Robotics and Fanjie Intelligent to make industrial embodied-AI robots. The CNPC side will hold a combined 60 percent stake of the venture, with Unitree and Fanjie each taking 20 percent. The proposed venture still requires regulatory approval. In August, when Unitree listed on Shanghai's STAR Market, Kunlun Capital participated as a strategic investor, buying 2.2 percent of the public offering.

Shein to Beef Up Logistics Hub in Poland as EU Tariff Rises

Chinese discount online fashion retailer Shein said it will invest 500 million euros (US$562 million) to expand its European logistics ‌hub in Poland as it seeks to counter a rise in EU tariffs on low-value parcels, a mainstay of its business model. The EU tariff on small parcels coming into the bloc rose to 5 euros this month from the original 3 euros. Before charges were introduced this year, there were no fees on parcels valued at 150 euros or less. Shein sales in Europe, a major market, dropped sharply in the second quarter, contributing to a 67 percent plunge in profit.

Sand.ai Secures US$200 Million in Latest Funding Round

Chinese video-generation startup Sand.ai closed a US$200 million funding co-led by Cornerstone Capital and Wangsu Technology, with participation from Shanghai state-backed investors. It was the company's third round in 10 months, bringing cumulative funding to about US $300 million. Beijing-based Sand.ai was founded in 2024 by former Microsoft Research Asia researcher Cao Yue.

AliExpress Posts High Double 11 Sales From US

AliExpress, the global online retail marketplace owned by Alibaba, said its US site posted sharp year-on-year growth in sales on the first day in the overseas portion of this month's overseas Double 11 online shopping festival. Average daily sales across key categories rose came in higher than usual, with mini personal computers surging 35-fold, 3D printing and consumables up 28 times and gaming and accessories up ninefold. Brand merchants accounted for more than half of total transaction value.

BYD Seeks to Double Brazil Production

Chinese automaker BYD is seeking permits to double annual capacity at its Brazilian factory to 600,000 vehicles. Monthly demand averages 30,000 vehicles, exceeding planned year-end output of 25,000. The company has also received orders for 100,000 vehicles from Mexico and Argentina.

Haier Smart Home Takes Over Vietnamese Water Heater Company

Chinese appliance maker Haier Smart Home completed its acquisition of Ferroli Southeast Asia, a unit of Italy's Ferroli, which holds about 19 percent of Vietnam's market for electric water heaters. Financial details weren't disclosed.