Monday, 26 October 2026

The Houthis kept firing missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia, which says its coalition intercepted them, while Riyadh's main airport reopened two terminals. Russia says it downed 532 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday, and Zelensky confirmed that Russia, Ukraine and the US will meet in November. In Brazil, Lula won a fourth term with 51.79% while Flávio Bolsonaro refused to concede. In Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić conceded after the student-led list won the snap election.

Worries about AI profitability are spreading from US tech shares to Asian markets and risky debt as Asia's busiest earnings week begins. SpaceX meanwhile closed $40bn in debt financing to buy graphics processors, Elon Musk said on X. Brent eased from a six-month high on Monday, though IEA chief Fatih Birol sees no normalisation of energy markets before 2027, and Bloomberg reports that the sell-off in French government bonds sits at the heart of the ECB succession fight.

Largely overlooked, Algeria's parliament approved the deployment of troops to protect oil facilities in Niger, which Reuters calls the country's first foreign deployment since 1973. On Tuesday, Israelis vote with neither bloc near 61 seats, and the local ceasefire in occupied Oleshky is due to begin.